Brodhead Pietenpol Association

Original Posted By: "l.morlock"
Larry,I assume your counselor means a side load is introduced because the cablessplay out from the strut to the caliper? If so, the answer would to be makesure the caliber support is sturdy enough for the fairly minimal side loadsa mechanical brake could introduce.Mechanical brakes are not going to provide anywhere near the stopping forcesof a full-blown hydraulic system using small wheels, which are sometimescapable of locking the wheels. Your brakes MIGHT KINDA hold it for run upand like you say, taxiing and general ground maneuvering. I seriously doubtyour set-up would present any problems, unless like I said earlier, thecaliber support is so flimsy as to bend inward.I had the same set up the first time around and it seemed to work fine.Just remember that as the axle goes up and down, the cable will want torotate the axle a tiny bit, so allow for that in your cable routing.How close are you Larry?Douwe________________________________________________________________________________

Original Posted By: "tools"
Thanks for the input. Glad to hear from both Tools and Douwe that they have used this method successfully. I think I will go ahead with that set-up.Earl: I guess my picture was a bit misleading. That is excess brake cable that appears to be going to the front gear strut. The cable that will tether the brake caliper isn't installed yet, but will go to the rear gear strut.Tools: While it is true it will stop the caliper bracket from rotating, the bracket is attached to the axle, so it will also stop the axle from rotating. Do you have a picture of your set-up?Douwe: My caliper support bracket is not what I would call heavy duty, but as you can see from the picture, my brake rotors are fairly thick, so I think this also would help withstand the side load. I didn't think of the fact that the cable will want to rotate the axle a bit when it goes up and down. What allowance would I have to make for this in the cable routing?As usual, I'm making slow but steady progress on my Piet. I'm finishing up the coaming at the moment. Next job is to find a place for the Piet on an airport, as I'm still in the pole barn off-airport (see attached foto). Larry----- Original Message -----