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Wheel pants problem

Kbolvin

Member
Anyone have an RV14A nose wheel fairing problem where the two upper attach screws (in the aft fairing half) are pulled through the fairing? Seems like there is some kind of extra force acting on those screws from the metal attach bracket on the nose wheel. I’ve reinforced the area inside the fairing with an extra two layers of fiberglass and it happened a second time. Now I’m reluctant to fix it a third time until I determine the cause. None of the other fairings or even other attach points on the nose fairing are exhibiting this behavior.
 

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No issues here so far, 350 hours. I have the Beringer mains so the stock fitment process has to be altered a bit for the extra height.

Are you doing a lot of grass field landings?
 
No issues here so far, 350 hours. I have the Beringer mains so the stock fitment process has to be altered a bit for the extra height.

Are you doing a lot of grass field landings?

Nope no grass strips at all. And no hard bouncing landings either (yet). And I followed the directions and made the flox surrounding each mount so they don’t move around. I don’t get it as to why only 1 mount is being flexed or forces acting on it that are not on the others.
 
600+ hours with no issues. There is some external force operating here - wheel balance, shimmy, misaligned side to side ?? I would balance the wheel and verify the breakout force first.
 
600+ hours with no issues. There is some external force operating here - wheel balance, shimmy, misaligned side to side ?? I would balance the wheel and verify the breakout force first.

Thanks guys, I’ll give that a try and see what happens. I’ve already fixed the fairing with 3 layers of cloth this time.
 
A couple of things to check:

1. check for scuff marks to make sure the aft part of the fairing hasn't hit the ground during landing or takeoff.

2. Make sure the Belleville washers on the fork are correctly positioned and tightened and provide the specified lbs drag resistance against turning (shimmying)

3. Make sure the fairing isn't binding on the strut fairing as it turns side to side

4. Make sure the installation is not in some kind of bind. After you install the fairing and tighten the large Allen bolts, remove the 8 #8 mounting screws one at a time and see if the fairing pulls away from the metal brackets which hold the nut plates or twists in some way. If so, bend the metal brackets until they are flush and tight against the epoxy pads on the inside of the fairing before screwing them down.
 
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Extra height for Beringer?

I have the Beringer mains so the stock fitment process has to be altered a bit for the extra height.

What do you mean by this Bill? Do the Michelin tires that come with Beringer wheels have a larger diameter than what Vans ships? Or is there something else inherent to the Beringer wheels/brakes that forces the fairings to be mounted higher?
 
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