Preventing Rod End Thread Corrosion?

[rocketbob]

My $.02 is this was from a loose nut which allowed the rod end thread to fret in the nutplate. I would check the threads in the nutplate as well.

[avrojockey]

Originally Posted by rocketbob

My $.02 is this was from a loose nut which allowed the rod end thread to fret in the nutplate. I would check the threads in the nutplate as well.

Thanks Bob...checked. All good!

[Steve Melton]

makes me think the tie rod material is not very good. very good find. was this aircraft ever stationed by the sea?

[avrojockey]

Originally Posted by Steve Melton

makes me think the tie rod material is not very good. very good find. was this aircraft ever stationed by the sea?

Not near salt water that I know of.

I was able to scrape off the paint and read part# and they're the original Van's supplied Aurora bearings (Heim clones) also available at ACS...

https://www.aircraftspruce.com/catal...rabearings.php

I wonder if the quality is not the same as the Heim brand. They're a lot less expensive than the Heim equivalent.

[Steve Melton]

I helped with a commercial flight test aircraft 10 yrs ago. A supplier had substituted aurora tie rod ends for heim because of availability. the aurora tie rod ends failed after a year. there was a lot of corrosion. your finding is more proof for me. poor material quality.

[rv7boy]

Originally Posted by avrojockey

Not near salt water that I know of.

Hi Tim,
The second owner of your aircraft lived near Pensacola but I don?t know how long 904DC stayed there before going to Texas and Kansas. I bucked a few wing rivets, witnessed the first flight and have about 10 hours in her before she was sold by the original owner/builder. I was glad to see her being flown a lot after you got her.

Again, I don?t know if she stayed long enough in Florida to initiate what appears to be galvanic corrosion on that rod end bearing. I do note that the paint scheme on the tail has been changed from the original checkerboard red and white so her rudder skins may have been changed along the way as well.

[avrojockey]

Originally Posted by rv7boy

Hi Tim,
The second owner of your aircraft lived near Pensacola but I don’t know how long 904DC stayed there before going to Texas and Kansas. I bucked a few wing rivets, witnessed the first flight and have about 10 hours in her before she was sold by the original owner/builder. I was glad to see her being flown a lot after you got her.

Again, I don’t know if she stayed long enough in Florida to initiate what appears to be galvanic corrosion on that rod end bearing. I do note that the paint scheme on the tail has been changed from the original checkerboard red and white so her rudder skins may have been changed along the way as well.

Looks like the second owners only had it for 6 months, then it went to Dallas/Fort Worth area for 5 years, then Evansville, Indiana for 6.

Yea...it had some down time for awhile, but I've put about 60 hrs on it so far, mainly commuting for work. It's been running good for 1300TT. I was fixing some cosmetic things when I found a gnarly hole had been drilled through the rudder horn and spar for the tail light. We didn't catch this on the pre-buy. The replacement parts were inexpensive from Vans and I have a lot of free time with work being slow, so it wasn't a big deal to fix...and I get some new tools! This is when I pulled the rod end bearing and found the corrosion.

[vfrazier]

QUOTE: "Seems to be galvanic corrosion from the reinforcement plate, rudder horn and rudder spar."

Galvanic corrosion should have eroded the aluminum, not the steel. Something is weird though. It could be as rocketbob said, or mouse urine, or poor quality, or other unusual incompatibility.

Glad you found it. This is why we inspect.

[444TX]

I had rudder rod ends frozen on my 8. The ball was frozen in the heim and the bolt frozen in the ball. Had to saw the ends in half to get the rudder off the plane and grind off the head and nut to remove the heim end from the rudder.

Have been to the Bahamas twice, a multiple short coast trips and multiple sun-n-funs over the 12 years before it happened. All other the other heims are OK. No other aircraft corrosion issues and heims were spray lubed annually. With the bolt on mine frozen in the ball maybe there is some type of dissimilar material problem with these ends.

FYI, the ECK corrosion lube is available from spruce.

George Meketa
RV8

[Steve Melton]

I lube my exposed aurora rod ends with LPS1 every other flight. this will not slow galvanic corrosion.