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Tailwheel Input…

megerj

Member
New to me RV-8 and inspecting the Tailwheel assembly. Setup is Bell TW fork and rocket linkage for steering. My first hack at this - so appreciate the patience and input.

See anything to be concerned about in the pics?
 

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See anything to be concerned about in the pics?

If the shaft is still a good fit in the bore, no problem. If lack of lube has worn the shaft and/or bore egg-shaped, replacement is in order.

The troublesome parts tend to be the round tip of the keystone pin and the half-moon cutout in the steering arm.
 
You are missing a picture of the most important part the pin. If its worn out your tailwheel can disengaged in the wrong direction. Happened to me once and you will be in for a ride something I don't want to repeat.

That's something you can also check when its put together again.. .

Oliver
 
The troublesome parts tend to be the round tip of the keystone pin and the half-moon cutout in the steering arm.

I had a problem once where I used too-thick grease, and dirt accumulated in the hole the pawl (keystone pin?) and spring retracts into, and it wouldn’t come back out after spinning the wheel past the half-moon portion.

I landed a few times with rudder and brake only steering, wondering why things weren’t responsive (on the way to Osh ‘21). I figured it out and borrowed some WD-40 from an ag plane crew, broke the grease loose, worked normally after. Now, I make sure I don’t pile grease into that pawl-hole. If you operate off dirt or grass, the tail wheel mechanisms pick up a lot of gunk.
 
The pin wears out over useage

You are missing a picture of the most important part the pin. If its worn out your tailwheel can disengaged in the wrong direction. Happened to me once and you will be in for a ride something I don't want to repeat.

That's something you can also check when its put together again.. .

Oliver

Yes,
I just replaced my pin after 1070 hrs.
It was much shorter than the replacement, and it needs to be almost rectangular with a very small bit of the outer upper and lower corners rounded off. If not the tailwheel may not lock into place at all.
Daddyman
 
...looks like yours could have used a bit more grease in the past.

Just a point of order, but Vans DWG27 says to periodically flush and lube with "WD40 or equivalent"; I use WD40 since it's their recommendation and it's cheap. Grease can gum up the works.
I did have to replace the WD-101 mount base several years ago when I found that the bronze bushing had begun to crack.
 
PLEASE..............

Just a point of order, but Vans DWG27 says to periodically flush and lube with "WD40 or equivalent"; I use WD40 since it's their recommendation and it's cheap. Grease can gum up the works.
I did have to replace the WD-101 mount base several years ago when I found that the bronze bushing had begun to crack.

Do not use WD40 as a lubricant. Contrary to popular belief, IT IS NOT! It's a water dispersant.

It will lubricate initially but then it leaves a film that collects dirt.

Long term use of WD40 as a lubricant is very bad.
 
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