RTW
July 17th 03, 01:55 AM
Just for the record, I have a set of Azusa wheels and brakes on a clone of a
Kitfox, built as an ultralight (empty wt 254#). The wheels are OK, but the
brakes are not adequate, even at that low weight..
"richard riley" > wrote in message
...
> In article >,
> says...
> >
> >I need to buy a set of main wheels for my 4-place composite (2400 lbs
> >gross) homebuilt, but don't have the experience to make a good
> >decision. I know that Clevelands are deemed "the best" by many, but
> >they are horribly expensive. Can they really be worth that much?
> >Matcos are cheaper; are they as good? And Azusa's are MUCH cheaper
> >still. Are they any good?
> >
> >Specifically, I'm looking at the Azusu 6-inch diameter, 4-inch wide
> >aluminum wheels and brakes. The wheels can (they say) accommodate a
> >600x6 tire, tho' I'd probably go with a slightly slimmer one. They
> >look nice in the pictures.
> >
> >One concern is that the axle is only 3/4 inch, whereas other
> >manufacturers use 1.5 inch axles in their 600x6 wheels. However, the
> >specs say that they're good for 3625 lbs per wheel, which is enough
> >for a max 3G (ouch!) landing (whoops!!) at 2400 gross.
> >
> >Another concern is braking. How good/bad are the Azusu brakes? I've
> >seen elsewhere someone mentioning another manufacturer of brakes to
> >mate with the Azusu wheels, but I've lost that reference now.
> >
> >Thanks in advance for your opinions/advice.
> >
> >Greg Reid
>
> It's not that hard to hit 3G's in a bad landing. FAA certification spec
to gear
> is 3.8 G's at full gross. I've always seen the Azusa wheels used on
*much*
> lighter aircraft, things with half that weight at gross.
>
> The matco brakes/wheels/etc are terrific quality, in many ways better than
the
> Clevelands. If you go matco, get the nickel plated disks - the sweaped
area of
> the disks doesn't have a problem, but if you just have the iron disks the
rest
> of the disk rusts quickly.
>
Kitfox, built as an ultralight (empty wt 254#). The wheels are OK, but the
brakes are not adequate, even at that low weight..
"richard riley" > wrote in message
...
> In article >,
> says...
> >
> >I need to buy a set of main wheels for my 4-place composite (2400 lbs
> >gross) homebuilt, but don't have the experience to make a good
> >decision. I know that Clevelands are deemed "the best" by many, but
> >they are horribly expensive. Can they really be worth that much?
> >Matcos are cheaper; are they as good? And Azusa's are MUCH cheaper
> >still. Are they any good?
> >
> >Specifically, I'm looking at the Azusu 6-inch diameter, 4-inch wide
> >aluminum wheels and brakes. The wheels can (they say) accommodate a
> >600x6 tire, tho' I'd probably go with a slightly slimmer one. They
> >look nice in the pictures.
> >
> >One concern is that the axle is only 3/4 inch, whereas other
> >manufacturers use 1.5 inch axles in their 600x6 wheels. However, the
> >specs say that they're good for 3625 lbs per wheel, which is enough
> >for a max 3G (ouch!) landing (whoops!!) at 2400 gross.
> >
> >Another concern is braking. How good/bad are the Azusu brakes? I've
> >seen elsewhere someone mentioning another manufacturer of brakes to
> >mate with the Azusu wheels, but I've lost that reference now.
> >
> >Thanks in advance for your opinions/advice.
> >
> >Greg Reid
>
> It's not that hard to hit 3G's in a bad landing. FAA certification spec
to gear
> is 3.8 G's at full gross. I've always seen the Azusa wheels used on
*much*
> lighter aircraft, things with half that weight at gross.
>
> The matco brakes/wheels/etc are terrific quality, in many ways better than
the
> Clevelands. If you go matco, get the nickel plated disks - the sweaped
area of
> the disks doesn't have a problem, but if you just have the iron disks the
rest
> of the disk rusts quickly.
>