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Wobbly Gear Legs Fixed

terrykohler

Well Known Member
First, a shout-out to Finley Atherton, who kindly responded to my questions re. fixing play in all three legs on my RV9A. Got me started on the right path.

On Saturday, with the help of buddies Dave Pohl and Ted Gauthier, we jacked up the left side of 3TP and pulled the AN bolt out of the top of the left main gear tower, inserting a pin into the bottom as I walked the bolt out topside. With the pin in about a quarter of the way thru the structure, I used a .3261 threaded, piloted reamer coming in from the top. The reamer was attached to an angle drill and worked fine right up until it contacted the pin. As I extracted the pin, the gear leg was able to move just enough to cause the whole thing to bind.
Normally at this point, I would turn off the lights and go home, rather than risk breaking the reamer off in the hole, but with the insistence and persistence of friends, we managed to get the reamer out. At this point, I REALLY wanted to go home when Dave announced that to do this right, we needed to pull the gear. Before I could offer a good argument, Ted had already removed the gear fairings, disconnected the brake line, and capped it off (thankfully, Dave has an abundant supply of "spare" parts and we all have keys to his hangar). Tire was removed, and the gear leg pulled in short order.
At this point, the reamer went easily thru the receiver in the cockpit and just about as easily thru the gear leg as well. Parts were cleaned with mineral spirits, the leg reinserted, and an NAS6605 - X bolt (.3266/..3276) tapped into place. Wheel was re-mounted and checked. ZERO WOBBLE.
I'm feeling pretty darn good at this point and tell the boys we need to call it a day. Ted's response - "We're here, let's do the other side". Thankfully, that one went much faster. Oh yeah, we did a brake job too.

I'm saving the nose gear fix for the near future, as I've decided to comply with the Van's SB and change the front fork and perhaps do the wheel bearing mod while I'm at it as well. For the front, I intend to use the "Finley" method with the engine in place and come in with a piloted chucking reamer turning by hand. Same size reamer, same diameter bolt - all purchased from GAHco. (great people to work with, by the way).

I'm very grateful for the friends that I have. Not just for the big things, but the little things too.

Terry, CFI
RV9A N323TP
 
Can't blame you for the frequent urges to go home; I would have felt the same. Bet you slept much better than you would have. Yes. Good friends. I did what I could... I limited and removed distractions. ;)
 
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