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6A Main Gear Alignment

JackW794

Member
I goofed and drilled the 3/16 inch bolt holes for the gear leg such that a tire would be a bit toe-out instead of slightly toe-in. I'm wondering how big a problem this is?

Can the bolt holes be filled in somehow so that I could re-drill them or should I get a new gear mount and do it right this time?
 
The bolts that attach the main gear legs to the sockets are AN5 in the plans, not AN3 3/16, so you may be able to correct the problem by careful drilling and/or reaming with the gear legs clamped with the specified amount of toe-in. The construction manual actually permits bolt size up to AN6 if necessary to correct alignment issues.
 
Oops, I drilled the hole for a -5 bolt instead of a -3. So, I think I could salvage the gear mount with a -6 bolt drilled at the proper angle on the landing gear mount.

Thanks so much for the reply. I have some hope of getting it right with your advice!
 
Oops, I drilled the hole for a -5 bolt instead of a -3. So, I think I could salvage the gear mount with a -6 bolt drilled at the proper angle on the landing gear mount.

Thanks so much for the reply. I have some hope of getting it right with your advice!

That gear leg is over an inch in diameter. No mater what you do, the larger drill bit will go straight through the hole in the leg, which is what they are designed to do. It will NOT drill at a new angle. Only way to really address this is to weld the holes shut in the mount and re-drill, one side at a time.

This type of problem is addressed by moving the hole in the mount, NOT trying to change the angle of the hole in the gear leg. If you up size, YOU MAY be able to re-drill one side at a time, but you are manipulating the hole in the mount and will need to secure the leg VERY well as the drill bit will be trying to re-align the hole for you and MUST prevent that from happening. Biggest problem is that on the first drilling operation, the leg hole will not be aligned with the mount hole. Getting a drill bit to move this hole offset to one side or the other will require some type of jig.

This is a project fraught with risk, so suggest you get some expert advise from someone with fabrication or machining expertise.

Best method is to have someone make you two doublers of the correct radius with -5 holes. Then wallow out the current holes, bolt everything up and align gear. Then weld doublers to mount.

Larry
 
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Bolts

Before you go to AN6 look for some oversize AN5's. Don't quote me but I think the standard oversizes are plus 1/64 and plus 1/32. You would need some reamers for the oversize. The best way to deal with this is to securely clamp the gear to a heavy steel angle with shims for the desired toe. You could then file the socket on one side until it is close to aligned. Then measure what you will need and whether a AN 5 oversize will work.
If you have access to an artist with a TIG or MIG I have seen the gear sockets welded in place with the gear legs removed . Just fill one side of the hole. Then with drill and reamer try to get everything lined up. MSC direct has a wide variety of reamer sizes.
Consider an AN5 bolt is .0015 to .0025 under the nominal size.
 
Also, way back when, Van's sent the gear legs UNDRILLED. I think I have 2 of those in the crate somewhere.
 
I had a local machine shop fill in the gear leg mounting holes so I can start again on drilling them correctly. They made it look like was before I did any drilling. I'll give this a try.

Thanks to everyone who replied to my request for help! I was sure discouraged when I saw my earlier mistake.
 
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