bird
Well Known Member
I have installed the hardware that Tom Brink with Gahco sent me onto my rv8. I have them torqued and they fit very well. The special washer under the bolt head and one washer under the nut, worked perfect. They torqued down and met the 30 thousands minimum on the wear plate. So, it was successful. The outboard bolt heads will not be covered under the cover plate. It is not an issue for me, I am not positive but I think the intersection fairing will cover it. I just have to provide some relief holes in the cover plate for the heads being they are taller than the standard bolt. I gave a lot of thought to putting the heads inside the fuselage gear box facing down, like some have done, but decided to put them like the plans said. The nuts in the gear box where very easy to get a socket with a universal on, then about 13inches of extension and it was out of the box and easy to put a ratchet on. The bolts and nuts are 12 point. Very good, no pains.
The nuts Van's provided may be strong enough, but marginal in my opinion After studying the washers that Vans sent me, I think I found the real problem that others have had. The washers are not aircraft standard, therefore the outside diameter is larger. Now this washer will interfere with the "u" channel radius that they must fit in. If these washers are not ground down to provide a relief, the nut will have stress on it that it was not designed for, causing failure.
I am satisfied that the hardware will be of good service, so that's one area that I will not have to be concerned about anymore. If anyone else is interested in getting this hardware just contact Tom Brink and Gahco, he is an advertiser here on VAF. One note is he is going to be out of office until Oct. 1st. He also has some pics that I sent him of the install that I am sure he would be happy so send anyone interested.
Airplane actually rolled out of the shop for the first time!! Yay!!
bird
The nuts Van's provided may be strong enough, but marginal in my opinion After studying the washers that Vans sent me, I think I found the real problem that others have had. The washers are not aircraft standard, therefore the outside diameter is larger. Now this washer will interfere with the "u" channel radius that they must fit in. If these washers are not ground down to provide a relief, the nut will have stress on it that it was not designed for, causing failure.
I am satisfied that the hardware will be of good service, so that's one area that I will not have to be concerned about anymore. If anyone else is interested in getting this hardware just contact Tom Brink and Gahco, he is an advertiser here on VAF. One note is he is going to be out of office until Oct. 1st. He also has some pics that I sent him of the install that I am sure he would be happy so send anyone interested.
Airplane actually rolled out of the shop for the first time!! Yay!!
bird
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