Murray sibbeston Posted June 30, 2023 Report Share Posted June 30, 2023 I am changing my Ctsw to floats and when removing the gear I discovered the four bolts that hold the composite gear bracket were either loose or to long to tighten. I’m wondering if the main gear bolt is sufficient to hold things tight or are the four smaller bolts required to be tight. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Koerner Posted July 5, 2023 Report Share Posted July 5, 2023 Hi Murray, Unfortunately, no one on this forum is privy to the stress analysis relating to the selection of fasteners that hold this bracket in place. However, If the design calls for four fasteners (it does) you can safely assume it needs to have all four fasteners, that they need to be the specified fasteners (by part number or size and grade), that they need to be accompanied by the specified hardware (nuts & washers), that the need to be properly assembled, and that they need to be tightened to the specified torque (or a standard torque for that size and grade of fastener if no other torque is specified). The maintenance manual provides this information. From the photos you sent it appears that the outboard fastener is not the correct part (C9996060 I think), does not have the specified washer (C9996565), and has not been properly torqued (80 in-lb). This should set off a bunch of alarm bells. I would go back through the maintenance logbook and figure out who did this work. I would then very carefully examine every other job he did, or might have done, on this aircraft. And yes, I'm afraid this may be an enormous job. Sorry. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Madhatter Posted July 5, 2023 Report Share Posted July 5, 2023 One thing I have noticed and not specific to gear bolts is that the soft washers will dish out for high torque applications. It's an obvious issue on engine mount bolt washers on the inside of the cabin where the carbon fiber will conically crush. I now use a hardened washer over the original washers which solves the problem for high torque applications. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Murray sibbeston Posted July 9, 2023 Author Report Share Posted July 9, 2023 The plane is new to me and no log of maintenance was available. The loose bolts seem very wrong but I just wanted confirmation that it was not normal to see lose bolts here. Thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Meade Posted July 9, 2023 Report Share Posted July 9, 2023 This raises a whole bunch of questions to me about who did the last condition inspection. I guess I'd consider having a competent mechanic do another condition inspection, especially if any other anomalies show up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
procharger Posted July 18, 2023 Report Share Posted July 18, 2023 They will loosen after years of use. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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