Bellanca Cruisair Installing Cleveland Brakes Viking and Crusair Axles Compared

"It's like Night and Day !"
Cleveland Brakes - Easy and Extremely Worthwhile Safety Upgrade
The Bellanca-Champion Club pamphlet on this subject is wrong in one respect. It is NOT possible to mount 1.5 inch dia. Viking axles on the 1.25 inch dia. Cruisair gear leg.

It is correct in specifying the Parker-Hannefin Cleveland Cessna disc brake upgrade kit ( for C 150-172) .
Here we look at axles from the Viking and the Cruisair side by side for comparison.
We use the inner spacer from the Viking axle to set the position of the new Cleveland Brake Disc correctly.
We fabricated the new sleeve from standard 4130 chrome moly steel purchased from Air Craft Spruce and Specialty Co. Which we cut to size and polished on a drill press. ( use a long bolt and 2 big washers to sandwich the tube, chuck it in the drill, use emery cloth to polish.. mike the size. )

We used spacers purchased from Grove Aircraft between the outer wheel bearing and the axle nut.
The inner sleeve could be longer and one piece, rather than using the inner spacer from the original installation. Either way is ok.
If you have a lathe available, you can turn the 1.5 dia sleeve as a single piece incorporating the 1.625 dia inner spacer.. but the width dimension is critical since it positions the brake disc between the pucks !
The original brake mounting can be used, two of the original holes will match the caliper assy of the new brakes, and two NEW holes must be marked and drilled. Use new elastic stop nuts !
Note the direction of the mounting bolts and position of the nuts on the old brakes, and insert them the same way on the new ones.
It is necessary to fabricate new flexible brake lines.. measure well, leaving enough length for full extension of the landing gear on take off. Jack up the plane , and get the caliper position correct to eliminate hose chafe.
Despite much theorizing, the Cleveland brakes seem to work more than adequately with the original Hayes low pressure master cylinders. One club member has used his this way for 25+ years. Overhaul your master cylinders with new O-rings and hone them lightly if necessary. Use proper hydraulic O rings.. not those made for water systems !
There is no Cleveland master cylinder ( new or used) which will fit the airplane without modification. A specific grove master cylinder will fit, and has proper specs. but is not certified. It has a mounting tab which is too wide to fit the existing bracket. I did not use them.. and didn't need to. although they might be legal as owner supplied parts. See your IA.
Follow the taxi break-in procedure in the supplied manual. Use a pressure gauge to test your masters and lines if at all uncertain about leaks. ( $15 at Napa)
Taxi tests will give you confidence and build skill, before you actually fly with your new brakes.
This is very simple to do.. and makes the airplane so much safer and more reliable and predictable when maneuvering.
"It's like night and day" one club member said. Too True !
Please have your A and P supervise ( or do) your work, and your IA inspect your work, make log entries, including new weight and balance. Many cruisairs have been modified in this way. Nothing irreversible is done.. for you purists ( like me ! ).
Why did I wait ? .. is what you will ask yourself .