170 Gear Legs

[Steve Jank]

Have a '48 ragwing with a significant left wing droop..removing the fuel from the left tank shows some improvement...indicating a weak gear leg..
Local advise has me taking the gear legs to a spring shop for re-shaping,buying used "lady legs"or used 189 gear legs or buying new gears. HELP!!! I need some expert advice..!! If purchasing is the way to go,please direct me to the source of supply.......THANKS
Steve

[zero.one.victor]

I had a friend with an early 150 with the same problem. He rearranged some shims at the gear leg attach (gearbox) which cured the problem. Doesn't take a lot of adjustment there to get a big change out at the wingtip.
My ragwing has a bit of the same problem,but not so bad that I want to get off my lazy *** and do anything about it. I measured the difference at the wingtip,it was a couple inches or so as I recall. Not the greatest,but not anything to get too excited about.
Don't be too quick to assume the gear leg is bad,a cheap fix like I mentioned above might be all that is required.

Eric

[pauldpilot]

Just got finished installing my gear legs after re-arching them. Boy does she stand tall and proud! Had the wing low look before. Pulled the legs to install the PPonk kit, and found a big ol honken 1/8" washer under it to shim the wing up. Not my idea of a good fix.
Had them re-arched to original specs, and then magnafluxed. Removed the axle shimms, and the wheels already look great, and it rolls with no effort. Tomorrow I will adjust the toe-in and camber. Can't wait to put it in the air. I think the gear tune up should really help.

[zero.one.victor]

Paul,how about elaborating on the gear-leg rejuvenation process -- who,how much,etc?

Eric

[GAHorn]

Steve, the proper way to correct a low wing on the ground is to shim the inboard end of the gear mainspring. Ordinary AN washers are used. See the parts manual. Normally only a difference of 3" or greater between wingtips and the hangar floor is corrected.

[pauldpilot]

the washer i found wasn't an AN washer, this bad boy was about the thickness of 4 AN washers. And it wasn't leaving a very pretty foot print.
The airplane I'm working on is not mine. It belongs to the boss's son, who is learning to fly in it. After reading about the P.Ponk kit and hitting the 170 org. site, the 185 site P.Ponk and XP Mods sites, I thought it a pretty good idea to install the kit.
After opening up the plane for the annual, it was hard to know where to stop. She was in need of some loving attention.