Flap rollers SEB 95-3 Rev. 1

[GAHorn]

(Just to give credit where credit-is-due....) ... Del and his "boys" are the guys who discovered a few of my own flap rollers (which I pre-flight regularly and lubricate with LPS-1 all the time) to be frozen upon their bushings. They disassembled, cleaned, and lubed internally with light grease, and my flaps operate with less effort and more smoothly than previously. (I'd never suspected anything since pre-flights had shown the rollers to roll.)

Just goes to show that even a guy who is considered "picky" and as attentive-to-detail such as me...can become accustomed to matters and miss this particular problem.

Bottom line: The rollers should roll upon their BUSHINGS. Just because they "roll" does not make them do so correctly, because the bushings will also roll upon the BOLT and mask a frozen roller.

[Robert Eilers]

Thanks wingnut - I was sure someone had figured it out.

[lowNslow]

Oh good grief George. I'm sure I am not the only guy on this forum who has found it difficult to get to the bolt/nut of the rear flap roller. Considering how much crap is found in the flap recesses when they are removed I suspect it is a historical struggle.

I also was amused by George's comment - it is obvious he has not undertaken this wonderful endeavor. It is truly an opportunity to recall many cuss words you have long forgotten.

[GAHorn]

...
I also was amused by George's comment - it is obvious he has not undertaken this wonderful endeavor. It is truly an opportunity to recall many cuss words you have long forgotten.

Oh, No! I've done it. It's a pain. That's one reason why I hired Del and Tony this time around!

(My contribution to helpful hints on this subject: If you've ever used "pooky-tape"... the stuff to seal sheets of R-panel or mobile-home seams with.... It makes a great little temporary adhesive to hold nuts and bolts from falling out of the socket while you position it into place.)

[falco]

I did this last annual, and found it pretty frustrating trying to get the dropped hardware out of the trailing edge of the flap.My magnet-on-a-telescoping-stick thingy couldnt get far enough into the trailing edge to fish out the dropped washers. After a while I found the easy way to recover the dropped hardware was with a strong magnet on the outside of the flap, dragging the offending part back out to the hole.

[minton]

Use "Mechanical fingers" and "L" shaped awls and fuel lube (sticky) to hold the nuts in your wrench or sockets.Of course as mentioned you'll also need 1/4 drive socket sets both "unversals", deep & shallow sockets, and 6" and 12" extentions.

The aileron should be removed as it gets in your way on the outboard end and the fuselage gets in your way on the inboard end.

It's really simple, once you see it done you'll get it.

Cessna sells replacement parts for the flap tracks 0523231-14 (spacer) which is the track part of the assembly. A lot cheeper than a whole track assembly.

First get the McFarlaine guage and check the tracks. Many just require new rollers.

[minton]

The other thing that makes this topic a paine is that Cessna has modified the flap track so many times. The latest and greatest has just the "interior" part now exposted to the rollers. The older sandwich syle track is no longer for the 170B.This effectively widens the area that the rollers have to do their thing thus less likelyhood of binding or jaming.

[Dennis]

If your looking to replace the flap hardware, McFarlane has a kit P/N FLP-KT1U. It comes with all the bearings, bushings, and assorted hardware and a copy of SEB 95-3 Rev 1for you records. There is also an STC, make a Log Book entry and your good to go.

[170C]

I replaced the rollers, etc. at my spring 2010 annual. What a pain in the butt , but one that has to be done occasionally. Its a two person job at a minimum. We put thin foam rubber inside the flaps to prevent a dropped nut or washer from becoming a major effort to remove (and maybe having to undo something already completed). We saw a tool that McFarlane sells to line up the vrs rollers, washers and holes. We made our own from from flat steel stock purchased at Home Depot and from a bolt ground to a point on one end. It sure helped. We used vrs methods of starting the nuts, which are in almost impossible areas to reach, and ended up sticking a nut to the end of my finger with super glue. Its quiet an effort, but the flaps work better and in my case we found that at some time in the past some of the short rollers had been installed where long rollers were supposed to be and vise-versa (probably when the paint job was done). The Cessna design engineer that dictated the size of the access holes in the flaps must be the same one that designed the fuel control valve installation and the fuel tank installation

[GAHorn]

... ended up sticking a nut to the end of my finger with super glue. ...

Don't try that at home.

[falco]

I replaced the rollers, etc. at my spring 2010 annual. What a pain in the butt , but one that has to be done occasionally. Its a two person job at a minimum. We put thin foam rubber inside the flaps to prevent a dropped nut or washer from becoming a major effort to remove (and maybe having to undo something already completed). We saw a tool that McFarlane sells to line up the vrs rollers, washers and holes. We made our own from from flat steel stock purchased at Home Depot and from a bolt ground to a point on one end. It sure helped. We used vrs methods of starting the nuts, which are in almost impossible areas to reach, and ended up sticking a nut to the end of my finger with super glue. Its quiet an effort, but the flaps work better and in my case we found that at some time in the past some of the short rollers had been installed where long rollers were supposed to be and vise-versa (probably when the paint job was done). The Cessna design engineer that dictated the size of the access holes in the flaps must be the same one that designed the fuel control valve installation and the fuel tank installation

dropped nuts and washers inside the flap are easily recovered -- use a large magnet on the OUTSIDE of the skin to drag them to a hole

[bagarre]

I just replaced all my rollers and inspected everything today.
All in all, the job wasn't that bad. The fuel selector is far worse.

The flap tool that McFarlane sells is worth every penny to buy or the 30 minutes to make one.

970-mas.jpg

The nuts were fairly simple with a set of curved vascular clamps and a wound/flexible extension.

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The washer slips on easy with the clamp and then hold the nut with the clamps while spinning the bolt with the flex extension. Swap out to a swivel head socket to snug it up.

00904336000-1.jpg

With a very long extension, you can reach the lower outboard bolt directly from the end of the flap.
The spring flexi extension is a real time saver.

We had about 4 hours in the job but that included several trips to the office to warm up and finally moving the plane to an open hanger. Working in the cold rain is just no fun.