Any of you guys with 180 or 185s or 172 Tailwheel conversionsuse something other than the Cessna parts to secure the brake lines. I was told that there was some sort of rubber channel that can be used to protect the line and hold it in place. The brake line clips sold by cessnna are $80 a piece and I would need 4. My plane is a C 172 with Bolen Tailwheel conversion. The lines are on the forward side of the gear and were held on by zip ties. The tapered gear legs cause the ties to come lose. Anyone know of a workable solution beyond the retaining clips sold by Cessna for the 180 and 185?

obxbushpilot wrote:Any of you guys with 180 or 185s or 172 Tailwheel conversionsuse something other than the Cessna parts to secure the brake lines. I was told that there was some sort of rubber channel that can be used to protect the line and hold it in place. The brake line clips sold by cessnna are $80 a piece and I would need 4. My plane is a C 172 with Bolen Tailwheel conversion. The lines are on the forward side of the gear and were held on by zip ties. The tapered gear legs cause the ties to come lose. Anyone know of a workable solution beyond the retaining clips sold by Cessna for the 180 and 185?

Don't know of alternatives per se, but my C-170B with 180 gear legs has the brake lines running down the aft edge of the gear leg. Seems like more inherent protection for them that way.

The clips on my citabria and 185 have both come loose, Glued them back on with some type of super glue.
Will find out what we used.
You would think the lines would be on the back.
Regards

OBX:

Take some heavy Rubber Tubing that is large enough to fit over brake lines. Split it so you can fit over brake lines and then fasten it down with heavy duty quick ties.

Has worked great on mine for the last 8 years.

Regards, Larry

I believe this is what you are looking for. It is the brake line channel for a C-206, and in a 206 it is shorter than you'd like, so get it to your length. I got this tip from another site, and will use it on my 180 at paint. Very clean, very functional, and as protected as you're gonna get.

Take care, Rob

Rob wrote:I believe this is what you are looking for. It is the brake line channel for a C-206, and in a 206 it is shorter than you'd like, so get it to your length. I got this tip from another site, and will use it on my 180 at paint. Very clean, very functional, and as protected as you're gonna get.

Take care, Rob

That's Cessna brake line fairing for the 206 Cessna part # P580058 sells for $1.80 per' very reasonable. Must not be made for an airplane

There ya go! clean, functional, protected, and cheap! That's almost too good to be true BTW It will glue on nicely with 3M

Sweet, $1.52 per foot from Yingling. Going to order some for my wagon for sure. I have seen these on a friend's 185 and it's a very clean install. Provides better protection and a little more aerodynamic too.
http://www.cessnadirect.com/p580058.html

Double sided Scotch tape holds the clips on nicely

Thanks! That's exactly what I was looking for. The STC has the brake line coming out the cowl in front of the gear(???) on my plane. I am thinking of installing a 90 deg nipple connected to flexible line from the cowl to the back of the gear and then a copper tube down to another flexible hose at the wheel and using the channel for the 206 to hold the copper tube.

I definately don't want the 180/185 clips. I can rework the brake lines as described above for less than the price of just one clip.

88H:
I was considering using the method you described on the forward edge of the gear until I collect the hardware for complete rework of the brake lines.

Thanks all.

U owe us all beers!

Rob wrote:I believe this is what you are looking for. It is the brake line channel for a C-206, and in a 206 it is shorter than you'd like, so get it to your length. I got this tip from another site, and will use it on my 180 at paint. Very clean, very functional, and as protected as you're gonna get.

Take care, Rob

Rob,

Where did you get the brake line that is pictured here?

Scolopax

I'm sorry that reply was about the retainer channel
My reading and compression skills are challenged today!

Rob wrote:

Scolopax wrote:

Rob wrote:I believe this is what you are looking for. It is the brake line channel for a C-206, and in a 206 it is shorter than you'd like, so get it to your length. I got this tip from another site, and will use it on my 180 at paint. Very clean, very functional, and as protected as you're gonna get.

Take care, Rob

Rob,

Where did you get the brake line that is pictured here?

Scolopax

Yingling

Dirt cheap too !

Do you have a part number?

I'm sorry that was for the channel,
The brake line is aeroquip 666 made to length. I prefer to go this way on cubs and Cessna's because you get rid of one more leak potential by getting rid of the flex line to tube and back to flex line junction...


Ymmv!

If you have a 172, the original brake line came out at the rear of the main landing gear. It should also have been moved to the rear of the main landing gear during tailwheel conversion. Whoever told the original STC customer or installer to put it on the front side of the gear was an idiot. I know why they took that shortcut, but it was the wrong thing to do for an airplane that was going to be seeing off-road use.

If you want to leave yours on the front, then I strongly suggest you use the piece of slit rubber hose as mentioned by another poster.

If you move it to the rear, then you can either use the rubber hose, or the fancy 206 stuff as shown, etc.

Glue the rubber onto the main gear leg using "Shoe Goo" which is available at any Wal Mart or hardware store. Shoe Goo is like RTV silicone but with much stronger adhesive properties. It will flex with the gear

Rob wrote:I'm sorry that was for the channel,
The brake line is aeroquip 666 made to length. I prefer to go this way on cubs and Cessna's because you get rid of one more leak potential by getting rid of the flex line to tube and back to flex line junction...


Ymmv!

Are these 3/16 inner diameter? Looks like good line.

Thanks for the info.

I am thinking of installing a 90 deg nipple connected to flexible line from the cowl to the back of the gear and then a copper tube down to another flexible hose at the wheel and using the channel for the 206 to hold the copper tube.

Take this with a grain of salt, because I'm not qualified as any kind of mechanic, but I'd be really, really hesitant to use copper tubing. Copper tubing which flexes much becomes brittle and cracks, and rarely is it strong enough to take very high PSI, which in brakes can reach 1000 psi. That's why modern automotive brake lines are stainless steel, typically, for strength. I understand that there's a copper/nickle brake line out there for automotive use--don't know if it's appropriate for aviation use. Most certificated aircraft use aluminum tubing or flexible hoses like the Aero-quip. Again, I'm no mechanic.

Cary

obxbushpilot wrote:

I am thinking of installing a 90 deg nipple connected to flexible line from the cowl to the back of the gear and then a copper tube down to another flexible hose at the wheel and using the channel for the 206 to hold the copper tube.

No, that's kind of hokey and just exposes your brake system to that many more opportunities to get bent, torn, or caught on something. Run the brake lines in their standard 172 mounting holes inside the fuselage, until they are behind the rear gearbox bulkhead, then turn them outboard to reach the boot cowl skin jut behind the (new tailwheel) main gear legs. Use proper aluminum tubing for aircraft brake lines, not copper. Or, as someone mentioned, use Aeroquip hose all the way down the gear leg. Cessna wanted to save a couple of dollars, because it added up on thousands of airplanes. In your case, you may eliminate several connections and fittings, by using the flex hose all the way down the leg, at a moderate extra cost.

Cu/Ni line is used by Volvo and others, it is hard to find, however, it will take pressure.