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Nose Wheel and Pants removal - Wheel needs balancing


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Hold the tail almost all the way down with some weight. Then take the screws out of the front wheel pant and use a bunji cord to hold it up past the axle  and axle nut.  Remove the axle nut. Take a thin drift punch and place it in the hole of the axle on the nut side. DO NOT use a punch so big as to contact the axle screw threads. Tap the axle out with a mallet. Balance the tire and reverse the process. You can do all this in 30 minutes without breaking a sweat.

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Not sure if all CT's are the same but pulling up my wheel pant doesn't give enough clearance to remove the axle bolt on my CT.  I have trimmed the pant down at the axle but couldn't trim enough to allow the axle bolt removal when the pant is pulled up.  An item on my "to do" list is to take my dremmel and clear away some of the top of the wheel pant to clear the front strut structure so it can be pulled up far enough to clear the axle bolt.  If this isn't done, the whole lower strut must be removed to remove the pant, then the axle/wheel - which is a PITA.

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A long time ago I recommended that before you have a flat tire in the field or just needed to change it at home that everyone lift the front wheel pant and see if it cleared the axle. If not I recommend that you take your handy dandy Dremel tool with a sanding drum and lower the notch up at the top where it contacts the air frame so the wheel pant will clear when needed. This only takes a few minutes to do and is well worth doing.

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All wheels should be balanced. I have never found a wheel to be in balance without weights.

II would check your front end on your plane. This check is in the maint. manual for each inspection and a good practice during pre-flights.

Grab the prop right up by the spinner and lift the nose wheel up about an inch or so and then let the plane  nose down firmly. There should be no free play up or down. If there is the red polyurethane spacers may need replacement. Recently I also found the nut on the main bolt inside extremely lose. Then have someone hold the tail down with the front wheel off the ground. Wiggle the nose wheel left and right. It should be firm  or at least no more than about a 1/4" play. More than that it needs the front suspension guide pin replace as it or the slot it rides in is worn. Leaving this side to side motion in will get worse and could lead to more expensive repairs, 

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