wing bolts through gear weldments

Was thinking last night as I put the gear weldments back in my plane (After taking them out to repaint the cabin)...

How easily will the wing bolts slide through the gear weldment holes when the wings are put on?? Did your holes line up or need to be reamed?

Wondering if I should take the gear weldments out again and check the fit... or is the fit pretty good from the factory?? If I recall, the other holes for the AN4 bolts lined up pretty well. Can't remember if I had to remove the powder coat or not.

How did yours go together?

Thanks much in advance for helping alleviate my headache.

slipped right in

On my 9A the gear weldments lined up great and the wing bolts went through without removing any powder coat. The real challenge is getting the washer and nut on several of the lower bolts. There's another thread on that subject here somewhere. Jack

Buy some bolts from Lowes that are the same size as the wing bolts, sand down the shank a bit, and see if you can get them through the mount + spar. That's what I used when I originally fitted the gear mounts into the fuselage.

Davepar said:

Buy some bolts from Lowes that are the same size as the wing bolts, sand down the shank a bit, and see if you can get them through the mount + spar. That's what I used when I originally fitted the gear mounts into the fuselage.

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Lowe's didn't have bolts the size of the large wing bolts (7/16" if my memory is correct) when I helped my son mount his wings (to drill the aft fittings). They do have 1/4" bolts (the smaller ones) of course. Hopefully your store has a better inventory.

The hardware store bolts are very soft compared to the AN bolts, so sand them down enough so they slip through the wing spar with only hand force (with a bit of lubrication of course) - do NOT pound them in under any circumstances - especially the smaller ones (don't ask me why I say this)!!

Dennis Glaeser
7A - empennage done, wings arrive Wed!

Hole clearence

I had to open up the weldment holes slightly to allow the bolts to go through. I would test fit. This is when I found out that the plates on the outside of the spar box were blocking part of the hole. After talking to Vans they had me file the plate opening carefully without filing the spar hole.

Jeff Vaughan
RV7a