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Gear Adjustment

K

Kid Durango

FRIEND
Rangely, Co
Looking for suggestions on bending landing gear for toe alignment. Not sure how to hold the gear once removed from the plane. Also if anyone has suggestions for cold bending it since what I can find suggests stay away from heat due to temper. I currently have 1 degree toe-in PER side, and to say it’s a little unfriendly on pavement with 26” tires is polite. My favorite trusted IA thinks it’s probably just the pilot. I’m hoping otherwise. Thanks for the help.

Ken
 
It isn't the pilot. Toe-in can cause instability with 8:00s.

When you find the cold straightening thread put a link here. I have a couple spares that are a bit off.

I think a rosebud torch is ok for hot straightening, but I also heard that the gussets have to come off. All hearsay.

I measure at the tires, front and back. Any more than 3/4" difference leads to trouble. I can convert that to degrees, but need to measure the OD of the tires.
 
Thank you Mike and Bob. I thought I had read all the threads, so I’m back reading more thoroughly!! I’m looking for the cold straightening thread! Found a couple I didn’t like that involved ‘banging’. Haven’t seen any that reference removing gussets. Yet.
My measurement in inches is 1” total, with 24” span on wheels front to back.

Ken
 
i once aligned the gear on a Pacer by putting a steel shaft inside the axle and slid a 10+ foot pipe over the shaft. I tied down the tail and blocked the other wheel. It’s amazing how much force it took but the axle alignment was improved and it changed that plane from a tiger into a pussycat. We did have to heat the inner streamline tube going up to the bungee with a propane torch to relieve that tension but it was easily repainted. I’m not saying that was the correct way to do it but it did work with no known bad effects.
 
I will measure the 8:00s tomorrow. 1" total on 24" diameter wheels shouldn't be too bad. Remember, these big tires reduce your crosswind capability.
 
That thread has a good idea. If I understand what he is doing, it sounds like an 8 foot bar wedged in the bottom of the Vee. I would refine it a bit, using a split piece of heavy wall pipe and some muffler clamps. I wonder if the Ranger rear bumper is strong enough? And how do you know when to stop?
 
RV that’s the thread I couldn’t find twice! Thank you. Great idea with the cups ( I agree on the pipe halves). I’m going to look tomorrow and see what problems the gussets might cause. I think you could use an angle meter, but you would have to check it with the axle vertical in the ‘camber’ plane. Easy enough to keep the attach hinges on the ground and angle the axle up to vertical in that plane. Would require prior marking of the proper ‘planes’ though. I’m pretty sure this is clear as mud, but in my pointed head it looks doable.
 
One inch on a 24" tire is huge in my opinion. I'm too tired to do the math tonight but I suspect that's a lot more than 2 deg. On a 24" tire, you shouldn't have more than about 1/4".
Ok, so I did the math. If I didn't blow it, you have 2.4 deg. total toe. I'd have thought the number was bigger, but moot point. I don't know what the best way to bend it is, but that seems like a LOT of toe. I could see that having a negative effect on ground handling.
 
Last edited:
Kid Durango said:
Looking for suggestions on bending landing gear for toe alignment. Not sure how to hold the gear once removed from the plane. Also if anyone has suggestions for cold bending it since what I can find suggests stay away from heat due to temper. I currently have 1 degree toe-in PER side, and to say it’s a little unfriendly on pavement with 26” tires is polite. My favorite trusted IA thinks it’s probably just the pilot. I’m hoping otherwise. Thanks for the help.

Ken
Click to expand...
My 2 cents. Before you go twisting and turning I have a couple of questions.
Has the airplane been damaged so that the gear attachments on the fuselage are not where they are supposed to be? This would distort a good landing gear. You don't want to bend a good gear to fix a bad fuselage.
Have you suspended the airplane from a hoist, removed the shock strut tubes and sighted through each axle to the other side? This will tell you which gear or both is not correct.
 
Skywagon8a, when I measured everything I checked off of center and everything appeared square. I was worried about things being off because the previous owner also had control issues with a couple of ‘excursions’. I have not sighted between axles, but am getting set up to make that a possibility. The above mentioned 1” toe-in is total. So 1/2” per side. If that isn’t excessive then I agree bending doesn’t make sense, but it has been the most squirrelly taildragger I’ve flown of five different types. I’m just going through the check list of things to check. Thank you for the feedback all.
 
Didn't Steve P shoot a boresight laser through the hollow gear axles to determine offset? Somewhere here.

Gary
 
Gordon Misch said:
Right, Perry. 1" in 24" is 2.4 deg PER SIDE. Well, assuming that 1" is on each side - - -
Click to expand...

in a level hangar put the main wheels on grease plates. (Two smooth metal plates with light grease between )

With the aircraft on the plates use a plumb bob and mark the centerline on the floor.
Use a strait edge held on the wheels or brake disks then measure to the centerline at equal distances from the axle centerline.

The results will show exactly where the problem is.

You may want to repeat this process with aircraft loaded to gross weight. Many things will change. That is were the grease plates are vital.
 
Did not follow the grease plate technique. A tape measure works quite well. I suspect a long straight piece of wood and a clamp could tell you if one leg is more crooked than the other.
 
bob turner said:
Did not follow the grease plate technique. A tape measure works quite well. I suspect a long straight piece of wood and a clamp could tell you if one leg is more crooked than the other.
Click to expand...

But if it's off moveng the plane forward or backwards will vield different measurements

Glenn
 
cubdriver2 said:
But if it's off moveng the plane forward or backwards will vield different measurements

Glenn
Click to expand...

That’s what the plates are for. Removes any tire friction to the floor. Especially on spring gear aircraft.

That’s how I would do it before I “tweeted” anything.
 
Online angle calculator: [FONT=Verdana,Arial,Tahoma,Calibri,Geneva,sans-serif]https://learnframing.com/angle-calculator-slope-degrees/ [/FONT]
 
My 180 was way out. I used the Grove technique to fix it. Glass beads between the plates works great.
DA16B157-5CF6-436F-ABB6-6B179F947309.jpeg
 

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After a half day with my favorite IA putting on Acme shocks and really looking at the gear, we cussed and discussed bending it to change the toe. We both think it would not be a feasible endeavor. If you succeed in bending something, and with enough force something will bend, you have too much room for error in where it would occur. We are changing from a negative to positive camber with the Acmes, and have decided to see what we have with that. Film at eleven.
 
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