Having just bought my 170 I thought I'd give it a good examination using the knowledge gained from reading the forum. Where better to start than the tailwheel? On inspection, I found that the tailwheel only locked in one direction, but swiveled freely in the other, and the chains were unequal lengths, 15 links on one side and 16 on the other. On disassembly, this is what I found, presented for your entertainment.
Here's why it only swiveled in one direction. One wing of the spring is broken:
All the pins were broken off the upper bronze thrust plate:
And look, 5 compression springs!
I didn't know how the lock release function worked. Just in case I'm not the only one, here's an explanation. The arm is locked to the fork by the wings of the spring fitting into notches in the arm. The pawl is held fixed to the top bracket by the half-round piece fitting into a recess in the bracket. It slides in a slot in the steering arm as the tailwheel swivels.
Here's how the release happens. When the pawl slides far enough, it hits the spring and pushes the wing inward (out of the notch), allowing the wheel to swing free of the arm. I took the arm off to show just the essential pawl-spring contact.
So now I know I need the following parts, which won't be too expensive.
thrust plate, Scott p/n 3234
spring, p/n 3222
pin, p/n 3257
Can someone tell me how I get the pin out of the fork?
Do I install the spacers the way they were, both on one side of the spring, or do I install one on each side as shown in the IPC?
Dave
