Nose Gear leg play advice

[CraigM]

So, I had the nose up to R&R the nose wheel with the Anti-splat bearing mod and I found that there was a little rotational play in the gear leg. Further investigation showed that the bolt at the top of the gear leg that goes through the engine mount had come a little loose. I tightened it up and it seems to have taken the play out, but it leaves me with a couple of questions.

Does this happen often? (obviously something I will be checking every time the cowl comes off now, not just at annual)
Is there something I should be concerned about with the gear leg, engine mount, or the bolt itself?

Looking for thoughts from the more experienced.

[Walt]

Ideally there should be no rotation with the bolt in place, movement means there is some slop in the mount/leg hole. I would remove the bolt and check it for wear but I would just go ahead and replace it with a close tolerance bolt which should help fill the hole a bit.

[RV6airplanePilot]

to use the correct close tolerance bolt. I have seen the results of those who have just put in a cheaper substitute. The design is highly dependent on having zero play on that one bolt. Any movement will start a damaging wear process and a lot more work later. There is more vibration and stress on that bolt than you might imagine and incremental tightening of the nut will only buy a little time.

Replace with a taper pin. See http://www.matronics.com/wiki/index....ose_Gear_Strut

[Fred.Stucklen]

This problem has been discussed before.... The taper pin idea works well, but is still difficult to implement. Here's another approach, which also works witht he taper pin idea..... Assemble the nose gear leg with permanent locktight on the upper journal (the surface where the bolt goes through). The surfaces must be very clean (absolutely no grease on the mating surfaces) so clean out any grease inside the motor mount tube. Regrease the lower journal area after you have partially inserted the gear leg. Apply locktight to the upper journal prior to inserting the gear leg, and to the upper gear leg journal area by over inserting the gear leg. If the motor mount bolt hole is just a little bit elongated, fill in the worn area with a bit of JB weld. Once the bolt is inserted and tightened, the gear leg won't move.... If the gear leg has to be removed, applying heat to the area where the locktight was used will soften it enough to remove the gear leg...... I've used this process on several RV's and never had one move again!

Fred Stucklen
RV-7A N924RV 750 Hrs (Flying)
RV-6A N926RV 875 Hrs (Sold)
RV-6A N925RV 2008 Hrs (Sold)

Originally Posted by CraigM

So, I had the nose up to R&R the nose wheel with the Anti-splat bearing mod and I found that there was a little rotational play in the gear leg. Further investigation showed that the bolt at the top of the gear leg that goes through the engine mount had come a little loose. I tightened it up and it seems to have taken the play out, but it leaves me with a couple of questions.

Does this happen often? (obviously something I will be checking every time the cowl comes off now, not just at annual)
Is there something I should be concerned about with the gear leg, engine mount, or the bolt itself?

Looking for thoughts from the more experienced.

[CraigM]

Originally Posted by paul mosher

Replace with a taper pin. See http://www.matronics.com/wiki/index....ose_Gear_Strut

Really great stuff here! The play was really very little and I think the tappered pin is what is in it, which may have been why it looked so different to me. I will be pulling it apart this week to make sure I make a good decision on what to do with it.

Thanks for the great responses.

[don.olandese]

...there shouldn't BE a nose wheel assembly (just had to say it before someone else did!) they make our beautiful airplanes look kind of stubby.

[rzbill]

Good Grief.
Give it a rest already.
A purpose designed nosewheel works better on the front than trying to lead with the little wheel after a ground loop.

Somebody needs to tell Boeing, Airbus, Lockheed, ect, that they are building airplanes all wrong what with the wheels being up front.