Warbird Information Exchange

We are trying to change a flat main tire on our F-84F. Our plane has a Hytrol anti-lock brake system that may be a retro fit. We are having trouble with removing the wheel and were wondering if we need to remove the unit in the center of the wheel under the dust cover? I looked at the photos of the F-84F that Clifford Bossie posted and our wheels do not look the same. Our "inner" side of the wheel is one piece with a dust cap in the center and a row of 7/8" head hex bolts and another row with internally wrenching bolts near the wheel rim. We have removed or loosened all of the bolts but the Hytrol center piece does not want to turn. Do we need to remove this? We don't want to force anything so HELP.
Thanks
Ron Stout
Pacific Coast Air Museum

i would email the various big museums most notably the usaf in dayton ohio to get rock solid info. their archives are the holy grail!!

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tom d. friedman - hey!!! those fokkers were messerschmitts!! * without ammunition, the usaf would be just another flying club!!! * better to have piece of mind than piece of tail!!

Success!! The Anti-skid unit does act as an axle nut that holds the bearing like a "normal" wheel. We made a 5" 2 pin spanner to loosen it but then it came right out. We did have to disconnect the wire going through the axle, but that was the only real problem.

Or you could just email me. I'm one of the few people that owns the full set of F-84F technical drawing microfilm.

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F-84F Simulator Project
www.f-84f.org

Sorry, but it has been almost a year, but we finally did get the wheel off (both actually) and foam filled. What we think we found out is that our plane has had the landing gear changed and that we have an older drum brake system (Thank You China Lake). We made a spanner to fit into the two notches and it unscrewed reasonably easily. The next problem that we had was that one of our newer crew members broke the valve stem when he was removing the tire and tube. We could not find a new tube, so we had to use one off an old wheel set. Once we got past this, the foam filling worked great! Kind of pricey, but it tows well and looks great. I'd recommend it for all non flying aircraft. Thanks for the help!
Ron