[ChrisMallory]

I just installed a new tailwheel assembly, and have a little play in it. It can't be completely tight, or the washer would bind, and the wheel would not spin. But is .006 a little too much? What do others have?

 

[RV8iator]

Shims

Mine had a bit of play and I put one of Vince Fraziers "Flyboy Accessories" tailwheel shims in and it tightened it up perfectly. He sells them in different sizes.

http://www.flyboyaccessories.com/

I've done a lot of business with Vince and he always treats you right.

 

[scsmith]

I had this problem too

I Had the same problem when I went to a different tail wheel fork. Mine is from Aviation Tech Products, very similar to the Bell fork. (not the same as aviatio products)

I made a shim washer out of 0.020 stainless steel shim stock. It works great, but its kind of pain to remember when servicing. Not sure whether it is worth the trouble, but it did get the play to be about 0.005 instead of too sloppy.

Curious what others say.

 

[ChrisMallory]

Follow up. Mine is also Flyboy Accessories, so I called Vince, and he said it was no issue. There needs to be some play, and what I have is fine. He had up to 1/8 in when he was doing the testing, and found no adverse affects.
The new wheel and steering are great by the way. Much more control and positive feel than the chains. Great customer service too!

 

[vfrazier]

Thanks for the kind words Chris.

Indeed, you have to have some clearance for the tailwheel parts to move freely. How much is too much can be a tough question, but the most important thing is that the steering locks when it should lock and unlocks when it should unlock.

In other words, you really need not worry about a little up and down play in the fork/bushing socket assembly. As Chris said, I torture tested a sloppy fork for about 75 hours with no problems occurring.

It is also OK for the control arm (the part that connects to the rudder chains) to wobble a bit.

If either of these items seem unreasonably loose on your plane, there are ways to fix them.

These parts should have more of an "AK-47" fit, than an "M-16" fit. They are exposed to sand, dirt, mud, and water. The tailwheel parts need a bit of slop so the parts don't bind.

Once again, if the steering is locking and unlocking when it should, don't fret about it.

It is recommended that you remove the large retaining nut and completely disassemble the tailwheel fork at least once a year. Clean it with a paper towel, inspect the locking pin and control arm for wear, burrs, or other anomalies, grease the whole thing with wheel bearing grease APPLIED WITH YOUR FINGER, and reassemble.

Do not be fooled by the grease zerk on the back of the bushing housing. It WILL NOT distribute grease evenly, and it ABSOLUTELY WILL NOT get any grease up to the locking pin area... which is an important area to keep lubed. (This "grease zerk" is actually a bushing lock. It prevents the machined upper bushing from spinning. It's completely useless as a grease zerk.)

Contact me if you have any questions!

Fly safely.