Thrust Bearings In Tail - Fingers Crossed

[readyheli]

If all goes well we will be able to provide feedback as early as 1-2 days...we replaced one of the radials with a boca thrust bearing today...lets see if this helps some of the "grip" issues we are having in hard 4 point tic tocs...

pic below.

[flypilot]

Great works guys...Appreciate the effort in making this heli even better :noteworthy

[Finless]

Sweet but I looked at this already.
Arent the thrust bearins .5mm thinner? Thus you might have to trim the screw a little... no biggie...

Also with this setup and the Gaui hub you wont be able to tighten the screw all the way down and be forced to leave it loose so you dont bind up the thrust bearing.
If you try this use RED locktite so you can leave the screw loose enough for the thrust bearing to turn easily.

Finally thrust bearings need to have the smaller inner race supported by a hub or shaft, or they tend to get crooked and bind up. The screw diameter wont be enough. It will be important to get the screw "just tight enough" for the bearing to turn but now allow the thrust races to move or tilt at all.

In the end what we need is a HUB to go with these!!!

Bob

[Finless]

Just another though... it might be beter to reverse the order of the bearings sine the thust bearing isnt on a hub or shaft.

[readyheli]

we were going to use od 3mm brass tubing to make a makeshift collar to bite the screw, plus a .125mm shim in between the radial and thrust...got more work to do, thats why i said a couple days...think that will work?

[Finless]

Yes that sounds good but will you be able to get a thin enough wall tubing for the screw to fit in it?

Bob

[arclite5]

There's always the trusty old Dremel.

-Kyle

[tungym]

I did this exactly the same with my Trex600, before the ALign thrust bearing version come out of market. It works perfectly BUT BE VERY CAREFUL even red loctited a loosen screw, you still have the risk of shooting out the whole tail grip. I recheck the tail grip after 2 mins hovering and one grip screw loosen out 2mm .

Finally, I can confidently secure it with CA. Yes , CA, not a good idea but better than loctite in this special situation.

[Happy|Harry]

any more work done on this mod guys?

phil

[readyheli]

we are literally staring out the window right now watching the rain come down (3 days in a row)...as soon as there is a quick break in the weather, we are gonna grab the camera and go outside and test it...

JG

[Happy|Harry]

yeah i know that feeling, damn rain :(. i look forward to hearing how it goes as this should prove to be cheaper mod than replacing the tail with a rappy one

phil

[readyheli]

i cracked one of the grips, poor me, messing with the screws, while it was raining, so i will have to wait for my spares to arrive this weekend (good for all of us because we will have parts), and rebuild the tail.

:arggg:

ill let you all know how it goes.

[Skaross]

Just carried out an upgrade on my tail using an aftermarket metal Raptor tail part set.

Was looking at the Raptor parts listed for replacing the stock Gaui tail and saw this metal kit for sale for around £23 ($46).

It's bought from a UK dealer so USA people will need to look for an equivelent.
http://fast-lad.co.uk/store/product_info.php?cPath=22_63&products_id=456

This is not much more than the stock TT plastic parts in the UK and hey its bling!!! :)

Hope you like
Kev

[Finless]

:thumbup:

[Happy|Harry]

Just carried out an upgrade on my tail using an aftermarket metal Raptor tail part set.

Was looking at the Raptor parts listed for replacing the stock Gaui tail and saw this metal kit for sale for around £23 ($46).

It's bought from a UK dealer so USA people will need to look for an equivelent.
http://fast-lad.co.uk/store/product_info.php?cPath=22_63&products_id=456

This is not much more than the stock TT plastic parts in the UK and hey its bling!!! :)

Hope you like
Kev

hey kev :glasses2:, do these grips have thrust bearings?

phil

[Skaross]

They have the standard arrangement for a Raptor with the bearings supported through the middle on the hub rather than being pinched up with a bolt through the middle. It is the same system as Bob shows in his video upgrade using the genuine Raptor parts.

Can't tell you if there are thrust bearings in the middle, because all bearings are pre-pressed into the blade carriers, but the fact the bearing is properly supported should eliminate stiction.

Kev

[stevehonn]

No thrust bearings fitted on these grips :(

[Skaross]

Steve

From what Bob said on his video, it isnt just thrust bearings that can improve things, its the fact that the bearings are properly supported on the hub.

With the Gaui hub, any side forces on the blades would be transfered to the bearing in the grip by the bolt, causing it to distort. John is specifically trying to fix this problem using thrust bearings.

The standard Raptor parts has a support for the same bearing made as part of the hub which will stop these forces causing distortion. It is un-thrusted, but the better design eliminates the locking-up problem.

I probably shouldn't have tacked this post on to John's thread, since it isn't quite the same fix for the problem... but I lost the original discussion post on Raptor upgrades :) Too many beers I feel!

Kev

[stevehonn]

Kev,
I get what you are saying and I know that there is a revised Thunder Tiger metal hub for the Raptor tail as the stock hub has the same problems as the original Gaui!

One of the problems at running tail blade grips with only radial bearings is that they can get notchy at high rpm, something the Trex 600 suffers from and hence the thrust raced upgrade. The Quick UK Raptor 30/50 tail is all alloy and thrust raced and is better or the job but not as cheap as Fast Lads option.

[Finless]

I agree a thrust bearing design would be best but the Raptor style hub that supports the bearings work way better than the "butt end" design of the Gaui tail.

Lots of helis have had this problem using a butt end design. Align 450 which is fixed now, Logo 14 and they have an upgrade to fix it, etc etc...
Anytway until a thrust bearing tail can be had this raptor tail upgrade is the next best thing as it is a DROP IN replacement with no mods needed.

Bob