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Step Installation Question

aparchment

aparchment

Well Known Member
Hi folks:

Quick question, I am preparing to install my steps. The instructions say to cut a 1.5" hole in the fuse side, but if I only cut a 1.5" hole in the fuse skin, the weld on the step mounting plate will interfere with the hole, and the step mounting plate will not fit flush with the fuse side. I think I need to open the hole up at least 1/8" more, either that or grind down the weld. Grinding the weld it seems would compromise the strength of the part.

How have others handled this, and how has your solution performed?

Thanks!

Antony
 
I opened the hole so the step fit without interference. Your Dremel is your friend here and when cutting the hole for the flap push rod.
 
Antony,

And, there are some of these steps that have a too-long tube that will need to be trimmed down a half inch or so to fit into the floor ribs properly.

greg
 
installing step

Antony ; consider putting proseal between the back side of the steel plate and exterior skin to keep out moisture and eliminate the possiblity of corrosion being the two metal are dissimilar.
This tip was given to me after it was too late, I now wish it was in there !:eek:
 
Greg Arehart said:
Antony,

And, there are some of these steps that have a too-long tube that will need to be trimmed down a half inch or so to fit into the floor ribs properly.

greg
Click to expand...


Or too short. Mine were short a small amount, so I had to make a spacer for each one to get it all the way to the floor rib on each side.
 
Ron Lee said:
Rethink the proseal. I had cracks develop on my step which required that I remove it.
Click to expand...

Ron,

Are you speaking from experience? I assume you're saying rethink it because they were near impossible to remove. Or, did the pro-seal cause other problems?
 
cracked steps

just curious, Ron; what do you think caused the crack, was it the weld or the tube itself ?
 
There actually were two separate hole dimensions used in the instructions (at least the version that was around when I installed my steps). Go small and work your way up.
 
Bob Collins said:
There actually were two separate hole dimensions used in the instructions (at least the version that was around when I installed my steps). Go small and work your way up.
Click to expand...

Mine too... 1-1/2 and 1-5/8, the instructions said one, the plans said another. I went with 1-5/8 and things worked out fine. I'll have to enlarge the hole in the 970 skin just a tad on the front side of the hole, but the rest of the hole clears the weld on the step.
 
Step crack

My comment on rethinking using proseal is that the inner part of my step cracked apparently just below the weld. See first pic below. I am ASSUMING that proseal would make it harder to remove so use your judgment. I did not use proseal.

The repairs I had made to the inner and outer step are in the pics below.

StepCrack1Small.jpg


Inner repair (repaired crack and added a piece of metal vertically-----reinforcement)

StepRepairInner.jpg


Outer repair (added a piece of metal vertically-----reinforcement)

StepRepairOuter.jpg
 
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Bob, when I drilled out the pop rivets in the baggage floor to install the step I added nutplates. It came in handy when I had to remove the step to repair the crack.

Someone may assert that the step was overstressed due to excessive pilot mass. Be that as it may, I still reinforced the outboard and inboard surfaces to hopefully prevent a recurrence.

Others have had the step crack as well if I recall correctly from my original post on it.

The crack was visible from outside the plane. I was doing something and noticed an unusual movement of the step and looking at it from the inboard side the crack was obvious.
 
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Ron Lee said:
My comment on rethinking using proseal is that the inner part of my step cracked apparently just below the weld. See first pic below. I am ASSUMING that proseal would make it harder to remove so use your judgment. I did not use proseal.

The repairs I had made to the inner and outer step are in the pics below.

StepCrack1Small.jpg


I can't see how this failure was caused by excessive down load on the step. This is more likely to be caused by jacking up the A/C by the step, or other lifting loads applied to the step. If you stood on the step, the crack would close up.
Click to expand...
 
gasman, I never used the step to lift the plane. While I may not be the brightest bulb around, I am not that dimwitted. :)

I can't explain what caused the crack on the INNER surface. t happened..and I fixed it.
 
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