Cessna 150 Main Gear Strut bent inward?

Tom-D said:
The proper method is to lay a yard stick along the brake disk on each side and measure the difference at the ends of the yard stick.
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Yep, but a tape across the front and rear will let you know if you have a gross error or not and is much simpler to get a single person to do. Since there is a 1" difference, we now know there is a gross error in the tow and know where to go.
 
Henning said:
Yep, but a tape across the front and rear will let you know if you have a gross error or not and is much simpler to get a single person to do. Since there is a 1" difference, we now know there is a gross error in the tow and know where to go.
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A one-inch difference just means that he's measuring to one groove on the front and a different groove on the back. Got to use the same grooves to make any sense of it.
 
Henning said:
Camber is the measurement from top to bottom, toe is the measurement from front to rear. I don't care how crap a tire is, if you can measure an inch of toe in with a tape measure, you have a problem.
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There is no way in hell that you could taxi a C-150 with a 1" difference in a 6:00 tire. toe in or tow out.

I see he has the flat spring gear. My best guess he has lost the wedge that holds the gear leg in proper alignment to the fuselage.

Jack the aircraft off the ground by the wing. remove the wheels, use a chalk line to determine if the axles are aligned. and a equal distance from the nose strut. measuring ribs on a tire is not good enough.
 
Tom-D said:
There is no way in hell that you could taxi a C-150 with a 1" difference in a 6:00 tire. toe in or tow out.

I see he has the flat spring gear. My best guess he has lost the wedge that holds the gear leg in proper alignment to the fuselage.

Jack the aircraft off the ground by the wing. remove the wheels, use a chalk line to determine if the axles are aligned. and a equal distance from the nose strut. measuring ribs on a tire is not good enough.
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What are you talking about? He's going to wait for his mechanic at this point, he's not doing any of that, if he could he would already know what the problem is without asking here.
 
Henning said:
What are you talking about? He's going to wait for his mechanic at this point, he's not doing any of that, if he could he would already know what the problem is without asking here.
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I doubt he has the jacks, but just the same, no matter who does it they won't use the tire ribs as a reference point.
Once again your shade tree tactics will not get the job done correctly. You might better get the book out and do it right from the start.
 
Tom-D said:
I doubt he has the jacks, but just the same, no matter who does it they won't use the tire ribs as a reference point.
Once again your shade tree tactics will not get the job done correctly. You might better get the book out and do it right from the start.
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I just had him measure tire ribs because it was something he could do that would give us a rough idea of what kind of problem he has. I wasn't suggesting he use it for alignment, **** me dead.:rolleyes2:
 
Henning said:
I just had him measure tire ribs because it was something he could do that would give us a rough idea of what kind of problem he has. I wasn't suggesting he use it for alignment, **** me dead.:rolleyes2:
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One day some one will take you literally and get them selves hurt. Hows that going to make you feel?
 
Tom-D said:
One day some one will take you literally and get them selves hurt. Hows that going to make you feel?
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What did I tell him to do that would get him hurt, please? You're the one telling him to jack up the plane. I just told him to take a tape measure to it and look at the shims. I didn't tell him to remove crap like you did.
 
Henning said:
What did I tell him to do that would get him hurt, please? You're the one telling him to jack up the plane. I just told him to take a tape measure to it and look at the shims. I didn't tell him to remove crap like you did.
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Generally telling folks how to do stuff the shade tree way will catch up some day.
 
I think if someone gets himself killed by following DIY aircraft maintenance advice off of POA it would only be a matter of time anyway, they're surely destined to get themselves killed one way or another.
 
Silvaire said:
I think if someone gets himself killed by following DIY aircraft maintenance advice off of POA it would only be a matter of time anyway, they're surely destined to get themselves killed one way or another.
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Possibly, but our McGiver will be the one to help them.
 
Tom-D said:
Possibly, but our McGiver will be the one to help them.
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YOU were the one telling him to jack it up by the wing and to take things apart when he obviously doesn't have the required skill set, now who is it setting him up to get killed? YOU!!!
 
FWIW myself and several others told him "Don't worry, go fly!" I still can't determine from the pictures or the shade tree measurements if there's anything wrong. My Maule had the aluminum spring gear and would do all sorts of wonky things when you spun it around or pushed it backwards.
 
Silvaire said:
My Maule had the aluminum spring gear and would do all sorts of wonky things when you spun it around or pushed it backwards.
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Most will, if the wheels are toed-in or -out as per their manuals. They can even get hard to move if the alignment is off far enough, and they can lurch sideways and get squirrely on touchdown for the same reason.

Dan
 
Henning said:
I just had him measure tire ribs because it was something he could do that would give us a rough idea of what kind of problem he has. I wasn't suggesting he use it for alignment, **** me dead.:rolleyes2:
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Yes I will report back after he takes a look tomorrow some time. How would a wedge get knocked out or something of the like I am just curious?


Also I would never remove things or do things I did not feel comfortable with what he suggested was harmless to give a rough idea of the problem. Thanks again henning
 
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Henning said:
YOU were the one telling him to jack it up by the wing and to take things apart when he obviously doesn't have the required skill set, now who is it setting him up to get killed? YOU!!!
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Don't take their bait...

What Henning suggested was a perfectly reasonable easy place to start to see if there is a problem. The OP is obviously not going to fix this himself - so suggesting he jack the plane up is where things would go wrong. Nobody is going to get hurt by someone making a few measurements with a measuring tape when they'll be having their mechanic do the actual fixing.
 
Joffreyyy said:
Yes I will report back after he takes a look tomorrow some time. How would a wedge get knocked out or something of the like I am just curious?


