Nose gear shock static "gap"

[Birdseyeview]

DesertFox4,

Thanks for the photo confirming that I'm not the only one to have this gap. As a follow up: I talked to Deb at the factory and she measured a new black rubber shock bushing for me and it was 1.250" thick. As stated below my thickest one was only 1.125 (in the loaded state). When I unload the weight on the nose gear the gap reduces to near zero. Even though my shock bushing haven't been subjected to more than a few hours of taxi operation, we speculated that because of the actual age of my bushings they may have dried out and shrunk a little over time. Deb also stated that the gap is not a "problem" and I take that to mean that it's OK to use as is, even though it may be technically out of new spec limits. The new bushings are $41 each so I'm not going to replace them right away. I'll keep an eye on them for any further shrinkage over time.

[Delta Whisky]

Larry - I don't have the third wheel at that end of the airplane and can't see all of the kinematics involved but just as an observation, would it be reasonable to add washers on top of the rubber donuts to take up the slack and extend the nose gear to its original position? That might also minimize some distracting thumping and bumping. Just a thought.

[Birdseyeview]

Larry - I don't have the third wheel at that end of the airplane and can't see all of the kinematics involved but just as an observation, would it be reasonable to add washers on top of the rubber donuts to take up the slack and extend the nose gear to its original position? That might also minimize some distracting thumping and bumping. Just a thought.

I've had the same thought about adding something into the assembly that might snug it up and eliminate the gap. I like the idea of getting the gear back into its original position and I do have some rubber material of the right thickness that I just might add to the stack of black rubber bushings to accomplish what you suggest. Thanks for your input.