During a recent pre-flight inspection I noted that the tail end of both main wheel pants had some vertical movement. Since it was time to re-pad the brakes, I figured I'd look into the issue further.
I suspected that the three bolts that hold the wheel pant bracket to the axel flange where loose. I was surprised to find the whole axel flange having a slight rotating movement on the axel.
I disassembled the axel bracket form the axel to see where the movement originated.
There was no one part that appeared out of tolerance, but each had a very slight amount of movement on the bolt. A new bolt was no different. So I re-assembled the unit using Loctite in increase the holding area of the bracket to the axel. Here's the assembled unit and the Loctite used:
Both axel brackets were loctited. The axel flanges can still be removed, but they will have to be heated to break the Loctite bond on the axel.
If you do this fix, just be sure not to get any Loctite on the bolt (infact, leave the bolt well oiled when you assemble the unit) as it would be VERY dificult to remove the bolt if it were bonded into the axel...
(Sorry for the fuzzy pictures. It's the first time I've used this camera and I'm still getting used to it...)
I suspected that the three bolts that hold the wheel pant bracket to the axel flange where loose. I was surprised to find the whole axel flange having a slight rotating movement on the axel.
I disassembled the axel bracket form the axel to see where the movement originated.
There was no one part that appeared out of tolerance, but each had a very slight amount of movement on the bolt. A new bolt was no different. So I re-assembled the unit using Loctite in increase the holding area of the bracket to the axel. Here's the assembled unit and the Loctite used:
Both axel brackets were loctited. The axel flanges can still be removed, but they will have to be heated to break the Loctite bond on the axel.
If you do this fix, just be sure not to get any Loctite on the bolt (infact, leave the bolt well oiled when you assemble the unit) as it would be VERY dificult to remove the bolt if it were bonded into the axel...
(Sorry for the fuzzy pictures. It's the first time I've used this camera and I'm still getting used to it...)