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  #11  
Old 08-26-2015, 05:00 PM
f14av8r's Avatar
f14av8r f14av8r is offline
 
Join Date: Apr 2012
Location: Tampa (Wimauma actually)
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Default Why Doesn't Vans Make this Standard?

I'm a purely interested observer here and I don't mean to derail the discussion. That said, I do have a question. First, some caveats. I'm happily flying and maintaining my purchased RV-4 and I've never built an RV. I'm thinking I might want to in the future though and what I read hear concerns me. What I don't understand is why Vans wouldn't make such an apparently important mod as this gear tower mod a revision to the plans. What do the engineers at Van's have to say about this modification? It just seems odd that so many builders would be going down this road without any support from Vans.
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RV-4 N212CS (sold)
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  #12  
Old 08-26-2015, 07:02 PM
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cdmiller cdmiller is offline
 
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: Battle Ground, Washington
Posts: 138
Default Thank you!

Kahuna, thanks for the quick reply. So, did you use the original bolts with the new nuts? I can reach the nuts with difficulty, but can't get a 9/16 socket on some of them due to interference with all the AN3 hardware nearby. Thanks for your help.

Dan
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  #13  
Old 08-26-2015, 07:30 PM
Scott Hersha Scott Hersha is offline
 
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: Cincinnati, OH
Posts: 1,558
Default

There is more than one way to skin a cat when it comes to torquing those bolts hidden in the gear tower in a very difficult place. My friend Bruce, in Cincinnati, has designed a piece of hardware that captures the head of the bolt inside the gear weldment so that the bolt can't turn. The bolt installs from the top with the nut on the bottom. The bolt can't turn, you torque it from the bottom, very easily. The exposed bolt/nut combination protrudes further than the bolt head in the plans configuration, but I've never seen an upper intersection fairing that wouldn't cover this additional exposure completely. Bruce is hopefully making me a set and I will change them out on my RV8 next annual. The extra opening in the gear tower is nice for routing wires and running vent lines, etc during your initial build, but not as necessary, since you won't have to go in there to check torque on those sinful nuts (nasty language loudly observed) every year.
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RV6/2001 built/sold 2005
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  #14  
Old 08-27-2015, 06:42 AM
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Kahuna Kahuna is offline
 
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: Gold Hill, NC25
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Quote:
Originally Posted by cdmiller View Post
Kahuna, thanks for the quick reply. So, did you use the original bolts with the new nuts? I can reach the nuts with difficulty, but can't get a 9/16 socket on some of them due to interference with all the AN3 hardware nearby. Thanks for your help.

Dan
I have the original bolts.
I also flipped all the an3 hardware around in the tower. That was a pain, but doable. Im not sure how doable that would have been without the tower mod. Probably still doable. My towers are full of stuff. Most notable a 2" scat for my rear heat. Also extra -6 lines from my smoke tank both supply and vent. My towers are busy.
To be clear, the nuts are about increased tensile strength first and foremost. As an added benefit, you can get a socket on them easier.
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