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Control Stick Bushing Shim

Tandem46

Well Known Member
Regarding shims for the brass/bronze bushing to remove slop in the WD611/612, I can’t visualize how this is done. I reference an old post from Geico below. Can anyone shed some light on this? Btw, I know about the importance of the bushing length and also about the method of reaming the WD611/612 ID and going with a bigger OD bushing, but I’m referring to the shim method.

...Make sure the brass / bronze bushing fits snugly into the steel tube though. Any slop there will cause the stick to have an annoying jiggle to it. I have added brass shim stock to RV's to "tighten" them up and get rid of the jiggle. It makes them rock solid, but does not effect control. After you get it put togeather grab the stick and move it around. If you like the feel you are done, if not study where the movement is and add shim stock. Pop cans work in a pinch, but thin aluminum is a temporary shim. It won't last but a few years.

Thanks!
 
The only thing I can think of him talking about is wrapping stock around the brass bushings? If so the bushing would have to be wildly off to allow this!

You will however most likely need shims where the bearings are on the pieces that attach to the spar carry through. Any amount of side force when you tighten these bolts will lead to stiffness. See this post I made on how to solve it.
 
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The only thing I can think of him talking about is wrapping stock around the brass bushings? If so the bushing would have to be wildly off to allow this!

Exactly what I was thinking, which is why I can’t visualize what he did. The play between my bushing and the weldment tube is so minuscule I don’t see how one could get even a mouse hair in there.
 
The play comes from the bushing being too long for the weldment.
You really need to make sure that the bushing is only “just” longer than the tube it sits in. Otherwise the stick rides fore and aft on the bushing. The assembly then needed to be a slip fit. Ie no slop


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Typically the play/slop comes from the weldment not having a true round bore and therefore the interface between the bushing and the tubing ID have more clearance in some areas. Assiming the bushing is held tight between the two ears of the control assembly, there is no shimming option. You can try to better match the ID / OD clearance between the parts. I have even machined custom taperred bushings and still couldn't get rid of the slop, due to the lack of a round ID on the weldment.

Larry
 
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