Also I would never remove things I did not feel comfortable taking off what he suggested was harmless to give a rough idea of the problem. Thanks again henning
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How? Bolts coming loose is the only way they're coming out of there. Why the bolts would come loose is a good question that there is no way for me to answer. I don't know what kind of service history there is at that location.
 
I just thought of something. If it just came out of maint for a tire, the most likely thing is the inner race was stuck cockeyed short of its seat or held of by something when he preloaded it, now it is free and the wheel bearing is loose. Does the brake sound like it's dragging when you push it?
 
Henning said:
I just thought of something. If it just came out of maint for a tire, the most likely thing is the inner race was stuck cockeyed short of its seat or held of by something when he preloaded it, now it is free and the wheel bearing is loose. Does the brake sound like it's dragging when you push it?
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Sometimes it does yes not always.
 
jesse said:
Don't take their bait...

What Henning suggested was a perfectly reasonable easy place to start to see if there is a problem. The OP is obviously not going to fix this himself - so suggesting he jack the plane up is where things would go wrong. Nobody is going to get hurt by someone making a few measurements with a measuring tape when they'll be having their mechanic do the actual fixing.
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The suggestions I made are what needs to be done, not who's going to do them. we all know this is not owner maintenance. So, lets get real with trouble shooting on line

Taking measurements by a person who has no clue as to what to do, is just a confusion of the real maintenance issue, and what is written in the 100 service manual.

There isn't a person on this web page that has laid hands on this aircraft seen what the facts are. So telling the OP what to do is simply stupid, and may get him hurt.
 
Henning said:
Shake the plane sideways and see if the wheel and disc will rock.
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Yeah that the best way to ruin a good Magnesium wheel, if it isn't already.
 
Henning said:
It's been flown like that, shaking it a bit is not going to break anything not already broken.
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If it was a loose bearing, he will be talking of noises, and wobbly wheel.

He isn't.
 
Tom-D said:
The suggestions I made are what needs to be done, not who's going to do them. we all know this is not owner maintenance. So, lets get real with trouble shooting on line

Taking measurements by a person who has no clue as to what to do, is just a confusion of the real maintenance issue, and what is written in the 100 service manual.

There isn't a person on this web page that has laid hands on this aircraft seen what the facts are. So telling the OP what to do is simply stupid, and may get him hurt.
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I think that point was overlooked. Likely purposely.
 
brian109 said:
Grabs beer and popcorn and waits
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You will get a kick out of this then the guy says to me after taking one look today " no problem might need a wedge but you are good go fly " he noted the camber on that side was more but thought it was not worth shimming so I will take his word for it even though he made no measurements. Just looked for maybe 10 seconds and sent me on my way.
 
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petrolero said:
That's how I land every time. :dunno:
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bnt83 said:
:rofl:
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The other day after getting out of a 172 with a student, one of the line guys walks up to me, and asks to see my hand. I show him..and he's like...how the hell aren't you shaking? I was like "What are you talking about?"

"We saw that last landing! Holy **** man. I couldn't do that!"

You get really good at saving absolutely terrible landings as an instructor...
 
jesse said:
The other day after getting out of a 172 with a student, one of the line guys walks up to me, and asks to see my hand. I show him..and he's like...how the hell aren't you shaking? I was like "What are you talking about?"

"We saw that last landing! Holy **** man. I couldn't do that!"

You get really good at saving absolutely terrible landings as an instructor...
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Keep your eyes open the next time we fly together :rofl:
 
jesse said:
...You get really good at saving absolutely terrible landings as an instructor...
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The landing isn't over until it's over. I think many, if not most, mishaps happen when the pilot just gives up and becomes a passenger. You've still got all of those controls at hands and feet as long as you have the wherewithal to keep using them.
 
Silvaire said:
The landing isn't over until it's over. I think many, if not most, mishaps happen when the pilot just gives up and becomes a passenger. You've still got all of those controls at hands and feet as long as you have the wherewithal to keep using them.
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One thing I have noticed with a lot of people, once they get close to the ground, they stop moving the controls.:dunno:
 
Joffreyyy said:
You will get a kick out of this then the guy says to me after taking one look today " no problem might need a wedge but you are good go fly " he noted the camber on that side was more but thought it was not worth shimming so I will take his word for it even though he made no measurements. Just looked for maybe 10 seconds and sent me on my way.
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I think the cure for this is a new A&P
 
Henning said:
How? Bolts coming loose is the only way they're coming out of there. Why the bolts would come loose is a good question that there is no way for me to answer. I don't know what kind of service history there is at that location.
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The bolts--all four of them--have to come out to get a shim in or out. If it's a shimming problem, it's been that way since the last mechanic had everything apart, and that might be way back at the factory.

I don't think it's going to be loose bearings. That wouldn't tilt the wheelpant like the picture shows, since the pants are mounted to the axle hardware, not the wheel itself.

Dan
 
Main wheel alignment with flat spring gear is adjustable, there are seven different part numbers for shims that can be used in various combinations to accomplish this. A note in the manual prior to the axle removal instructions says to tape the shims together and mark the orientation so as to be certain you put them back the same way when reassembling.

So it's possible that it got put back together wrong but axle removal is not something that is normally done unless there was damage of some sort. That could have been something such as buggered axle nut threads. It would be in the logbook somewhere.
 
With the flat spring gear, it is common to have the wedges at the fuselage work loose and fall out, allowing the gear leg to move. The cure for that is a complete gear alignment procedure. putting every thing back where it left the factory.
I highly recommend that this be done here, and get the gear leg profile checked to see if it is bent.
 
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