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Stiff nose wheel and rudder, what to lubricate and where?


kentuckynet

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Havent flown much in the last couple of years, recently flew 400 miles and once landed steering was really hard, so hard you almost had to stand up on the pedals to steer!!!

After getting it all tied down didnt check a thing got back to airport the following morning b4 daylight and thought damn...wish i had done some checking.

Had the wife hold the tail down and i moved the pedals with my hand seemed a little stiff but had to go.

did look under the tail and in the tunnel saw nothing out of the ordinary....assume its from sitting.

Can i assume the nose wheel shocking grommets get lubricated? What about other places along the cable routing? Im going to disconnect the front wheel and see if its easy to move the pedals and i think that will let me know where to start.............Ill check every inch of it just curious if anyone else has ever experienced this.......

 

Any recommendations on the type of lube?

 

thanks

 

 

and by the way when i got back the other 400 miles wow did i have a time landing no way to throw in quick rudder movements, will make the correction b4 going back up!

 

mack

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Mack, if you had to push on the rudders as hard as you say, you might want to check the rudder pedals to see if you bent them.  There is a known problem with certain year CT's receiving thin tubes that comprise the rudder pedal system.  These will bend if "stood on" during ground travel to a point that one or both pedals will hit the firewall before full travel is achieved.  if the rudder pedal tubes are bent, they will need to be replaced.  Expensive parts and a time consuming job to replace them.  Hopefully, you have not bent things and will only need to take the strut apart and grease it.  Remove the urethane pucks and inspect them for sag.  if required, buy some new pucks.  I got mine from Roger Lee.  When you put the strut back together, slather the grease on the pucks and the inside of the tube these reside in.  Liberally lube the outside of the tube and the pin and slot. Grease the bronze upper and lower bearings.

 

The front strut needs to be taken apart and greased every couple of years.  If this is not,done the pin and/or the slot which keeps the front wheel aligned can wear.  If the pin wears, this part costs about $30.  If the slot has significant wear and cannot be repaired, we can no longer buy just the the lower strut from FD.  FD now only sells the engine mount/lower strut assembly.  I believe this assembly costs $3,500 to $4,500.  Grease is a lot cheaper.

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is that what i would put in the nose wheel frame engine mount assembly?

i was also told about a LPS1 ???

 

thanks

mack

 

LPS 1 is for fine lubrication of small parts. LPS 2 is general purpose, LPS 3 is thick and corrosion inhibiting. None of these are suitable for plain bearings, however, so use aeroshell 6 or the other listed greases in the MM.

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The rudder pedals are to be lubed every inspection. If you use the FD inspection checklist it's right on there. I spray the peddles where they mount into the plastic mounts with INOX every inspection. This way they never bind or wear out. I spray all the rod ends and hinges with INOX also. I don't use any silicones or sprays that have solvents or hydrocarbon type chemicals.

 

When I install new red urethane spacers in the front end I always smear them with a little grease to keep them from binding and allowing them to move slightly as needed. I always lubes the brass bushings on the front strut and the guide pin.

 

I prefer to use a full synthetic grease like Mobile One (red) It seems to stay put and isn't affected by moisture, water and dry out quite like a standard petroleum grease.

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Hi Mack,

 

That's the stuff. I won't say Ace Hardware, but you can get it at Ace Aviation.   :laughter-3293:

 

or on Amazon or Ebay. It comes in this smaller can or a larger can. The smaller one will last an individual a long time.

 

That is the Mobile One grease. I buy it in a tub, but the tube is good too.

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Aeroshell 22 is also a fantastic synthetic wheel bearing grease, while 33 is a great all purpose grease for *everything* else. 33MS is for really high loads like airliner landing gear, and isn't necessary for our aircraft :P.

 

I use 5 and 6 simply because if someone else maintains the aircraft, and they are reading the manual... well let's just say mineral bases don't play well with the synthetics.

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  • 1 month later...

ok, installed the nose gear damper upgrade since it had never been done. found the greaseable items needed greasing.

also found something I don't understand.when you push the rudder pedals all the way to the left you hear a loud pop.this plane was wrecked and rebuilt it had a small crack which you will see in the photos.it was rubbing when I got the plane on the side where the crack is.i ground off some of the composite and its been fine all these years.now its rubbing on the opposite side.when I grab the rudder and pull out or push up I cannot find any slack or anything like a bearing out...no play in any direction!

any ideas? I know I can just grind away more composite but whats changing??

 

thanks

mack

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removed the two cables from the rudder and it moved freely with no rubbing, checked the upper bracket for tightness and wear found none.checked the lowers and found no problems, put back on moved freely with no rubbing.Hooked the two cables back on and now it rubs again!

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