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Wheel pants not even question?


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The prior owner stressed the right gear on a hard landing. The right gear was replaced but the right wing sits 3.5 inches lower than the left. Of course fuel travels to the right tank while hangered. Now it's pointed out to me the wheel pants are off from each other. Also the fiberglass oval housing on the fuselage around the main gear is cracked at the rear. This small damage to the fuselage leads me to think the gear was beat up more than just a minor tweek. Now with the gear pant situation!?

 

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The wheel pant probably won't make any real difference. If they replaced the gear leg and drilled new holes down on the leg for the knuckle they may not have gotten that straight which also sets the alignment for the wheel pant. Watch your tire wear and if that one or both wear prematurely then they didn't get it aligned properly.

For now just watch it.

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The replaced gear tire appears tilted out some which would cause wear on the inner part of the tire I would guess. 

How tough is the fuselage repair around the gear strut? The rear of the molded oval is cracked off.

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Buckaroo, with one wing 3.5" lower and the landing gear 4" different "fore-aft" from the opposite gear, you will not be able to fix this situation by adjusting the wheel pant.  FWIW, I suspect your CT might need some serious adjustment to the gear and fuselage on the side that took the load from the hard landing.  With the difference in measurements shown by your CT, I'm wondering if a new gear leg may have been installed after one hard landing and then another hard landing occurred to put the CT in the condition it now is in?  You are in an area where significant wind conditions exist and this can be an extremely challenging environment for pilots with low hours attempting to land very light aircraft !

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The poor thing is like my left leg! My knees shot, my foot has three six inch pins in it etc. 

You are correct the right gear has all the signs of either faulty replacement or a second hit. 

Im saving my money!?

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My 2007 CTSW's wheel pants were off from day one delivered new.  Not badly but sure enough to notice...the tail of one is cocked a bit higher than the other.  And I've notice this on a couple of other CTSWs.  Not adjustable but no big deal either. Offends one's sense of symmetry but does not affect flying.  :bow_to_each_other-968:

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Buckaroo, do you have a head-on picture showing the difference in gear legs and wingtip height?  You can see my right wing is lower if you look carefully at the airplane from the front, but mine is 1.5"-2" from the corners of the droop tips, not nearly as bad as yours and I have noticed no fore/aft difference.  The main problem I have and you certainly will too, is that if the airplane is parked with very full fuel in the tank with the low wingtip, fuel will transfer from the other tank and start spewing out the vent and get all over your wing.  Just an annoyance.  I usually fill the left tank full and the right about 1" below the filler threads, and if I need that much fuel I don't fill up until I'm ready to depart.

It sounds like you have more going on here, but if it really was a pant alignment problem, you could probably adjust some of the error out by using a Dremel to turn the two panhead screw holes into slots, then adjusting it where you want it, mark it, and then glass in the slot and drill a new hole where you marked.  I had one of those holes get enlongated, and I marked the hole position and glassed in the wallowed out hole from the back side and then drilled a nice, neat new hole.  It has been perfect since.

 

 

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Yup when I fuel before hour flights I just run 15 gallons on the left tank. The right always has 15 or so. 

Good info on trip top offs. I hate gas on my finishes. 

Down at Rocky Mountain Kit Sport in Fairfield Ut the do glass, Carbon, paint repair. I'm considering having the right gear re-done properly in conjunction with the hose job!?

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