axle alignment

[russ murri]

I am in the process of changing my gear legs on my ragwing to 180 legs. I will test fly within the next two days. Got the camber and toe in within the book specs, how critical is this toe in ? Toe in shims are hard to find so far. Don't send me to P-Ponk or X PMods I am close to wearing out my welcome,,,, they do this for MONEY and I am doing this thru an IA . No one on our field is in to alterations like this, you know same part for same part.

[Dave Clark]

Russ
If you're within the book specs as you say then fly it and see what you think. I'll bet you'll love it. Watch for uneven tire wear. You'll find the stiffer gear will be far easier to land. Think about what happens with the toe in and camber(?) when that soft gear flexes a lot.

[russ murri]

thanks Iam ready to try it out but can't get away from work long enough, gets dark to soon.maybe fri. thanks again Russ

[JDH]

Russ, my old soft gear (original) was not aligned properly and the plane was very squirly on the ground. When we installed 180 gear, we tried to bring it to spec 0-0 but could not make it even with shims. The important seemed to be to bring it as close as possible to 0-0 but same on both sides. That and a tail wheel that was in good working order and rebuilt master cylinders and Clevelands (no drag) and my plane now tracks 100% better. I can actually taxi in x-wind with minimal brake imput. I would say, bring it close but even and taxi at different speeds with wind from different direction; that will tell you the story. It is in taxi mode that you will feel the difference in alignment, high speed taxi, bring up the tail is like take-off and landing (without the fun part in between). And yes, you can plunk it down on all 3 or do wheelies easier with 180 gear, in my experience. JD