Twin Comanche Brakes

Aztec Driver

Aztec Driver

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Mar 7, 2005
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Elizabethtown, PA
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Bryon
I am having issues with my brakes in my Twin Comanche. Between myself and the few times I loan out my aircraft, I only get 40-50 hours on my plane in a year. I have to replace the brakes at every annual, and sometimes more frequently than that. I use the brakes very sparingly, preferring to touch down at the proper speed and let it slow down on the long runway rather than jam on the brakes to make the first turnoff.

I just had them replaced again in Feb, and I heard the sound of scraping metal again the other day as I taxiied to the hangar. Today I did a thorough look at them and discovered the outboard brake pads on both main gear are worn completely down and scraping the rotor. The inboard pads are still almost like new.

Why the difference in wear?

I break the pads in as instructed by the manufacturer, so why do they wear out so quickly?
 
Pins on the calipers that "float" in the tourqe plates binding and bad disks eat pads for lunch.

I've been cleaning the pins every annual and lubing them with an antiseize and been happy with the results. New dsks were needed too in my case.

Cessna product but its basically the same I bet
 
Aztec Driver said:
I am having issues with my brakes in my Twin Comanche. Between myself and the few times I loan out my aircraft, I only get 40-50 hours on my plane in a year. I have to replace the brakes at every annual, and sometimes more frequently than that. I use the brakes very sparingly, preferring to touch down at the proper speed and let it slow down on the long runway rather than jam on the brakes to make the first turnoff.

I just had them replaced again in Feb, and I heard the sound of scraping metal again the other day as I taxiied to the hangar. Today I did a thorough look at them and discovered the outboard brake pads on both main gear are worn completely down and scraping the rotor. The inboard pads are still almost like new.

Why the difference in wear?

I break the pads in as instructed by the manufacturer, so why do they wear out so quickly?
Click to expand...

Your calipers aren't "floating" properly so every time you apply the brakes, the outer pads keep dragging. Disassemble, clean, and dress all the floating surfaces. If you want to use a lube, use a dry lube.
 
PA24 I trained folks in went years between pads.

Something is out of adjustment for sure.
 
What do you idle at when taxiing back from that "long runway"? Mine didn't need much power, IIRC, or it would go too fast. Can't remember about the brake wear.

dtuuri
 
dtuuri said:
What do you idle at when taxiing back from that "long runway"? Mine didn't need much power, IIRC, or it would go too fast. Can't remember about the brake wear.

dtuuri
Click to expand...

Enough power to taxi at a reasonable speed without much use of the brakes. Brakes AND power aren't needed at the same time when taxiing. Something grilled heavily into me when training for 135 operations.
 
Aztec Driver said:
Enough power to taxi at a reasonable speed without much use of the brakes. Brakes AND power aren't needed at the same time when taxiing. Something grilled heavily into me when training for 135 operations.
Click to expand...

That's why he was trying to get a power quantity, to give a reference to see how much brake drag you were incurring taxiing.
 
The anchor bolts are often corroded and get hung up or stick in the torque plate bushings. Also, gunk can keep the pressure plate from floating freely. All of this stuff wears out making it sloppy and not work correctly too.


 
Hopefully your disks don't look anything like this

 
Something else you might check is the torque on the cyl to back plate bolts. Should only be 60 in/lbs or so. Too tight, stuff won't stay square and will bind.
You have Cleveland's? Metallic or organic pads?
 
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