Question on strut fork bolts

[Cooley]

Hello members, another question from a first time carbon cub builder.

the strut forks are attached to the fuse with 3/8 bolts.
I reamed the holes on the fuselage with a 3/8 reamer but for some reason (i think reamer misalignment) one hole came out slightly larger diameter than i would expect.
I can feel some slack when I insert a 3/8 bolt into the hole. I think it is about 0.006 -0.008 inch or so.

So my question is - should the fork bolts have tight fit or some slack is ok?







Thanks!

[tempdoug]

how does the actual bolt that goes in there fit? its a special bolt that goes in there and i dont remember if its exactly 3/8s?

[Mauleguy]

.006-.008 is a lot oversize. Ream .374-.376

[Crash, Jr.]

The Univair strut bolt U13241 measures .3700" by my calipers. That would be .005 clearance in a nominally sized hole so that would be the max clearance I'd shoot for.

[mike mcs repair]

Those holes get HUGE(not uncommon to see 1/16” slop in fork movement) on high time working Cubs. Not an issue. They beat around as you taxi. If it bothers you yo can throw new bolts in every decade or so. Not scary at all to me.


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[Cooley]

Those holes get HUGE(not uncommon to see 1/16” slop in fork movement) on high time working Cubs. Not an issue. They beat around as you taxi. If it bothers you yo can throw new bolts in every decade or so. Not scary at all to me.


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Thanks for sharing your experience - as I said before - I simply don't know if this is an issue or not an issue. Every slop scares me.
So what do people do if the slop becomes excessive? Do they ream holes to 0.45'' and insert tight fit bushings?

[mike mcs repair]

Thanks for sharing your experience - as I said before - I simply don't know if this is an issue or not an issue. Every slop scares me.
So what do people do if the slop becomes excessive? Do they ream holes to 0.45'' and insert tight fit bushings?

you drill it out larger and weld in a bushing... or i should say others do.... me i ignore it, it's not an issue...

[Cooley]

how does the actual bolt that goes in there fit? its a special bolt that goes in there and i dont remember if its exactly 3/8s?

yeah, the bolts are the same diameter, I found interesting that it is tight fit between the bolt and fork - it takes serious pressure to stick the bolt in, but very loose fit between the bolt and the eye in fuselage..

[cubdriver2]

For the last 4000hrs I have used just AN bolts in strut forks. My Vagabond had some play so my IA recommend zero tolerance bolts, all good

Glenn

[JeffP]

For the last 4000hrs I have used just AN bolts in strut forks. My Vagabond had some play so my IA recommend zero tolerance bolts, all good

Glenn

Would knurling the bolt be an idea to create an a interference Fit?




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[Cooley]

people chrome plate bolts for this very purpose. chrome plated aluminum is extremely hard to scratch - it looks like steel if you dont know it is aluminum.

[BC12D-4-85]

I flew an old leased Frontier Flying Service Cub that clunked every time it hit turbulence. Lifting the wing tips up and down found the source - fuselage fittings worn. Their mechanic 'fixed' it by tightening the nuts on the fork bolts. Even IFR it never bothered me much.

Gary

[Gordon Misch]

Would knurling the bolt be an idea to create an a interference Fit?

In my opinion, that would be a resounding "no". Stress risers.

[aktango58]

Would knurling the bolt be an idea to create an a interference Fit?




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To expand on the above comment, knurling does not add metal, it only indents and forces the displaced metal to the side and pushes up the surrounding metal. This leaves less of the outside expanded metal bonded to the internal metal, and as said above- areas for stress fractures are created.

Bolts are a funny thing in structural environments. Sometimes you want grade 8, sometimes you want grade 5. Sometimes you just swear at the mechanic that put that worn out bolt back in!

As far as slop goes, you have responses from very reputable folks. Good luck, hope the project gets into the air soon!

[Steve Pierce]

Does chrome introduces hydrogen embrittlement? I think you have an issue operating the reamer. Not a fun job reaming something like that by hand. Had to ream all four of those fittings on a couple of Carbon Cubs while they hung from the ceiling because you can't get to the holes with a reamer with the gear installed. There was a fixture issue at Cub Crafters on the strut attach/gear attach fitting that caused them to need to be reamed as well as the forks and an oversized bolt installed. Standard bolts need to be installed upside down because they are longer than the special strut bolts and can contact the landing gear tube if the prop length bolt is used with no threads in the shear area of the fitting. I do not want any slop in the strut attach fittings.

[tempdoug]

and when you finally tighten that bolt, finger tight and 3/8 to 1/2 turn more, DONT crank it down. snug. i should say those 4 bolts.

