landing gear bolts

[rogerj]

Anyone else notice that the gear bolts specified in the 7AC service manual are too short? Adjacent to the nut, the transitiion from bolt shank to threads lies within the gear fitting. This creates a greater clearance between bolt and fitting, and a reduced contact area (at least until the bolt and / or fitting wear into conformity). Using the next longer bolt (+ 1/8") with a couple of washers between nut and fitting resolves the issue.

[joea]

I have seen fuselage gear attach areas that have been repaired by welding on another piece of thin steel on top of a wallowed out hole where the landing gear attaches. This would make the standard length bolt about 1/4" too short.

Might check if this has been done.

[MikeB]

I believe it's Service Letter 6 that addresses the issue of worn attach fittings, both from the holes being 'wallowed' out and welding 4130 washers on. I've also seen a piece of 4130 metal welded as Joe stated and also bushings being used. It's fairly common on most landing gears and, I guess, common sense says that you would use the proper length bolt regarding the thread end and use washers to shim accordingly. I've found a couple of places where the Aeronca manual had some wrong bolts though. One being the rear wing attach bolt length, if I remember correctly.

Mike

[Mikek]

Anyone else notice that the gear bolts specified in the 7AC service manual are too short? Adjacent to the nut, the transitiion from bolt shank to threads lies within the gear fitting. This creates a greater clearance between bolt and fitting, and a reduced contact area (at least until the bolt and / or fitting wear into conformity). Using the next longer bolt (+ 1/8") with a couple of washers between nut and fitting resolves the issue.

Take a look at this link:

http://www.aeronca.com/ServiceLetters/s ... ter_06.pdf

Mikek

[gusc]

I found that most of the bolt lengths listed for my Navion were wrong and it had about ten times as many bolts as a Champ.

Needless to say the maintenance on the Champ is a welcome relief in spite of the too many problems I've had.