Front gear attachment

[Ken Grindlay]

Gurus, mavens, experts, and affectionados. I need some advice here. While step taxiing in moderatly rough H2O, BANG, "what the hell" I pondered. Well the front left gear attchment cracked. No other damage, I guess I'm damn lucky it happened 300 yds from the ramp!
Anyhoo, I see Wag-Aero has em for $91, and Spruce has em for $135. What gives? Is there a significant difference?
Should I justr weld it back together ? The right side has a welded repair in the same spot. I'm leaning toward replacing them both, but would appreciate an opinion or two from those of you who have been around the patch a few times.
Ken

[Steve Pierce]

The fitting in the Spruce catalog is actually made by Airframes Inc. It is a Super Cub part. The Wag-Aero fitting is for a J-3. I looked up the part numbers in both the J-3 and PA18 parts manuals and they have different part numbers. My experience with welding cracks is they crack again, usually just outside of the heat zone around the weld. If you replace the fittings be sure and have the gear perfectly alighned. I made two Dutchman clamps that fit over the axles and welded them with a stand off to a 4" square tube. With the gear held in place I welded the attach fittings. You could also build a fixture to hold the fittings in place off of the fittings you have, cut them off and weld in the new ones. I guess what I'm trying to say is be careful to keep your gear properly aligned.

Steve

[Ken Grindlay]

Steve
Thanks for the reply. I ordered new parts from spruce yesterday. Good advice on the alignment issue, I'd been thinking about just that. Fridays my day off so I'll be taking things apart then. Coupla questions. TIG weld ok, or does it require a gas weld? Will Ineed to pull the seats and floorboards? How far back should I pull the fabric?
Thanks
Ken

[Steve Pierce]

I use TIG. Less heat all over to mess up the fabric. I don't think you need to pull the floorboards. Probably 6" or so. Get someone to hold a wet rag around the fabric to isolate the heat.

Seat

[Crash]

Ken, If you're not a great TIG welder, I would hire someone who is. This is a critical area and a real heat sink when welding. It is very easy to not get the penetration you need. Or you can overheat and get a black weld that is brittle and cracks out on a hard landing. On floats that would ruin your whole day...Crash

[Ken Grindlay]

Crash
I do have a welder lined up since this is definately an area I want done right. I also have an A&P,IA willing to look over my shoulder and sign things off. This is the third plane Ive owned over the years, so I've seen my share of things not fixed right (sorry about the George Bush syntax there). I wan t to have control over this repair (I can be a picky SOB at times).
Steve
Thanks for the quick answeres. I don't want to seem like I be more stupider than I is :D
Ken

[Ken Grindlay]

Steve
I need to order some welding rod, whar size do you suggest? Are there different types? I would like to have everything toghether and ready to go when the welder gets here. He's got to travel about an hour to come so I don't wanna hear "well I don't have any of that".
Thanks again
Ken

[Brian]

Here is a link to lincolns site for some of your answers. Brian

http://www.lincolnelectric.com/knowledge/articles/content/chrome-moly.asp

[Steve Pierce]

I use RG60 1/16". It is a #1 mild steel rod. Some think you should use 4130 rod on 4130 tubing. The engineers at Air Tractor tell me that the carbon in the steel tends to pool to the heat and if you use a 4130 rod you get even more carbon in the weld which can cause embrittlement. They do use 4130 rod on the front sections that get heat treated. I am only 30 miles from Olney, TX where they build Air Tractors and have two good friends who are welders there. You talk about artists. These guys are goog. Of coarse that is what they do all day. I just need more time to practice.

Steve

[Ken Grindlay]

Steve
I went to the Lincoln web site that Brian reccommended. They also said not to use 4130, same reason... brittle weld.
2 new bracketts-$291
tape, dope, etc -$100
A&P signoff -$ 25
three week wait for the bracketts- Priceless.
Don't you just love "good learning experiences" and character building?
Thanks for the info.
Ken

[SuperCub MD]

I use the 70S-2 rod. Ken, did you try to get the fittings from Airframes Inc, or Univair? It might save some time and money.

[Ken Grindlay]

Mark
I ordered them from Spruce, they had to special order them from Airframes. $135 each, plus tax, plus shipping. Actually its well worth it to me to have new ones on there. I kinda wonder if I shouldn't weld some reinforcement to the innner "ears" . Thats where the new crack, and the old repair on the other is. I guess the flying wires on the floats put more stress on this area than the landgear does. BTW, the cracked one had rusted about 1/2 way through.
Ken "can't wait to get back on the water.cause this is crimping my duck huntin and striper fishin" Grindlay

[SuperCub MD]

Ken, I just thought calling A/F Inc. directly may save time and money. Also, if they don't have it in stock, it may be worth a call to Univair... Glad you still have ducks to hunt, ice is on here, so they are gone. It was a good season though.

[Ken Grindlay]

Mark
Who said anything about actually having ducks? Here in the most polluted corner of America (mouth of the Chesapeake Bay) we have: high nitrogen content and low ph inthe water. Thus: no eelgrass, no wild celery, no wild rice... all adds up to no ducks (except for the wonder bread ducks in the subdivisions). Theblue crab is in reapid decline. Oysters are almost nonexistant in the Chesapeake Bay anymore. I actually have to pack a lunch now, used to just take an oyster knife and a bottle of texas pete.
On the bright side, the striped bass population is phenomenal! On a calm day you can catch em on poppers or streamers almost at will. The guys that troll with wire line and live eels (cheaters!) catch a lot of fish in excess of fifty pounds each year. I like to fly over the flats just looking. You can see em clearly against the sand bottom. Gets me away from the crowds, and lets me combine two of the three best things in life :D
Ken

[SuperCub MD]

Sorry to hear about the Chesapeake ducks Ken, that is a real shame. I have heard about that striper fishing though, like to try it someday. I'm off to spend about a week in the wilderness, the only fish I will see will be pulled threw a hole in the ice. Happy hunting, fishing, and Thanksgiving to all.

[Crash]

Lee Buddi (Airframes Inc. owner), Dan (the guy that always ran the place)and another guy bought out Reeve Airmotive in Anchorage and they now stock all of Airframes Inc. parts as well as Dakota Cub wing parts. Reeve will ship same day anywhere in the world. They are remodling the place to be like a "NAPA" store with aisles and shelving stocked with airplane parts. I walk by those fittings almost everyday when I'm in there. Call (907) 272-8522 next time you need something and get it direct in one or two days. Crash

[Ken Grindlay]

Crash
Well, after recieving an invoice from Spruce saying it wouldn't be shipped for another week and a half, the parts came in today. Go figure. Not that I am displeased, just glad to have em. By the way, Airframes inc included their catalog in the order. The prices are the same as if you get them through Spruce ( who I've always liked). So it looks like I have my weekend planned out now :drinking:
Ken