Birthday present coming

[geraldmorrissey]

Trying to decide about wheels/brakes for my Patrol. Leaning towards Alaska bushwheels 199-62. Anybody out there got a pirep for me. 3 bolt, aluminum, Cleveland inspired system I am familiar with. Still not cheap at $2,000, but I figure better now then later.
Gerry
Patrol #30

[alaskabearhawk]

I have the Parker 199-62. kit. What's not to like? Tried and true, reliable system.

[schu]

The ABI 199-62 is a exact clone except it’s coated.

I sold my Parker 199-62 kit to someone upgrading a Cessna under STC and bought the grove 10” setup so that I can run desser tires.

The grove is billet machined instead of cast and is beautiful. Having the option to run tubeless is nice too.

[Mark Goldberg]

Those are good wheels/brakes, and often available when Groves are usually back ordered. They weigh one lb more per side than Groves if I remember correctly. Mark

[whee]

I’m running the ABI 199-62 wheels/brakes. They are great. There’s no reason to spend more on Cleveland’s unless you got $500 you can stand to have in your pocket. Or maybe you prefer the bare aluminum look over the black coated ABIs.

[Mark Goldberg]

Jon, the Groves are not $500 more at the price I can sell them for to kit customers. Mark

[whee]

Mark, The Grove setup is a great option I think but I’ve never used them. That’s why I was only commenting on the ABIs vs Cleveland’s.

Bearhawk Aircraft does a great job sourcing good parts at good prices for their customers so I’d certainly consider Groves it was an option.

[Bcone1381]

About 4 years ago Robby Grove set me up with his 66-152 6" wheel/brake kit. He said it's what I would need for a Patrol with large tires. It installed nicely, and feels/looks like quality but I have no experience using it yet. nor have i tried to install big tires on it. The 10" wheel was not available when I installed this. I'd install this again if I was going with the 6" wheel.

Grove link is below. The 66-152 kit is about 3/4 of the way down.

https://www.groveaircraft.com/600series.html

[schu]

Looks like you can get the 66-252 kit for $220 more and it's 2.5lbs lighter. Might be worth it.

The 60-462 looks really interesting:

https://www.groveaircraft.com/65-10.html

Single puck, but really nice kinetic energy rating of 270,755 ft-lbs. I suspect it has a 2" puck.

Should be fairly light and will let you run tubeless tires:

https://www.aircraftspruce.com/catal.../gy_tires2.php

Make sure you look at the tire guide if you are going to do any back country ops:

https://backcountrypilot.org/knowled...188-tire-guide

Notice on that guide:


8.50 tires available

Goodyear 8.50	21 x 8.5 x 6	6	12.5, 16 with tube	Tube or tubeless with sealed wheels	Treaded	2,275
Desser Aero Classic 8.50/22" Tundra	22 x 8.5 x 6	4	10, 13 with tube	Tube or tubeless with sealed wheels	Smooth	1,600
Alaska Tundra (Gar-Aero)	22 x 8.5 x 10	6	18, 22 with tube	Tube	Tread	Not known

Saving 3-4lbs of weight per side and $200 by not running tubes sounds really nice. If I wasn't going to run big tires, I'd be on the Desser Aero Classic or Goodyear 26" tires on tubeless wheels.

Also, smooth tread is super nice if operating on gravel, it tends save your stabs and elevators from rocks.

[whee]

On the tubeless thing, I’d really like to run a set of the smooth Dessers on tubeless wheel. It may be coincidental but recently I’ve read a few accounts of flat tires cause by issues with the split wheel tubeless design. I’ve never been a fan of the spit wheel so I'm going to looking for an alternative.

[schu]

On the tubeless thing, I’d really like to run a set of the smooth Dessers on tubeless wheel. It may be coincidental but recently I’ve read a few accounts of flat tires cause by issues with the split wheel tubeless design. I’ve never been a fan of the spit wheel so I'm going to looking for an alternative.

Please post those accounts so we can review.

I totally agree that split wheel design is not the best way to do this, but, o-rings are very reliable, so as long as you get it together without pinching anything, and as long as it's held air for a little bit, odds are it will probably be reliable.

My dessers have been mounted for 2 years, and haven't lost any pressure.

As a counterpoint: it's not like anyone has ever pinched a tube either....

[whee]

They were just posts on Facebook so the chance of fining them is about nil. Utah-Jay posted on BCP in the recent inreach thread about breaking the wheel bolts at a remote backcountry strip which resulted in a flat and being stranded till he got bolts. The result would have been the same with tubes or maybe even worse but it just reiterated my dislike for split wheels.

[schu]

I can't think of why you would break wheel bolts unless you overtightened them, but agreed, there are more reliable ways to make wheels.

[alaskabearhawk]

One of the guiding principles of choosing products for my project is commonality of part. In other words if I was stuck in Bethel or Unalakleet and needed a part for my 199-62 brakes, Lycoming engine, etc, chances are someone would be able to help me out. Once I deviate from that philosophy it can get complicated, especially with one-off or specialty products. If I was in the smaller 49, in the land of "free shipping" and overnight convenience, it wouldn't be as much of an issue. YMMV