I have a VAN's RV nose tube and a RV nose
caster and wheel. I am very pleased with
it's performance, and it has no shimmy. You
might be able to make an RV caster work depending
on the size of your nose gear tube.
I was able to buy the caster, nose wheel
pant, nose gear faring and wheel assembly
including all the hardware needed to assemble,
which included the drawings for all the assemblies.
They have 2 different set of drawings. One
is for reference only and not fabrication.
The other drawings have detailed info for
building. I also used their drawing to modify
my motor mount for the fabrication of the
structure needed to house my RV nose gear.
I visited an RV builder to get some of the
measurements and get a feel of how the whole
thing was put together. I made a mockup of
the nose gear tube out of black gas pipe
to get the length and angles right for my
BD. I then made a drawing of what I needed
and had Harmon Lange (Van's gear vender)
make me a nose gear to my drawing. There
was little change from a RV-6A nose gear.
Here is a drawing I used to have my nose
gear made. You would have to make the angles
and length fit your bird. This drawing was
made to fit my bird and might not fit yours
or anyone else's.
Click on image for a larger view
Information supplied by Ron Vance and used with his permission. This information originally appeared on the BD-4 Mailing List supported by Northwest Aero