RV-8 Landing Gear Strut Bolts

[Arkluvs2fly]

During my annual inspection, we (my daughter - an A&P - and I) were installing new tire and discovered that the left main strut was VERY loose. Once we began removing it, we noticed a stripped bolt head (the nut was completely off the bolt and a couple of bolts were bent. I have posted these but don't know if you can see the slight bend in the bolts. I did not build this aircraft and it appears that the bolts were over-torqued. Reading the build manual indicates that this can happen. The manual also states to check the bolts (inspect and torque check) at annual and every 50 hrs. I was lucky we found this before a nasty little incident occurred...

 

[RV7 To Go]

Search the post - Breaking News: tests on landing gear nuts and bolts in the RV-8 Forum. There is great info on the issues of the Vans supplied gear nuts and bolts.

 

[Carlos151]

Here you go:

Landing gear nuts and bolts

 

[RV8Squaz]

Could also be as a result of over stress to the landing gear, due to a ground loop or developing ground loop. I would check everything thoroughly.

 

[Arkluvs2fly]

Could also be as a result of over stress to the landing gear, due to a ground loop or developing ground loop. I would check everything thoroughly.

Ok but I have never ground looped it.

 

[RV7 To Go]

As Steve found in his testing, the Vans supplied stamped nuts can jump the threads. It doesn't take a ground loop to cause this. Replace the nuts and bolts with the ones he recommends and you will not see this again as evidenced by the people, myself included, who have already done it.

 

[Low Pass]

Ok but I have never ground looped it.

I've had instances in years past when I would encounter a "chattering" condition when braking hard and rolling out landing on an irregular surface. I believe this can cause overload of the fastners without a ground loop or even a single high stress event. With loose fastners, the chattering will happen much more easily.