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Are these the aileron pushrods?

R

RayJay

Active Member
The instructions in section 23 call for a part named "ST4130-035 X 1/2 (powder coated)" for the aileron pushrods. But the closest thing I have in my kit is a pair of 1/2" uncoated steel tube in the photo attached. This is the last section in the wing kit, other than the wing tips, and I can't find anything else these would be used for, but when I look online at build logs, they definitely were using powder coated parts. Also, the wall thickness of these tubes is about twice what the called for part is. About .070 vs .035, so there's no way the threaded end piece will fit in there without significant machining. Did I get the wrong parts, or am I just missing the pushrod and these are for something else? If it's just the wrong part, any reason I couldn't use these with some machining? The original looks to be 4130 chromoly based on the part number, and I have no idea what these are. Also, the thicker wall means they'll be about twice as heavy, would that matter?

just a metal tube.jpg
 
Not sure about the RV14 but on the RV8, the aileron pushrods from the bellcranks to the aileron arms are powder coated steel rods.
You may want to give Vans tech support a call.
 
RayJay said:
If it's just the wrong part, any reason I couldn't use these with some machining? The original looks to be 4130 chromoly based on the part number, and I have no idea what these are. Also, the thicker wall means they'll be about twice as heavy, would that matter?
Click to expand...
Personally I would not use an unknown material that is heavier and requires machining to make it work...agree you should call Van's and get the right parts.
 
Thanks for the inputs everybody. I emailed Vans to see what's up, but I'm going to go ahead and order the right part. Not sure how these ended up in the kit, but I bought this kit second hand so I wouldn't expect them to replace it.
 
RayJay said:
Thanks for the inputs everybody. I emailed Vans to see what's up, but I'm going to go ahead and order the right part. Not sure how these ended up in the kit, but I bought this kit second hand so I wouldn't expect them to replace it.
Click to expand...
Spruce has this as part 03-02400. 4.80 / ft. Drill the holes, hang it up with a wire hook, prime it, paint it, done. You'll have it done before Vans even gets around to noticing they have an order.
 
The origins of the thicker tubing goes back about 3 years or so. I received the wing kit prior to that with Back Ordered pushrod tubing. Van’s was having difficulty procuring the .035 wall thickness 4130 tubing according to an email I received. The fix was Van’s sent tubing with a .049” wall as well as instructions to ream out the tubing with a 7/16” reamer.
 
I had the raw ST4130-035X1/2, no powder coating. As I remember, I had a heck of a time pressing the threaded rod-ends into the tubing. I ended up using some heat, then pressed the rod-ends in and TIG welded them. Then they got primed with zinc chromate and painted with a gloss white enamel spray can paint. I'd imagine powder coating might get compromised if subjected to that process.
 
I remember the back order problem also. I got the bare tubes and instructions on how to use them instead. Randomly I looked around for the 4130 with the proper size and had trouble finding it too. Eventually I waited it all out since I have plenty of other work to do. 2 weeks ago I got the designed powder coated tubing from Van's as mentioned by Todd B.
-Chris
 
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