Runtoeat Posted October 12, 2010 Report Share Posted October 12, 2010 I have a main wheel pant that has a damaged bolt hole - this is the main bolt that holds the pant to the axle. Has anyone repaired this area and if so, any advice on doing this? Any procedure from FD for this? This appears to be another area of our CT's that could use an expoxied-in metal reinforcement. It gets a lot of stress and strain. I imagine that it is constantly working due to wind buffeting and when one taxies on rough fields. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roger Lee Posted October 13, 2010 Report Share Posted October 13, 2010 If you are going to repair that hole use 4 layers of fiberglass cloth and epoxy on the inside. Depending on the outside hole you may need or want to put 2 layers there. Remember the strength is in the cloth not the resin so don't pile on the resin. The resin is only there to bond the cloth so wipe off or soak up any extra resin. Then sand and re-paint. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Runtoeat Posted October 13, 2010 Author Report Share Posted October 13, 2010 Hi Roger. Thanks for the advice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Posted October 13, 2010 Report Share Posted October 13, 2010 I fixed mine a couple of years ago. I used 4 layers of carbon fiber and "glassed" a fender washer in between the layers to redefine the hole. Worked great. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roger Lee Posted October 13, 2010 Report Share Posted October 13, 2010 Hi Jim, Great idea by adding the fender washer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FastEddieB Posted October 14, 2010 Report Share Posted October 14, 2010 [ Great idea by adding the fender washer. Great minds and all that... An impromptu repair on a Cirrus wheel pant using fender washers and rubber washers inside and out to "sandwich" the worn area:: The damage was caused by the bolt working its way loose after an annual. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Runtoeat Posted October 14, 2010 Author Report Share Posted October 14, 2010 My repair went well. I wanted to add a stainless washer during the glass layup but was shot down on this idea. Wish I would have done it. Can still do it with a couple more layers on the inside to encapsulate a washer.....hmmm. This area just gets a constant workout during rough field taxi and propellor wash buffeting during flight. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FastEddieB Posted October 14, 2010 Report Share Posted October 14, 2010 If the fiberglass is repaired, why not just do a modification like mine (fender washers and rubber washers inside and out) to spread the load? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Runtoeat Posted October 15, 2010 Author Report Share Posted October 15, 2010 If the fiberglass is repaired, why not just do a modification like mine (fender washers and rubber washers inside and out) to spread the load? Ed, I like your repair, especially for it being quick and easy. Spreading out the load is good and I think your repair should last a long time. I had added rubber washers under some small stainless washers. This resulted in the pants breaking. I believe that I was not able to "hold torque" on the bolts due to the squish of the rubber washers. I'm going to try a different approach. I have repaired the holes and then beveled some washers to closely follow the surface of the wheel pants and then radiused the edges of these washers so they don't dig into the pant - one washer inside between the axle and pant and and one washer outside between the pant and the bolt head. I will loctite these and then torque them. It is hoped that they will prevent the pants from moving which should prevent eventual opening up of the attachment holes but we'll see. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FastEddieB Posted October 16, 2010 Report Share Posted October 16, 2010 I believe that I was not able to "hold torque" on the bolts due to the squish of the rubber washers. That's what the blue Loctite was for! In any case, I was dismayed that Cirrus seemed to use no obvious reinforcement in the bolt area, and then used a washer barely larger than the bolt head. Just enough if everything is snugged down right, but zero tolerance for error. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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