Check those screws on c/b rudders

[RhinoDrvr]

Reading this thread as the screws in my RV-8 rudder free spin. They don't appear to be getting any looser, but I check them on every preflight now.

Question I had; why is everyone going in through the front of the fairing, vice drilling out the rivets?

If it's a matter of having bare metal replacement rivets on a painted airplane, I don't mind that, as it would match the skybolt fasteners and elevator tips.

Is it more difficult to drill rivets out than to cut a big hole in the rudder tip?

What am I missing?

[blaplante]

hence why my tip has nutplates and is removable.
think about maintenance when building!

[mr.sun]

I had been watching those counterweight screws continue to loosen on my 2004 -7 with 1400 hrs. Tried multiple ways to affix the screws but worried they might loosen enough to scrape the top of the vertical stab. Ended up drilling out the painted rivets on the rudder tip and found the lead had distorted under the washers of the nylock nuts. Lead creeps over the years. Vibration, temp changes etc. so, I made an aluminum plate with two nut plates, flipped over the lead block and tighterd it up. No movement at all in the last year. Suppose I could have shaved off a bit of lead to compensate for the weight of the aluminum plate and nut plates. But I didn’t. Used flush pop rivets for the rudder tip and touched up the rivet heads with a modeling paintbrush. I am happy with it and it only took part so a rainy afternoon to fix what had been a concern for a whole year.

[rjm727]

Proseal was not mentioned in the manual but I like the idea! My rudder is complete but there are other weights left to install. Thank you for the tip.

Originally Posted by Walt

When I install weights, I use plenty of proseal to lock everything in place.

The lead is soft and as someone eluded to above will take a set over time, if the bolts rotate but don't appear "loose" it may be ok, if unsure, then get to the nut and snug em down.