Yes, I know. I?ve installed several of these. Bruce Brielmaier.
[email protected]. Flip the bolt around and torque it from the bottom. One man operation. Takes 30 seconds. Saves pints of blood and lots of skin, plus loosing your religion. I suggest updating the nuts to the ones suggested here on this website to prevent the standard stamped nut from ?jumping? a thread or two. The standard nuts can?t handle the load, although the newer nuts that Vans supplies look a little different than the original ones. The voids in the stamping on the nut is filled, so could be a little stronger. At any rate, take a look at those nuts. Bruce?s bolt retaining clips will do the trick. No need to stress over it every CI, no need, actually, to modify the gear tower access openings because you most likely will never need to go in there.
If you use the Grove Al gear legs, you may have to modify your upper gear leg intersection fairing because the Grove gear bolts are longer, and the nuts on the bottom (or bolt head) may protrude a little. Not a problem for anyone with average third grade art school skills.
You won?t be disappointed with Bruce?s gear bolt clips. The last set I replaced, I did with the airplane sitting on its gear in the hangar. Remove one of the nuts (difficult, because it?s inside that gear tower), remove the bolt (may require ?tapping? it with your rivet gun on LOW pressure - inside the gear tower - use an offset rivet set), install this removed bolt from the top, with the new BB bolt retaining clip in place - no washer required or desired - again maybe needing to tap it lightly with your rivet gun, low pressure, with the offset rivet set. Make sure the flats on the bolt align with the clip in the channel of the gear weldment. Don?t worry about ruining your nice cupped rivet set. You will be using a light thumping pressure. Install the nut and washer on the bottom of the bolt, torque to spec, and then do the other on that side.
It took me longer to write this post than it took to actually do the job. And all future condition inspections on this area became a simple, easily accomplished event. Torque seal/paint on the nut makes checking this critical fastener a simple task to be checked more routinely.