Nose Gear Maintanence

[PNWJARED]

Hello my nose gear brethren. I was curious if any of you guys do a strip down to check or rebuild or bolt and bushing replacement and if so, how often. Have any of you noticed any cracking or stress points I should be aware of. My plane, new to me now has 430ish hours. I fly off grass and gravel 90% of the time so it gets used. plus I have done some short field tests which provided some durability testing as well. So far so good.

Thanks in advance.

[SkySteve]

Jared,
In March, 2016 I did my annual condition inspection and for the first time in several years completely removed every part of my nosewheel to inspect, clean and repack the bearings. I wish I hadn't as there was no wear at all and it was a pain to get everything back in place. The bearings are sealed so I was not able to repack. Seemed like a waste of time to me. I do most of my flying off airport, too.

[Dave S]

Jared,

Ditto what Steve said on the nosewheel bearings - sealed and they don't need maintenance. What I have found needing some attention is the Belville washer stack which maintains tension on the fork - they are down in the dirt and moisture - disassemble - clean - relubricate - assemble and set the tension. How often has to do with the kind of stuff a person drags their wheels through. I haven't seen any wear on the brass bushings on the fork (or the little ones on the top) but the fork bushings can get gunky if left too long and there is some potential for surface rust on the shaft.

[PNWJARED]

is the Belleville washer stack the rubber bushings? or is this lower in front of the wheel. I have wheel pants and need to get in there and have a look.

No problem at the firewall connection for those good ole hard landings?

Thanks for the posts guys.

[Dave S]

Jared,

It's the lower front of the wheel. I believe the shaft the fork pivots on is 1", with the washer stack on the bottom between the fork and the nut. If you have a build manual available - there should be a section describing the assemby. The washers are "coned" rather than flat with the washers alternating so when the bottom nut is tightened you can adjust the tension the fork pivot is under - that's critical to preventing any shimmy of the nosewheel.

The rubber bushings on the top is the "spring" and is referred to as an elastomere bushing - that is not the washer stack.

Sincerely,

[PNWJARED]

got it. Is there any caution or wear to watch for or scheduled maintenance requirements to the "Spring" Assembley.

I was wondering if I should replace the bolt that secures the Spring very often. to make sure it doesn't give way. I need to study this further so I know better what receives torque, pressure and how the loads are applied.

[DesertFox4]

Jared,
I just finished my conditional inspection on my model four.
This inspection showed a very rough, very noisy bearing. During disassembly of the wheel to replace tire and tube, I messed up a wheel bolt. Ended up just ordering a brand new nose wheel from Aircraft Spruce for $36.00 which includes new bolts and new sealed bearings. My axel sustained no damage from the bad bearing so was lucky there.
I think I will from now on disassemble the nose gear each year for bearing check, clean and relube bellville washer set and reset tension to prevent shimmy.
It is not a difficult job.
FYI, the original bearings made 900 hours so are pretty durable. This was my third nose gear tire and tube since the Kitfox was new in 2003.