anti-shimmy leg stiffeners

[Bluebeard]

Now I can report that the stiffeners I have recently fitted do eliminate the shimmy I previously encountered on hard-surface runways.

Maybe now I can safely increase my 24 psi tire pressure a bit.

I'm planning to inspect the stiffeners closely at the end of the summer season and see whether the cable ties (apart from ones where I used rubber backing) have marked the legs, loosened or deteriorated in any way.

[rightrudder]

Good to hear that the stiffeners worked for you. I haven't balanced any of my wheels/tires and run pressures of 40 psi all around. I've heard stories of people blowing tubes up front as a result of too little pressure. Make sure that the break-out force is within spec!

[Bluebeard]

A friend ripped the valves off his RV7's tubes due to running low pressures and braking too enthusiastically .......

[Dan Langhout]

Originally Posted by lr172

I understand the logic and rationale for this recommendation. In my case, I chose tie wraps as I was concerned about corrosion under the F/G wrapping. My experience has been to avoid creating situations where moisture will be kept in contact with steel when possible to minimize corrosion. I found several posts from other members finding corrosion similar to what Katie found. The stiffener is not structural and therefore I was not concerned if the tie wraps failed. I used a rubber buffer to eliminate chafing.

Larry

What exactly did you use for the "rubber buffer"? Silicon self fusing tape or something else?

[Dan Langhout]

Originally Posted by Bluebeard

Now I can report that the stiffeners I have recently fitted do eliminate the shimmy I previously encountered on hard-surface runways.

Maybe now I can safely increase my 24 psi tire pressure a bit.

I'm planning to inspect the stiffeners closely at the end of the summer season and see whether the cable ties (apart from ones where I used rubber backing) have marked the legs, loosened or deteriorated in any way.

So - what exactly did you use for a rubber backing? (Seems like I am conducting a survey about rubber backing now )

[Bluebeard]

For my backing, on some of the cable ties, I used a piece of bicycle tube rubber.

[fixnflyguy]

The steel gear legs are rust prone by nature of alloy. I chose a slightly different approach, and epoxy primed, urethane pained the legs, then set/bonded the wood stiffeners with Proseal and taped in place. After Proseal cured, I wrapped with 3 layers of glass and sealed top and bottom with Proseal. 5 years in service, no cracks, corrosion and no shimmy. I don't recommend any RTV around steel, as it's acid will cause corrosion.

[lr172]

Originally Posted by Dan Langhout

What exactly did you use for the "rubber buffer"? Silicon self fusing tape or something else?

It is a rubber tape that comes on a roll for electrical. It is not really self- fusing, but it does kind of stick to itself. It is maybe 1/16" thick. Get it at home depot

[Dan Langhout]

. . . . for the info.

[bret]

Originally Posted by fixnflyguy

The steel gear legs are rust prone by nature of alloy. I chose a slightly different approach, and epoxy primed, urethane pained the legs, then set/bonded the wood stiffeners with Proseal and taped in place. After Proseal cured, I wrapped with 3 layers of glass and sealed top and bottom with Proseal. 5 years in service, no cracks, corrosion and no shimmy. I don't recommend any RTV around steel, as it's acid will cause corrosion.

Can you please expand on the statement about steel and RTV? I have been using this stuff on steel, cast iron, aluminum engine, TC, and diff parts for decades......