[Cooley]

Steve - thanks for posting this. A priceless video. I agree that I do have issue with operating reamer but after thinking about it more and watching your video i have to conclude that 70% of issue comes directly from CubCrafters.
if you closely look at the yellow fitting - you see that the hole was not really reamed thru, you can see a horizontal line inside the hole (the fitting made out of two plates) and untouched metal around it.
I have similar story on my left side fitting where I promise you - I did not screw up with the reamer and still have a play similar to what you have in your clips. When I reamed left hand side holes - the reamer barely touched the surface - it almost fell thru..

So my version is this:
they have 2 plates that constitute the fitting, 1/8 inch each. They drill 0.37 holes in each plate first and weld two plates together after. When they weld them together - they suppose to exactly line up these holes as 0.005 which is left for the reamer is not enough.
But they don't - the holes on two plates don't line up when they weld them together to the frame. So when you get your fuselage - you have upper plate misaligned with the lower plate, you ream it but since misalignment between upper and lower hole greater than 0.005 you get the slop we are talking about.
They (CC) either need to align the plated better or use 0.36 drill bit when making those holes. See pic below:

[Steve Pierce]

The issue was the misalignment of the two parts in the welding fixture and I believe someone on the shop floor used a drill to get the bolt to go in. That issue was addressed and fixed years ago. If you haven't reamed your other holes check them and verify. I have not heard of this issue and believe it would be a hot topic. What does Dave Emory say about it?

[Cooley]

Unfortunately I have reamed all 4 holes already. I have not checked with Dave yet. Will post my findings to their forum today... I am confident that misalignment caused my problems - lower plate if off and when you ream from the top - you ream upper hole and only part of lower hole...This is a damn shame (c)

But Steve - you tell me this - how did you fix what you filmed? Oversized AN bolts? Did you reream 0.385 both fork and the fitting and use 0.385 bolt - something like this?

[RaisedByWolves]

Unfortunately I have reamed all 4 holes already. I have not checked with Dave yet. Will post my findings to their forum today... I am confident that misalignment caused my problems - lower plate if off and when you ream from the top - you ream upper hole and only part of lower hole...This is a damn shame (c)

But Steve - you tell me this - how did you fix what you filmed? Oversized AN bolts? Did you reream 0.385 both fork and the fitting and use 0.385 bolt - something like this?

Over size forks and bolts that go in upside down and you have to wait awhile for CubCrafters to manufacture them


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[tempdoug]

Steve - thanks for posting this. A priceless video. I agree that I do have issue with operating reamer but after thinking about it more and watching your video i have to conclude that 70% of issue comes directly from CubCrafters.
if you closely look at the yellow fitting - you see that the hole was not really reamed thru, you can see a horizontal line inside the hole (the fitting made out of two plates) and untouched metal around it.
I have similar story on my left side fitting where I promise you - I did not screw up with the reamer and still have a play similar to what you have in your clips. When I reamed left hand side holes - the reamer barely touched the surface - it almost fell thru..

So my version is this:
they have 2 plates that constitute the fitting, 1/8 inch each. They drill 0.37 holes in each plate first and weld two plates together after. When they weld them together - they suppose to exactly line up these holes as 0.005 which is left for the reamer is not enough.
But they don't - the holes on two plates don't line up when they weld them together to the frame. So when you get your fuselage - you have upper plate misaligned with the lower plate, you ream it but since misalignment between upper and lower hole greater than 0.005 you get the slop we are talking about.
They (CC) either need to align the plated better or use 0.36 drill bit when making those holes. See pic below:

if you go to pipers print that hole should be 1/4 inch then after welded made to size, i would think thats how cubcrafters does it also, but i dont know.

[tempdoug]

http://supercubproject.com/drawings/pdfs/A3290656.pdf

[Cooley]

Over size forks and bolts that go in upside down and you have to wait awhile for CubCrafters to manufacture them


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ahh, thanks.... it makes me thinking about joining Mike's camp ...

I now understand what people mean when they say "it takes 3 planes to build to learn how to build a good one"

on a different note: anyone has opinion on a plug Gage set, which one to buy? (Steve used in his video)

[tempdoug]

and i hope you dont mind this comment!! but start with a wire brush in the holes to get paint out and not reamers and have the bolt that goes in the hole from the very beginning. and again i am NOT saying yours wasnt bad to begin with!

[Cooley]

if you go to pipers print that hole should be 1/4 inch then after welded made to size, i would think thats how cubcrafters does it also, but i dont know.

no, they did not touch the holes after they welded two plates together. see blue metal on the pic below.

[tempdoug]

no, they did not touch the holes after they welded two plates together. see blue metal on the pic below.

i dont know, there building there airplanes and not pipers, so if you visit with them let us know how they do it.