Jeff Scott wrote: >> "FWIW, Marks rant about Aircraft Spruce and tailwheel bearings on the web >> page you referenced <http://www.n56ml.com/kgear.html> is a bit unfair and >> has some statements that are... mis-informed. I didn't see any reason to >> challenge it at the time since I figured he was blowing off steam. But >> I'd hate to see that referenced as fact when the statements made on that >> page just aren't so."
The statement Jeff is talking about is the following paragraph. I wrote: "So I called Aviation Products and asked what kind of bearing they put in their tailwheels and was told "heavy duty sealed bearings, greased for life is the only way we sell them...why wouldn't you use the best?" I also learned that Aircraft Spruce orders the assembly from Aviation Products MINUS the wheel for some reason! Although I didn't hear it from Aviation Products, one must assume that AS&S substitutes the less expensive R&K caster with the ungreased and unprotected bearings and saves a few bucks. And after your ungreased bearings rapidly wear out, you'll either buy a new tailwheel (with no grease), or if you're really enterprising, you'll put new bearings in it." Back when I wrote this, I got my information from the lady that owns Aviation Products. To make sure I wasn't crazy, I just spoke to her a few minutes by phone ago to check my facts. She verified Jeff's statement that she only sells the assembly to both Wicks and AS&S WITH sealed bearings. I would have sworn that I heard something to the contrary when I spoke to her about 2-3 years ago, but I'll admit it is possible that it was a miscommunication on my part. I'd be amazed if that were the case, but it's possible. Jeff also wrote: >"Aviation products replaces the crappy bearing with a good bearing before >they sell it. Aircraft Spruce and Wicks sell the good bearing separately."< I would have to challenge this with what Karen told me a few minutes ago, as well as back when I wrote the rant. Aviation Products builds or at least assembles those tailwheel units essentially in house (she was bending tubing when I called her). She installs only wheels that have fully sealed and lubricated bearings, direct from R&K Industrial Wheels. She doesn't bother buying them without grease, because it makes no sense at all to do so. Also, having driven several of the bearings out of the wheel (which resulted in my rant), I'm pretty sure that the bearing is either useless or short-lived after it's driven out, so reselling it wouldn't work. I never implied that anybody was removing sealed/greased bearings and replacing them with ungreased bearings, or the other way around...only substituting greaseless-bearing wheels for an application that clearly demands greased-bearing wheels. Buy the correct greased-bearing wheel first and you're done. One thing's for sure...selling a REPLACEMENT wheel that has no grease in it nor a plausible way to grease it doesn't make a bit of sense. If anybody doubts this, please buy one and see for yourself. And you are definitely correct Jeff, when you say "That simply doesn't make any business sense". Jeff also wrote: "Aircraft Spruce and Wicks sell the good bearing separately. It's actually a pretty common bearing that I found on the shelf at my local hardware store." I just checked both Spruce and Wicks websites, but could no longer find a distinction between the bearing without grease and the "heavy duty" bearing that actually has grease, although the photos on the Wicks site look just like the ones a bought from AS&S that didn't have grease in them, and they even say in the description "tailwheels do not have grease zerks." I'm not sure why they'd mention that, this could mean they are greased but not sealed, which would likely work fine for our use. I did call R&K Wheel back at the time of the rant to ask if they sold a version of that wheel without grease in it, and if so, how would one grease the bearing without damaging the wheel. They do sell a dry version, and the answer was "you can't" lubricate it. Like Jeff, I bought greased and sealed bearings from elsewhere (McMaster Carr in my case), As a sanity check, anyone having a tailwheel (by itself) that is not yet installed that looks like the one at http://www.aircraftspruce.com/catalog/lgpages/sonexwheel4.php or http://aircraftproducts.wicksaircraft.com/item/all-categories/4-tailwheel/twnp-4?&plpver=10&origin=keyword&filter=&by=prod , please give it a shake and see if it rattles. If it does, I'd be looking for a new tailwheel with a sealed bearing. Please let me know if you find one of these, or evidence that you can or cannot find a wheel that is not greased available from either house. I will amend the website based on my findings. My advice in the meantime would be to buy it direct from Aviation Products at http://www.apitailwheels.com/ to ensure it's a sealed and greased bearing. I forwarded the rant to both AS&S and Wicks at the time, called and spoke with the AS&S buyer on the phone and Scott Wick at WA, and heard no rebuttals at the time. I think I did a pretty thorough job of investigating the subject matter, and talked to all parties involved. I'm beginning to think that my rant may have made a difference in the way these companies sell these wheels, and if so, the rant was not a complete waste of my time! Readers may visit http://www.n56ml.com/kgear.html and see for themselves if I gave anybody short shrift. I presented the facts as I saw them, but given today's version of the story, I will amend the part about the two companies buying their tailwheel assemblies without wheels installed. That is apparently no longer (or may never have been) the case. I do know I bought two replacements wheels from AS&S that had no grease in the bearings, and no way to grease them, over a period of several months. I'm not flying a shopping cart, and would expect better from a company that sells aircraft parts. These greaseless-bearing wheels are NOT a suitable replacement, in my mind... Mark Langford ML at N56ML.com website at http://www.N56ML.com --------------------------------------------------------
