Fastfred,

Us nose wheel guys need to stick together!....there are so few of us in kitfoxland!

OK - here it goes.

1) There should be 6 belleville washers (slight cone shape) and two thrust washers (flat) in addition to the nut and a required cotter pin in the nosewheel stack.

2) In order to get an accurate measure of the pull required to break the nosewheel free, be sure the entire stack, fork bushings and nosegear strut are clean and lubricated.

3) One thrust washer goes against the bottom of fork, the 6 belleville washers are arranged in three pairs with the narrow part of the cones facing each other for each pair. the second flat washer goes on the bottom of the belleville washer stack and the nut.

4) Have the aircraft jacked up so the nosewheel does not touch the ground.

5) Tighten the nut enough to take the slack out of the washer stack but not so much the fork won't swivel easily.

6) Take a moderately accurate fish scale (note that all the fish scales tend to make the fisherman feel really, really good about his/her catch - a person can calibrate them for better accuracy)

7) Attach the fish scale to the end of the nosewheel axle and adjust the nosegear nut to achieve a pull of 10 to 12 pounds (per the build manual). The sweet spot is so the breakout force is not so much it resists normal turns during taxi and enough so it isn't loose. I had a mongo giant cheap crescent wrench laying around that works well to adjust the breakout force - don't need the leverage but the nut is bigger than my socket set.

8) Align the nut so a cotter pin can be inserted & secure.

FWIW - I have found the castering nosegear to be troublefree with the exception of a need to periodically clean up the washer stack and lubricate the whole business - somewhat related to what kind of stuff we drag our gear through.

Be sure that the cotter pin is in place and secure - it would be uncool to have the fork fall off on takeoff.

I have never, ever had an issue with shimmy. I have found that a little field dirt accumulation in the washer stack tends to increase the breakout force. Periodic disassembly and cleanup/lubrication is definetly important.