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Thread: Rudder pedal friction

  1. #11

    Join Date
    May 2009
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    Lebanon, Or
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    35

    Default Re: Rudder pedal friction

    Perused everything I could find on the rudder pedal installation but I still had question concerning the torque tube and inboard rudder pedal. Is the torque tube suppose to rotate in bearing and the bearing rotate on the torque tube or does it matter? The manual states to sand the torque tube to achieve smooth rotation so I'm assuming the bearing rotates with the inboard rudder pedal and the torque rotates within the bearing. Thanks

  2. #12
    Senior Member PapuaPilot's Avatar
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    Nov 2013
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    Nampa, Idaho
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    Default Re: Rudder pedal friction

    I had the same problem with my rudder tubes. I ended up filing and grinding out the inside of the tubes due to the welds coming through. I also sanded and filed down the bushings until everything turned smoothly.

    When the bushings turn good on the bench make sure they do the same when mounted in the plane. Slide one end in the bushing, rotate it and find the position where it turns smoothest. If this is not perfectly lined up (i. e. the opposite bushing and bracket needs to be resting on the airframe mounting point) then your tubes are warped and need to be straightened. Once one end is smooth you need to do it to the opposite side.

    This will take a lot of time, but like others have mentioned, you want to have the whole system moving smoothly.

    I don't think it matters whether the bushing or tube rotates.
    Phil Nelson
    A&P-IA, Maintenance Instructor
    KF 5 Outback, Cont. IO-240
    Flying since 2016

  3. #13
    Senior Member
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    Nov 2008
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    KDKB (Dekalb, Illinois)
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    Default Re: Rudder pedal friction

    That's the trouble I had. The mount points were not square, so washers and
    shimming to the rescue.

    Jeff

    Quote Originally Posted by Dorsal View Post
    For what it's worth I had to shim my outboard bracket to get it to remain square after I torqued it down.

  4. #14

    Join Date
    May 2009
    Location
    Lebanon, Or
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    35

    Default Re: Rudder pedal friction

    Thanks for the posts from all on this subject. After reading through all them a couple times and inspecting my respective parts I found that most of my time was spent truing the parts. Where the horns are welded on to the tube distorts the tubing causing it to be out of round - I was able to use hand clamps to press them nearly round and then with a file while removing the slag I also removed small amounts of material to make the tubing round (a lot of measuring). I also found that 3 of the bearings were nearly identical but the fourth one was thicker causing the ID to be smaller. I polished this one to match the other three. Once all parts were true (again a lot of time measuring pretty precisely) things went together pretty smoothly. I did not have to do much sanding to get the desired fit or cut the bearings (still need to install though). I also found that any high spots in the PC (OD) or inside the tubing showed up on the torque tube (bearing material rubbed off, requires continuous cleaning of parts) indicating where material needed to be removed. Also doing a initial polishing the ID of the bearings helped a lot to remove slag/roughness in the bearing that would get deposited on the tubing making it sticky and hard to turn. If the bearing does gets suck on the tubing isopropyl works great a temporary lubricate to remove them without any messy clean up. Hope this helps future players!

  5. #15

    Join Date
    May 2009
    Location
    Lebanon, Or
    Posts
    35

    Default Re: Rudder pedal friction

    After working on getting the seat pan installed so I can decided on placement of the rudder pedals that will be most comfortable for me I did a final inspection of the rudder pedals before committing them to riveting them together. I have to say I'm a little concerned with the plastic bearing rubbing against the weld for the rudder horn as well as the spacing of the head of the clevis bolts holding the pulley (adjustable rudder pedals). The weld at the rudder horn is less than smooth and seems like it will cause increased rate of wear at the bearing resulting in potential future binding of the clevis bolt heads. I've thought of adding a thin spacer between the weld and bearing of the torque tube and inboard rudder pedal tube. Am I bearing overly concerned here? The assembly seems a little questionable to me? Appreciate any thoughts on this.

  6. #16
    Senior Member PapuaPilot's Avatar
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    Default Re: Rudder pedal friction

    A picture of what you are talking about might be nice.

    I don't think you are wrong to be concerned about potential friction or rapid wear. If there is any chance of interference in the future it would be best to take care of it now.
    Phil Nelson
    A&P-IA, Maintenance Instructor
    KF 5 Outback, Cont. IO-240
    Flying since 2016

  7. #17

    Join Date
    May 2009
    Location
    Lebanon, Or
    Posts
    35

    Default Re: Rudder pedal friction

    Attached are pics of the spacing between the heads of the clevis bolts and weld at the horn bearing location. I knocked down the high points of the weld but it still is not exactly a smooth finish. Seems the weld is needed to keep a minimum spacing for the clearance of the bolts heads. Maybe a filet of Hysol?
    Attached Images Attached Images

  8. #18

    Join Date
    May 2009
    Location
    Lebanon, Or
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    35

    Default Re: Rudder pedal friction

    Just as a reference point is everyone else's rudder horns welded on the side that the bearing flange is? Is this a normal bearing flange to weld rotation point? Thanks

  9. #19
    Senior Member PapuaPilot's Avatar
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    Nov 2013
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    Default Re: Rudder pedal friction

    I finally got a chance to look at mine. The welds are on the same side and the bolt head clearance is similar.
    Phil Nelson
    A&P-IA, Maintenance Instructor
    KF 5 Outback, Cont. IO-240
    Flying since 2016

  10. #20
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Apr 2010
    Location
    Bryan, Texas
    Posts
    558

    Default Re: Rudder pedal friction

    I am putting my rudders together and I am running into some of the issues described here. I cannot get the thin bushings between the inner rudder torque tube and the outer torque tube to go in. I will say that I had to build the inner pedal assembly. I have the outer rudder pedal assemblies and took the the dimensions from that so I used the exact size. Does anyone know if the tubing on inner pedal assembly is a different size as the outer pedal assembly? The pictures that I have seen shows that it looks like the same size tubing on both pieces? I feel like I can sand the inside more but it's only .035 and seems like there would not be much "meat" left.

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