Tail spring bolt access

[Jermechanic]

Hope everyone had a great weekend and got some flying in!! I am having a problem removing the tail spring on my RV6. There is a bit of play and noise in the tail spring- I would like to disassemble and inspect. There is very little access to the tail spring bolt in the bottom rear of the fuselage. The access hole for checking the elevator bell crank is too small to get my hand in. Has any one made a different access hole or how do you access this bolt. We were thinking we may have to cut a new inspection opening under the elevator bell crank access plate/opening. Thanks for any thoughts/ recommendations!

 

[sprucemoose]

This bolt is a PITA if you failed to cut the access hole big enough (like I did.) You can cob together a long wrench out of a couple wrenches and some safety wire, and make something that will reach the bolt. I wish I had a picture of how I do it, but I don't. Use your imagination a bit and it will make sense.

Failing that, just remove the tail feathers, then it is easy to reach down and access the bolt. Might be your best option. Much less work than cutting a new access hole, and much less permanent.

 

[Ironflight]

I agree with Jeff - if you can't get in there, then taking the tail off is really pretty fast. You'll probably spend less total time than if you try to work around it. I was just drilling the hole in the skin for this on the RV-3, and realized just how small that area is compared to the space of the two-seaters.....

Paul

 

[JonJay]

This thread might help once you get in there

http://www.vansairforce.com/community/showthread.php?t=43890&highlight=Tail+spring

If you find the main bolt has worked, which is pretty common, a Tapered Pin will solve this. You might be able to taper from the bottom up, but that is not very good practice. Obvioulsy to do it right you need more access to be able to get a reamer and T handle in there.
Most of the play I had was in the two bolts that hold the spring in the tail wheel socket. I fixed this by using close tolerance bolts. It was a press fit and it tightened up the socket nicely. No more play.

 

[Jermechanic]

Didn't see much access

even with the tail off. I will have to take a closer look. Thanks for the replies!

 

[Mel]

I just did this last summer. I found it easier to just remove the lower skin. This way I was able to remove the tail spring mount and do everything on the bench. Not much trouble at all.