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Nose Fork Replacement

Tony_T

Well Known Member
Patron
I am reviewing the threads that are dealing with the nose fork failures and the service bulletin 16-05-23 and seeing a need for a searchable thread on installing the replacement fork. There is lots of information but it is scattered around. So, copying my two posts on the replacement kits and installation to this new thread.

Replacing the fork is not required under the SB unless cracks are found.

Here are the two upgrade kits. The blue bracket parts on the right are the wheel fairing kit needed to adapt the nose wheel fairing to the new fork.
i-hDj8CPf-L.jpg


This fork is one beefy hunk of metal alright. Some have said it is ugly, but it looks good to me; I like it. It will be inside the fairing anyway most of the time.

I notice that the design of the axle has been changed so the axle bolt can now be torque tightened without danger of over-tightening the pressure on the wheel bearings. The wheel is kept centered in the fork by 2 wavy washers on each side. Nice change.
 
This post is a copy of my post #8 in Don's "Birthday Present" thread.

i-56Xv5pW-L.jpg

I should have this completed this week and will post photos of the installed fork and fairing conversion.

Like many others on the forum I decided to install the new fork preemptively. I just finished servicing my nose wheel fork last month and it looks fine.

i-4P5RqF3-L.jpg


However, from photos of the failed forks, and a mangled one I have seen first hand, the old design just crumples when it fails. I really think the failures are due to neglect and abuse, but an off runway excursion is always a possibility for any pilot.

I am pretty much a Buschite and am a little ashamed of pulling off and replacing a perfectly good part and probably would not if the fork were not hidden in the wheel fairing. But I'll feel a lot better having this bruiser of a fork in there. Just in case :eek:
 
Replaced mine a few weeks ago just to be more robust for some transition training I'm helping folks with and to eliminate the periodic crack inspections. Very nice piece that should take any flight training abuse. I believe it is stronger than the updated A forks for the heavier RVs. Easy install, only complaint is that Vans does not supply the rivets for the new aluminum pieces for the nose fairing. Plans call for #40 pulled rivets and you can not squeeze so I just got out my left over rivets from the 9 and the rivet gun and bucking bars. I know others that had to do a quick Aircraft Spruce order for countersunk pulled #40 rivets.
 
Installed the new heavy duty nose wheel fork. Easy work and no surprises. I used waterproof boat trailer grease on the bushings, new belleville cupped washers and a new bull nut.

i-7xpShV2-L.jpg


When I tried to disassemble the old axle I found it was partially frozen to the inner bearing races. Using application of anti-corrosion spray I was able to work the axle out of the bearings. When turned with the fingers the bearings felt rough to me. This was probably due to running the front wheel with the axle nut too tight and putting sideways pressure on the bearings right after the airplane was first flown. This was corrected but I think it resulted in wearing the bearings. Anyway, I replaced them. With the new fork design you can torque tighten the axle bolt without putting pressure on the bearings. Very nice.

Nose wheel installed on the new fork.
i-zND9CHR-L.jpg


To convert the nose wheel fairing you have to drill off these old mounting brackets and install new.
i-BkGSFSh-L.jpg


i-WzmtbnP-L.jpg


Ran out of time today, but took the fairing home from the hangar to do the riveting on the new brackets.
 
only complaint is that Vans does not supply the rivets for the new aluminum pieces for the nose fairing. Plans call for #40 pulled rivets and you can not squeeze so I just got out my left over rivets from the 9 and the rivet gun and bucking bars. I know others that had to do a quick Aircraft Spruce order for countersunk pulled #40 rivets.

It was an accidental oversight and I am pretty sure this has just been corrected and all of the needed hardware is now supplied.
 
Bracket riveting to forward wheel fairing. The plans call for using the #40 flat head cherry rivets to attach these brackets but I don't have a good working relationship with those little devils so used solids. Those are the cherries mentioned in the previous post. They are probably spec'd because the standard 3" yoke from the RV12 tool kits won't work over the wide flange. You can gun the solids or use a flange yoke if you have one. The kit also didn't include new nut plates; you could reuse the old ones but I had new ones on hand.

i-QwMPxj9-L.jpg
 
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Tony -

Van's added a doubler to the original fairing brackets. Does the new design have doubler plates?
 
Yes there are doubler plates. They are visible in post #1. I will be adding the doubler plates and finishing up this nose fork replacement probably tomorrow.
 
The parts are now on the web store list:

12 NOSE FORK CONVERSION ------ 325.00

12 NOSE WHL FAIRING CONVERSION ----- 20.00
 
Everybody send me your old fork which I will be happy to recycle.:D
Ill even pay for shipping.;)
 
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Tony, thanks for posting this. I'm motivated to implement the SB preemptively now. That's quite a difference in fork design - looks a lot more beefy.
 
