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Front tire shimmy

T.O.Craig

Well Known Member
Gentelmen,
Did our first taxi test today hoping for our first flight. Shimmy on the front wheel was excessive. After reviewing the plans, I have to revisit the tightening of the fork to 26 pounds of resistance on the front axle. I don't know that I did that when first installed 4 years ago. How do we accomplish that pull? Fish scale is the only thing that comes to mind...
Thoughts from the brain trust are always greatly appreciated
 
In my RV-7 manual this is covered in the manual section 10, named Landing Gear under the title "Setting the Breakout Force of the Nosewheel." I don't know what RV-10 manuals have. But it does say "fish scale." Good luck. I'm sure other folks can give you more details.
 
I don't know that I did that when first installed 4 years ago. How do we accomplish that pull? Fish scale is the only thing that comes to mind...
Thoughts from the brain trust are always greatly appreciated

I have used fish scale as well as an expensive tension/compression meter. Currently using a $10 luggage scale. Key is something that shows breakout force or max force as once moving the force drops. Spring fish scales don?t but many digital luggage scales have a hold function to show max force.
 
I use a fish scale just like the plans show. Works great. I have two, a 50lb Rapala from Amazon and 30lb antique brass Chatillon from eBay. Measure within a pound of each other.
 
I recently had a bad shimmy happen on landing after I installed the wheel pant on the nose gear (in a Velocity... which are known for bad ground steering and NLG shimmy). It was suggested that I check the wheel balance.

The tire was new and the heavy spot aligned across from the stem. The wheel itself needed no balancing, the tube is what it is, but as soon as I installed the new Michelin tire I found I had to add 110gm of balance weight.

The result was the shimmy disappeared with and out the fairing. If your installation is new, you should check the balance if you didn't do it when you built up the assembly.

Harbor freight sells a cheap motorcycle wheel balancer that worked fine for this.

Good luck
 
Van’s (also Cirrus) have a bulletin re: reducing nose shimmy. The recommendation is to reduce tire pressure. Had the same issue with the recommended tire pressure. I reduced my nose about 4-5 pounds under and the mains a couple and it solved the problem. It just puts more tire surface on the ground.
 
May be the mains

There has been lots of threads on this but wanted to make sure it is the nose gear. In most cases on the -10 it is the mains that shake around 24-30mph. One way to make sure is to fly early or late with big shadows. If it is the nose gear that is an easy fix, the mains are not so easy.
 
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