I called BAS Part Sales this morning and told them about the cracked wheel that they'd sent. When I ordered it a couple weeks ago, they had two in stock. Unfortunately, the second one was sold last week. Gah. However, the sales rep (who I'll call 'M' for brevity) said they'd just received a wheel with part number 40-113C. As noted earlier, the 'B' and 'C' wheels are the same except that the C wheel is used on the main gear and includes a brake rotor. Interestingly, none of the C wheels I've seen pictures of during my search include a brake rotor.
M said they'd just gotten this wheel in so he would check it for cracks, take pictures of it, and send them to me. It didn't take long for the pictures to show up in my inbox. As with all the other C wheels, there's no brake rotor. However, from what I could see in the photos, it is absolutely identical with the B wheel that they'd sent earlier, right down to every number and letter imprinted on the two halves. So I replied to the email asking him to call me back so we could work out the exchange.
He did so, and that wheel should be on its way shortly. He offered to ship it two-day at no additional charge so, hopefully, it will arrive on Friday. I doubt very strongly that the plane can still be ready this weekend, given the fuel pump and carburetor work that still needs to be done but, maybe, just maybe, the weekend after? One can only hope.
An interesting addendum to this is that M told me this wheel came off of a 172N where it was on one of the main gear. They got the mate to it as well and it's cracked. If these were the factory wheels, that would put the manufacture date somewhere in the late 70s. Three wheels from that era cracked makes me think this is going to be an increasingly common issue with these wheels approaching 50 years in age. It might be time for Cleveland to ramp up production and make a batch.
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