Finished up the fairing conversion today.
The template included with the kit is for match drilling the new brackets for the mounting bolts.

i-6frhSHB-L.jpg


Matching drilling brackets for the doubler rivets:

i-N3HnczT-L.jpg


Dimpling and countersinking done for riveting the doublers, flush on the bottom. Some of the #40 holes are very close to the bend in the brackets and I had to grind some metal from the dimpling die to get those:

i-tDn3C96-L.jpg


In order to make an easy job harder, I used a thin coating of fuel tank sealant between the brackets and the doublers. It looked like an area where moisture and corrosion would be likely:

i-DQZBsDz-L.jpg


The fork and fairing conversion completed and fits well, as expected.

i-mgfFb2Z-L.jpg
 
Shimmy? - You mean like a Cessna? :confused: No, the weights are just to balance the nose wheel.
 
I see where Tony has attached his nose wheel balance weights to the rim of the wheel. I chose to place the self-adhesive weights inside of the wheel hub assembly so that centripetal force helps to keep them in place. There are three structural ribs inside the nose wheel that tend to get in the way of accurately placing the weights but it is doable. You can bend a slight curve in the weights so that they fit the inner surface of the wheel hub. I use a HF motorcycle balancing rig for my tire/wheel balancing and it works well.
 
Installed the new heavy duty nose wheel fork. Easy work and no surprises. I used waterproof boat trailer grease on the bushings, new belleville cupped washers and a new bull nut.

Hey Tony!
I see that you replaced the belleville washers and the bull nut. Was this on principle, or did you detect a problem?

I was about to start my upgrade, when I noted that no belleville washers, bull nut, or fork swivel stop machine screws were included in the new kit. My plan is to have my RV-12 down for a short a time as possible. Should I order these? Anything else that I should order before starting that you an think of?

Thanks..........Tom
 
I replaced the belleville washers because the old ones looked too flat. The nut was a little beat up but still serviceable, replaced that on principle. I reused the stop machine screws. They were still in great shape. All these parts are inexpensive.
I also ordered some new cotter pins for the nut. I used new K-1000-8 nut plates and AN426AD3-4 rivets. My kits didn't come with the cherry rivets. Can't think of anything else.
 
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Thanks Tony. I may go ahead an order a new set of belleville washers, but I think I will use the old nut. I have cotter pins and nut plates. Oh, and I didn't get the pull rivets either, but I'm good with driving a couple of standard rivets. Thanks for sharing your thoughts..................Tom
 
Also replaced the nose fork. Used a dremel to cut off the back of the CCR rivets. Worked better than drilling out those rivets. The kit didn't include enough new CCR rivets and I also used solid rivets instead.

Anyone interested in an original undamaged nose fork for free (only shipping cost within the USA)?

New:
LeFg3h0LpNXSAN9WYXa9JsJzr2qgFEpRjec8T6WRs4S9h_lg7GLrFr5czQVPhuTAAFFlB-gbbdirg317pk0UwdAVvD1VdsfyIUFubMVBsvgqwrnE-BsUH3GRY5_ZXW9_AecLSDdFhyFb_iv28murnIy36U3nu_rluZ6C2SX4ZP_mfwimRFffY3C8vEj17SD9jSVU8Wtp2Zoc_93oA51fuUnatwSwkV7lfYTk0hT_xAuYl7EXSKVTEG1jP5sAtgwAxgwwYQvsaJgsT_YfJ3INRsAz6vu6LCFFfj-T5D-oEub9l1x8TD62Rf6e2TcTHYid6Bv55z0PscineEtjYwjaFlWNcK2MSbWHqGMDhpv_xe6VHGy6jLcS9WW2dfnS1B04AotNhpqQfTGA0JLvAWoFBMhoNjK7BnuUq0YvmiC_7XNRpkEa_7IsyqiEENDVw0y9HliBkPvfuOgNVc2vcyo4EP0AVOnmUNInL7KYzXtwfQkksb9ouY36TqwDZctFklz7l4j8nT14hNNQwO1UsOMjjSjLLp4w_y2SJKEUYtFsxdeXo-Gvvwy28bamsmbU927x5E9buyRCnVGhGOENRkAVOmW4kvtdrF55LIA52VU=w924-h693-no


Original:
FP31102010A00004.jpg
 
I recently received the '12 NOSE FORK CONVERSION' and '12 NOSE WHL FAIRING CONVERSION' kits from Aurora to install them on my recently purchase RV-12.

The fairing kit included the U-00005A-1 fiberglass nose molding.

You guys apparently are getting away with using the original U-00005A fiberglass nose molding with minor modifications; why can't I use the original molding, too, and not have to sand and paint?
 
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