The International Cessna^® 170 Association

I had a rudder return spring break yesterday. Airplane seemed to be flying funny,even harder to keep the ball in the center than usual!
When I pulled it back into the hangar that evening with the towbar,I noticed that the rudder didn't want to stay centered. Flew it today anyway-- not too easy to maintain pressure on the left rudder (but not too much!) continuously in flight.
I've heard that it's a bitch of a job to reach up in there & install the new spring. Any advice? Looks like the only way into there is a round access hole on the belly,looks like maybe a little aft of the pedal assembly. Room for only one hand, I guess it's a touchy-feely show.
I was thinking that unhooking the LH rudder cable back at the rudder bellcrank might allow the pedal to go forward farther &/or easier,make the spring installation a little easier.
I tried a search on this site for "rudder return springs" and various combinations thereof,it came up with hundreds of hits each time. I scrolled thru some of it & looked at a couple,but found nothing. Nothing in The 170 Book or the SRAM book either.
My IPC shows different part numbers for LH and RH springs. In my parts box,I have a spring labelled "170 rudder spring" that I got from either the previous owner or a friend of mine who used to own an A model,but don't know if it's a LH or RH as it doesn't have a p/n on it. I don't even know for sure that it's a 170 rudder spring,but it looks about right.

Eric

zero.one.victor wrote:I had a rudder return spring break yesterday.

I've heard that it's a bitch of a job to reach up in there & install the new spring. Any advice?...

Eric

I helped my mechanic fix mine two years ago. It really helps to have two guys do the job.

I don't exactly remember how we did it but if I recall correctly, we undid an inspection plate in the belly below the rudder pedals. One us us was on the hanger floor with a light. The other guy was in the cockpit with a wire fish we made that was perhaps 12" long. I think the lower guy made sure that the spring stayed hooked into its hole in a fuselage bracket while the other guy used the wire fish to pull the spring up and on to where it connects to an arm on the rudder bar.


Pete

You will have a great deal of fun replacing these (and will
say a good number of bad words while you do it!). Cessna
built their airplanes around the fuel selector valve and
rudder return springs.

I replaced both springs on mine when one broke. With them both
off, replacing one side is relatively easy. It's getting the
other side on/hooked that's one hell of a chore....

Ended up having someone up in the cockpit pushing/pulling (forget
which way right now) on the rudder pedal while I hooked/hung the
spring from below through the belly skin inspection hole. Smaller
hands/arms may help, as I had difficulty getting my fore-arms
through the inspection hole far enough up there to do any good....

Bela P. Havasreti
'54 C-170B N170BP

I have to presume replacing a rudder cable will be as much or more fun! Any advice?

I did it myself. Reached up through the bottom access hole with a long screwdriver and a pliers and hooked the spring on a screwdriver with a slot and pried into place and slipped it in the hole. I did both and they weren't too bad. I just forget if I held the pedals with anything or not.

Before you get to the fun part, check to be sure the spring ends will slip easly through the holes, and if not file any burrs and sharp edges off the tips of the springs. If I remember right I hooked one end from below and the other through the side holes in the tunnel

Eric The hardest part for me was replacing the tube used for the heat. You are lucky My spring broke 1000 miles from home so I had to fly for 10 hours trying to keep pressure on the rudder pedals all the time. Bill K

I have had my spring come off and I was able to bend the hook of it and get it to stay on. Been on more than a year that way. There is not much room the work with up there but it did not seem to difficult. It really helps to have someone push full rudder in and then hook it in place.
Curtis

Turned out to be a pretty easy job after all. Unhooking the rudder cable at the rudder bellcrank allows extra forward travel of the pedal so you're not fighting the spring tension.
The belly hole is good for looking,then blindly groping,and then getting PO'd when you can't reach anything! I removed the copilot seat & the copilot LH rudder pedal and worked thru the handy hole in the side of the tunnel. It's in just the right place to mess with the spring--how about that! You can work thru the hole on one side and shine a light in thru the hole on the other side after you peel the carpet back from the sides of the tunnel.
The spring I had was a good match for the broken one. I'm gonna see if my local NAPA Airmotive has any suitable springs,I wouldn't mind laying in a spare or two. It's 7/16" diameter,about 3-3/4" total lenght--2-1/2" of which is the actual spring & hook,the remaining 1-1/4" is the extended hook on the other end. Look at the IPC drawing & you'll see what I mean.

Eric

Good show Eric!

Never thought of disconnecting the rudder cable(s) (at the _ss end
of the airplane) to make it easier.... Bottom line, that's what
makes the whole job at least somewhat difficult... stretching and
hooking the spring(s) up at the front end of the airplane in tight
confines.

With any luck, I'll never have to replace the return springs again.

Bela P. Havasreti
'54 C-170B N170BP

With all due modesty, I have to admit that I'm a genius! By the way,I am available for consultation for a reasonable fee.
I've been thinking of getting some business cards made up,identifying myself as an "aviation consultant". Just a polite way of saying that I like to BS about airplanes,right?

Eric

You just might want to pursue that... Jeff just got hired (as
a consultant). Pays $100 per hour + expenses.

Bela P. Havasreti
'54 C-170B N170BP

zero.one.victor wrote:With all due modesty, I have to admit that I'm a genius! By the way,I am available for consultation for a reasonable fee.
I've been thinking of getting some business cards made up,identifying myself as an "aviation consultant". Just a polite way of saying that I like to BS about airplanes,right?

Eric

Uh oh. I'm having a Warner Brothers flashback here.

"Allow me to introduce myself. The name is Coyote. Wile E. Coyote... Genius".

I know a United captain whose other business card has his name with "aviation consulting services" under it. From what I've seen,that seems to mean he flies other people's cool airplanes (206,amphib 185,Beaver) around in the process of brokering their sale or purchase. Does a little corporate type piloting also. Pretty good racket if you ask me.

Eric

I went by the local NAPA Airmotive store yesterday,and the local Ace Airmotive. No real good matches for the rudder return springs. Just for fun,I checked Iwantcessnaparts.com & sure as heck,they got 'em in stock:
p/n 0310196-4 (LH) $7.16 --that's not too bad -- and p/n 0310196-3 (RH) $25.16
Whew! I think the springs must be almost the same,maybe just a bit different length--I don't understand the huge price difference. Must be a supply (or lack thereof) thing. I think it'll definitely have to to be an "alternate-sourced" part if/when I need to replace that RH spring.

Eric