Rudder pedal madness

...as Jorge called it on his website. I have the exact same problem, and no solution yet.

The left rudder pedal on the pilot's side is stiff. The return spring can't pull it. The entire rudder assembly is installed in the aircraft (did cables yesterday). It seems to me I cannot disassemble the rudder pedal assembly, so I did all y'all free up that pedal?

Just to be clear, the entire system is installed with cables. I can't take the torque tubes apart because the head of the bolt is inside the tube and the tubes riveted together. Even if I drill, still can't get at the bolt head. I know there's another way to free this up.

Thanks! one more thread to start....

The bolt inside the torque tube isn't holding the thing together? If I removed the mount (no drill required) I can just pull the bushing end right off? Bolt and all?

found it, thanks.

UPDATE: Took it apart, spent some quality time on the bench with some sand paper and finally put it back together. Seems to stiffen itself up after a few minutes, but better than it was. I fear taking too much material off. I'm happy with it and it's safe.

Thanks for the help.

Eh, couldn't sleep. Back on the bench, sanded down the torque tubes and bushings from 120 to 220 to 320 dry and wet. Smooth as silk now, for real and for good. Any stiffness in those pedals now is in the bushings inside the torque tubes, the end bushings and tubes are effortless.

Madness is the correct description.

The assembly of the pedals is sure a problem and once through it, I found that the real fun begins!

I have the adjustable dual pedal option. After many of the same frustrations everyone has arleady encountered, I felt confident that with everything moving free and clear on the bench; I had this part of the project beat. Aaahhh, not so fast grasshopper.....mounting created a huge amount of frustration. All kinds of binding, pedals no longer free fall and now require a slight push and still do not fall.

Reading previous threads about this topic, I found that some people did shim the brackets. I also notice that more agressive trimming should be done on the floor boards versus the conservative of keeping as much material as possible (reducing sound and drafts).

Any tips and tricks on mounting?

One of those frustrating days...take a break and do something else.

I've found most of the stiffness now is the bushings that are already riveted in place. I've freed up the outer bushings. Short of drilling the torque tube rivets out and doing the same sanding treatment to the interior bushing, it's a lot of oil and a lot of swinging my arms in the shop.

Nathaniel ..go to an autoparts dealer autozone?..pick up some valve lap compound ....wipe your tubes down with he compound ..assemble it ..swing them back and forth for a bit until you feel a little less resistance ..disassemble it ..clean it ..light coat of oil it should take off just enough to lose a majority of the drag,..but not so much to make it sloppy.

Chase

I assembled my pedals on the bench and then attached it to the fuselage without the wood floor piece in place so I could get it drilled dead center on the mount plates. I lined it up and drilled the center mount first. Then I wiggled each side until I got what felt like it was not bound up front or rear. Repeat for the other side.

After I varnished the wood floor, it went back in with no binding at all.

This is what happens when you build it strictly to the plans, and then
encounter real life tolerances (as in the tabs are never welded on square,
powder coating fills that .005 gap that needs to be there, etc). I used emery
cloth on the tubes until they rotated freely, and shimmed, shimmed, shimmed,
and shimmed some more until everything was square, and free.
Mine is very light on the rudder, with zero binding.

Next check your rudder pedal adjust, I bet the pulleys hit the floorboard
when you set the levers all the way back.

Don't feel bad, on my Zenith the way they do the rudder pedals it is
impossible to square up the pedals between pilot and copilot side. So I
literally ended up cutting the pedal tubes in half with a hacksaw, then got
and overlapping larger tube which fit over the cut section. Then re-welded
it with things properly aligned. Then being unhappy with every other part
of the entire assembly I spun all new bushings out of Delrin on my lathe,
and made new mounting brackets as well.

Jeff

My pedals are very free but all im binding comes from the tabs on the rudder not all being perfectly inline