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Gear leg fairing hinge attachment

647jc

647jc

Well Known Member
I?m installing the standard Vans fiberglass gear leg fairings on my RV9A and am ready to rivet the hinges onto the fairings. I didn?t see anywhere in the instructions where they recommended epoxy to be applied under the hinge before riveting as they do for the cowl hinges. Not sure if Van assumes the builder will use epoxy or if it isn?t necessary or maybe even not recommended. What have others done with the hinge attachment?
 
Joe

I didn't epoxy but I am going to run a light weight fiberglass cloth down the outside as I have heard some folks say that the rivets do loosen up over time.

Maybe a bead of epoxy/micro paste on the interior would also do the trick....

Frank @ SGU RV7A last 1001 details
 
Any comments from other builders? Have others had issues with the hinge rivets getting loose over time?
 
You have little vibration or tension on the fairings to be concerned with. The rivets are quiet strong when properly installed in fiberglass. I don't think you will have any problems, nor do I think Van's recommends ,the epoxy here. The wheel fairings(the brackets that are riveted) does take a beating and extra cloth-epoxy does make for a much stronger and trouble free installation. :)
 
here here

Vance is dead on. Little stress on the gearleg glass. If concerned about it though, it is no biggie to run a bead of epoxy down the hinge before riveting. I also countersunk my rivets below flush, and filled the heads on all of my glasswork. Real easy to do.

Regards...Chris
 
This has worked for me on a few sets. Drill the hinges and fairing, apply proseal between the two, let set up then countersink and rivet. Larry
 
hinge pin installation

After the gear leg hinge is installed, Van's says that you can flex the hinge pin to install it from the bottom.

From what I see, you also need to have the wheel off. Is that right?
 
RE: Van's has it right....as usual

Craig said:
After the gear leg hinge is installed, Van's says that you can flex the hinge pin to install it from the bottom.

From what I see, you also need to have the wheel off. Is that right?
Click to expand...

The pin flex is enough to miss the tire on my install

Frank @ 1L8 ..... RV7A ...... last 994 details...will it ever end:eek:
 
Remember that with the top clamp removed,
the fairing can rotate away from the tire
giving more clearance to remove the pin.
Tom
 
Actually, Van's recommends Proseal to bond the hinges in-place prior to riveting--check out this month's RVator that's now posted to see the tip.
 
My standard practice on all metal to glass riveting is to drill 3/16 holes through the metal part between the rivets and run a nice bead of epoxy and filler along the entire length before clecoing. Almost all of the epoxy smooshes out and I remove the squeeze out while wet. Next day, I countersink and rivet. Seems very secure.
 
I put a bead of proseal between the hinge and the fiberglass and then riveted. Considering putting a layer of glass over the rivet heads, but maybe not since the rivets went in wet. I doubt that the rivet heads will do much moving over time with the proseal.
 
I put epoxy as well as rivets. Since the fairings needs to flex a fair amount during the fitting (on/off) process the epoxy was wasted effort, it just cracks.
If I redid it some proseal (or similar) and rivets would be my way to do it.
 
pin

Sorry I got two threads going here, but it seemed a likely place to post.

I worked on the hinge pin today, and there is no way that it will go in with the wheel on. I noticed the two responders had RV-7's. That might account for the difference.

Here are some photo's to show what I mean:



 
Craig said:
I worked on the hinge pin today, and there is no way that it will go in with the wheel on. I noticed the two responders had RV-7's. That might account for the difference.
Click to expand...

Yup, that's the difference - I haven't' had mine off my -8 since I put the wheels on during construction, and recognized that if I wanted to take the fairings off, the wheel would have to come off.

I find that if I am posting about an item that is different on different models of RV, I always try and put it in the model specific forum. At the very least, I identify the model I am talking about - too often, if the post is in the "General" forum, people start replying with tier own model specific information (again, sometimes without identification), and it just confuses things....RV models have many differences!
 
RE:pIX worth a 1000 words

Craig

Initially I was a bit uneasy about putting some pressure on the pins to curve them away from the tire. I finally did and they came out except for being curved permanently......They still go in and out and get easier each time.

I would suggest you get a bit agressive with them and they will come out fine.

I am not sure but by your Pix they seem very simiar to my RV7A....

Frank @ 1L8 ..... RV7A ..... last 994 Details .......

Craig said:
Sorry I got two threads going here, but it seemed a likely place to post.

I worked on the hinge pin today, and there is no way that it will go in with the wheel on. I noticed the two responders had RV-7's. That might account for the difference.

Here are some photo's to show what I mean:



Click to expand...
 
Thanks Paul,

It's good to know that you came to the same conclusion.

I should have just started a new thread.

I started by doing a search for the answer. This thread seemed like it was close to what I wanted to know. Being basically lazy, it was easier to reply than to start a new thread.

My signature specifies my model, but I know what you're saying.
 
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