Desert Rat
Well Known Member
I was rigging my tailwheel steering yesterday and had the same issues that others have reported; chains hitting the lower rudder fairing at full travel, impossible to get the spring clips sprung enough to install and then collapsed back so they don't fall off without adding a big wad of safety wire, etc.etc.etc.
I had decided to go the same route that so many other folks have and use the AN42B eye bolts and a simple add-a-link chain link back there. Imagine my surprise when I discovered Spruce isn't the least bit ashamed to charge $12 each for those things. With shipping and tax, that's gotta run close to $60!
So this morning I took my cheap self down to the Yard Store here in Wichita and lo and behold, they had some 2" long AN42B in their surplus hardware building. For the whopping price of $12 a POUND. I walked out with a handful of those as well as a bunch of other random stuff.
I took them home and spend about a hour cutting threads the rest of the way down the shank with the el cheapo harbor freight tap and die I happened to have at the house. Yeah it would have been easier to cut them off first so I didn't have to cut som many threads, but the reason I was at the house is because thats where my bench vise is, and it turns out my dremmel and evidently every hack saw I own was at the hangar.
Anyway, when I got to the hangar this afternoon I cut them down to an appropriate length, which turned out be around 5/8".
I have to say, I'm pretty happy with how this turned out and the best part was, Including the two stainless add-a-link couplers it was only about $9 bucks.
If anybody is going this route, has a tap and die set, and doesn't want to pay $12 bucks a pop for these at spruce, let me know and I'll go back down there, grab another handful and mail you a ship set (4) for what, like maybe $5 bucks to cover my gas and the postage?
I had decided to go the same route that so many other folks have and use the AN42B eye bolts and a simple add-a-link chain link back there. Imagine my surprise when I discovered Spruce isn't the least bit ashamed to charge $12 each for those things. With shipping and tax, that's gotta run close to $60!
So this morning I took my cheap self down to the Yard Store here in Wichita and lo and behold, they had some 2" long AN42B in their surplus hardware building. For the whopping price of $12 a POUND. I walked out with a handful of those as well as a bunch of other random stuff.
I took them home and spend about a hour cutting threads the rest of the way down the shank with the el cheapo harbor freight tap and die I happened to have at the house. Yeah it would have been easier to cut them off first so I didn't have to cut som many threads, but the reason I was at the house is because thats where my bench vise is, and it turns out my dremmel and evidently every hack saw I own was at the hangar.
Anyway, when I got to the hangar this afternoon I cut them down to an appropriate length, which turned out be around 5/8".
I have to say, I'm pretty happy with how this turned out and the best part was, Including the two stainless add-a-link couplers it was only about $9 bucks.
If anybody is going this route, has a tap and die set, and doesn't want to pay $12 bucks a pop for these at spruce, let me know and I'll go back down there, grab another handful and mail you a ship set (4) for what, like maybe $5 bucks to cover my gas and the postage?