Thread: Nose gear play and replacement of rotating body.

I currently exceeded my 800 hours on my ct and have developed a little play in the nosegear.

The pin in the rotating body has slightly worn as well as the groove the pin fits in has worn some too.

I was trying to order a new rotating body for my regular sized nose gear assembly (not Tundra) but was told I now need to by a complete fork at a cost of $1700.

Does anyone have any other suggestions or does anyone have a rotating body for the nosegear for sale?

Thanks for the feedback in advance.

Cheers,

Jos

Hi Jos

sent you a PM

Jacques

Hi Jos,

I have done several of these and just did one two weeks ago. FD is right that if you need a new fork part then you must buy the entire assembly, but there is an alternative. I have been finding that the guide pins are getting grooved and it takes only a very slight grove to manifest a bigger movement down by the tire. If you allow this situation to continue for a long time it is possible to open up the slots on the fork itself. I have been purchasing just the pins. First before you start make sure, if you own an SW, that you have the front suspension upgrade kit and toss that old spring out. The spring is part of the problem and cause this problem from too much up and down motion. Wears those grooves right into the pin. Rub a piece of metal against another long enough and the softer metal has to give. If your spring is rusted down inside call me and I'll tell you a fairly easy way to remove it without using any cuss words.
The new pins are the correct width, but are too tall, the length is good. So what you need to do is take a belt sander and slowly sand down the top and bottom parts of the pin. The outside edges will also need a slight rounding to fit back into its hole. Don't go crazy with the sander because you want a nice tight fit where you will need to use a plastic mallet and tap it in place. Sand a little try a fit, sand a little more and try a fit. I needs quite a bit of sanding, but try a fit often. It is easy to make this fit nice and snug. Don't use a sledge hammer to knock it in place (sarcastic), but tap it in place (plastic mallet). If you have to hit it hard then it doesn't fit yet. You are looking for a snug fit and not trying to drive a nail through. With the front upgrade and the new re-fitted pin I have been able to make all the front ends I have worked on nice and tight and no play left in them. All the ones I have done have stayed tight. All the ones that have worn out have had the spring in it for me.
If I was an SW owner out there I would make sure I got rid of the old spring and went with the new (old now) front suspension upgrade. This keeps the front end from excessive up and down motion and wearing grooves into the pin.

Here is another note. After a year or so you may find the front end (new upgrade kit) with a small amount of up and down play from the new front suspension kit settling in or squishing down a little. Not to worry and not big shake. You only need to take one of the new red plastic spacers, just like the ones in the kit and cut it to a shorter length for this extra play and put it in with the other red suspension spacers. make sure your A&P checks for this during the inspections. It is a very easy fix and your front end will stay tight for a long time.

Thx Roger.

Excellent info.

All of this from flying (too??) much.......

800 hours in just over 4 years...

This should be a good alternative especially since I upgraded the nosegear suspension already a while back.

Thanks again and cheers,

Jos

Roger, I'm confused. Help me out. I see that there is one pin installed per parts manual. It appears that this goes thru a hole in the strut and then after installing in the hole, it rides up and down in the slots on each side of the tube. Your description of the pin seems to say that this is the correct length but it is too large a diameter to easily go into the hole in the strut. I say this because your description of the mod tells me that you are not changing the length of the pin but you are "flatting" opposite sides of this round pin to reduce the oversize press fit to the hole? Bottom line I get is that the original diameter of the pin is kept where it touches the slots (on the sides of the pin) but the top and bottom of the pin is sanded so that it has less of a oversize for the hole it is tapped into. Is this correct? Can you take a few pictures next time you do this or take a picture of a pin that has been modified by you? By the way, I have now had the front end rebuild kit ordered for over two months and still no word of the kits being aviable at FD.

Hi Dick,

I think the front upgrade kits are coming this week in the container coming to FD along with many parts others are waiting for plus 2 CTLS's. You are correct about the pin. The sides are ok. The length is ok. The top and bottom need the sanding. The sides have been perfect and I haven't had to touch them. The sides are flat, but the top and bottom are kind of humped up and not flat. They just need to be taken down some.
I might not be able to take the pictures because that means pulling an entire front end apart. That probably won't happen until the next time I need to fix one. I have two planes coming in with in the week so who knows, maybe I will be able to get a picture if I need to do one of those. If I do I'll be thinking of you.

Roger, thanks. I think I've got it now. Was thinking of next time you do a front end maybe get a picture and not to tear one down. Would it be a consideration to do a "mod" that would consist of welding some strips of metal on each side of the slots to provide greater bearing surface on the pin? I'm thinking that this would prevent wear of the slot the pin runs in. Might need to put new pins in once in a while. If a new strut costs $1700, the cost to add some metal strips would be well worth the money and wouldn't add any significant weight. Fllight Design's approval would be needed to do this.

Are you finding that those CT's that do a lot of gravel or grass field landings are seeing more slot wear than those that stick to paved runways?

We don't have much grass or field stuff here so I'm not sure, but stands to reason.Putting in the front end upgrade will make a difference, but I don't see why your idea wouldn't work, but there are some considerations before doing that. Type and thickness of the metal would be important. This may have been more helpful if you kept the spring, but since the upgrade I don't see as big a benefit. Once you take most all the play and movement out with the upgrade then not a big need for for the extra surface contact metal. You would have to be really careful on the metal type and it's thickness would be very important. I think just staying with the upgrade kit and new pin will work just fine and last a long time.