tapered axle landing gear inspection

[astjp2]

Re: tapered axle landing gear inspection

I love the fact that some owners are too cheap to buy new struts so I can lower their asking price by $3~5K because of the recurring AD...

[PA1195]

Re: tapered axle landing gear inspection

The problem with new parts and rebuilds is that the aircraft is only sellable at market values...which isn't much these days for a Taylorcraft. New struts from Airframes in Alaska are about $2200 painted then they have to be shipped, installed, and adjusted. Getting existing struts serviced may be less expensive.

Putting about 10% of the value of the plane on eventually could put the owner or prospective buyer in a stalemate. Either way parts eventually need to be inspected or replaced. Same for the rest of the plane...engines could easily exceed 50% of the overall value, and a cover job without repairs 75% or more. Labor's over $100/hr in Alaska.

So if your licensed and/or have the skills and facilities to do the work there can be savings if your time is relatively worthless. Call it love of job and aircraft. But for most prospective owners that take a hard look at the reality of the economics it's cheaper and less time consuming in the end to buy another equivalent aircraft like a C-150 at a resellable price.

Gary

[astjp2]

Re: tapered axle landing gear inspection

Wow, labor here is 35-89 per hour. Mypoint still stands that a lack of a 2200 investment will cost a prospective seller 5k if I am doing a prebuy, repetitive AD inspections are a killer in a buyers market and right now its a buyers market. Tim

[3Dreaming]

Re: tapered axle landing gear inspection

Wow, labor here is 35-89 per hour. Mypoint still stands that a lack of a 2200 investment will cost a prospective seller 5k if I am doing a prebuy, repetitive AD inspections are a killer in a buyers market and right now its a buyers market. Tim

This is only true if the buyer buys the airplane and the seller is willing to discount the price. It could also cost the buyer the price of the inspection and any other related cost of the purchase if the seller doesn't agree to discount the price.

[Guest]

Re: tapered axle landing gear inspection

Ok back to the thread topic for a moment.

I attached some bore camera pictures that I took.

Not high quality because I need two more hands to do it well.

The pits are .030" deep in some cases on a .125" wall.

Dates on pictures are wrong I forgot to set the clock.

I took them today 11/9/16, two axles, 3 pics each.

Pictures are taken from the inboard looking outboard, the i.d. is tapered to a small hole at the axle nut thread that you can see in pic.

These two axles are on gear that were broken into pieces in accidents yet the tapered axle in this condition did not even bend!

That says something too about their strength even in this condition.

I think that they could be reinforced.

[PA1195]

Re: tapered axle landing gear inspection

I laid on the snow today but there wasn't enough light to look through my axles. Forgot my flashlight and the dog found my hat to be a toy. Is the core straight or tapered? Does it look like a tubing insert could be placed to restore some strength? If the axle separates from the gear does it happen at their juncture?

As I mentioned it was common to place a liner in early 1.25" Cub axles when on skis, or replace hollow axles on spring gear with solid units in similar STC'd applications.

Gary

[Guest]

Re: tapered axle landing gear inspection

I laid on the snow today but there wasn't enough light to look through my axles. Forgot my flashlight and the dog found my hat to be a toy. Is the core straight or tapered? Does it look like a tubing insert could be placed to restore some strength? If the axle separates from the gear does it happen at their juncture?

As I mentioned it was common to place a liner in early 1.25" Cub axles when on skis, or replace hollow axles on spring gear with solid units in similar STC'd applications.

Gary

Pictures are taken from the inboard looking outboard, the i.d. is tapered to a small hole at the axle nut thread that you can see in pic.

These two axles are on gear that were broken into pieces in accidents yet the tapered axle in this condition did not even bend!

That says something too about their strength even in this condition.

I think that they could be reinforced.

[PA1195]

Re: tapered axle landing gear inspection

Ok then if someone wanted traditional wheels they might be able to reinforce them internally, if not then external sleeves are available to convert to a straight 1.5" axle. The sleeves bolt to the inboard flange and are held outboard by special washers and axle nuts.

Gary

[Dick Smith]

Re: tapered axle landing gear inspection

Read the Thread, thanks for the link Marty. Might have seen it during earlier browsing.

My gear/strut fitting was well exposed during recover or later inspection. Drain holes are open and pumped full of Corrosion-X there and the ears when the AN5 bolt was removed for bolt and strut replacement and strut adjustment. Fuselage side is easy to see with my seat arrangement. I can have the lower strut ends off the fuselage fitting in 10 minutes or less with my wing jack under the front strut tiedown.

As far as the landing gear axles I will have a look at them tomorrow. They are atypical in design at the strut attach point (see below) and the gear assembly is overall powder coated. When I had the gear off for floats I flushed the shock strut with Corrosion-X bottom to top through the drain hole and no rusty lube came out. Those two spots (axle and shock strut) should be looked at.

Here is a picture that shows the drain hole in the bottom of the strut attach fitting, as referenced in the above comment. Dick