Nose gear recurring AD

[Diamond_Dan]

Cost is 3200 euros for the part only...

What did you get for a lead time?

Pardon my ignorance, but with the new part, is the annual die penetration test still required?

[mhoran]

No, the replacement is terminating action for the die test, though the AMM still requires recurrent inspection (not die test though, I believe.)

[astaib]

Cost is 3200 euros for the part only...

What did you get for a lead time?

Pardon my ignorance, but with the new part, is the annual die penetration test still required?

In Europe it's immediate availability (stock in Austria).
In the USA I heard from Premiere Aviation a lead time of 6 week, but they had 1 in stock before xmas. The price was a bit higher like 3800$ for the simple version (the one without holes to attach the fairings).
Call ot email Brittany if you need one and if you are in a hurry, maybe they still have one in stock.

Arnaud.

[Kesk]

Replaced the strut today. Notes:

Pretty easy replacement. Took two hours, but we spent considerable time checking to see if the upper bushings would be OK (they were) and what kind of shims would be needed. We guessed that the previous shims might work, and this proved to be true.

The upper pivot point is really easy to get to. Putting the new one in placed is made easier with two people. One to support the strut in place while the other slides the insert piece into place.
IMG_0723.jpeg

The insert fits very snugly inside the outer tube. There is a groove near the outer end of the insert. We put safety wire in that groove to ensure it wouldn't inadvertently slide too far inside the outer tube. The groove is also helpful to apply a prying device or two to push the insert outward into its bushing. When it was all done the very small movement that had been detectable at the forward end of the strut is completely gone.

Here is the pivot pin interface of the old (original from 2002) strut.

2002 DA40 Nose Strut.jpeg

There is actually an undercut into both the pivot shaft and the intersection of the strut face above. Both can easily be felt with a fingernail and seen visually if you look closely enough.

Here is the new one:

2023 (-2) version of the Nose Strut.jpeg

Note both the obvious corner radius and very smooth transition between the surface of the pivot and the Strut face above. This looks far better than the original.

Reason you generally want to replace the bushings when doing the strut/pivot bearing is that worn ones will affect where the hole is drilled through the pivot. If those bushings need to get replaced some day, your hole in the pivot bearing may not line up depending on how worn those bushings were and you'll need to get a new pivot and drill it out. Not a big deal just for anyone curious on it.

[jwx96]

I asked about replacing the NLG at my annual in May. Here is the quote I received:

"the parts required will be approximately $3,873.75 and labor $2,048.00. Pending inspection or at your discretion, the rubber elements and spring assembly may also be changed for $903.78."

The shop rate was $110 last year, so probably a little higher now. That seems like a lot of labor, or is there something I'm missing. They will be replacing the pivot bushing. I'm thinking of waiting for the inspection on the rubber pucks and spring, if that makes sense. Thanks.

[Charles]

I paid 7.5 hours of labor when I did mine, which included replacing bushings and shims. And the nose wheel tire. So your quote would be about right with a shop rate of $300/hr. But my shop charges $110 CAD (about $85 USD) .

[Rich]

Reason you generally want to replace the bushings when doing the strut/pivot bearing is that worn ones will affect where the hole is drilled through the pivot. If those bushings need to get replaced some day, your hole in the pivot bearing may not line up depending on how worn those bushings were and you'll need to get a new pivot and drill it out. Not a big deal just for anyone curious on it.

This doesn't really make sense to me in the context of the DA40 nose strut. Can you explain further?

[mhoran]

These labor quotes sound a bit ridiculous. My replacement during annual was 2.5 hours. While labor prices are bound to be different, it sounds like it is taking some shops significantly longer to perform the work.

There is no FAA AD for this yet so no compliance estimate, but the previous AD 2009-10-04 estimates cost of replacement at 5 hours.

[jwx96]

Thanks for the feedback. Everything they’ve done for me so far has been very reasonable. I wonder if it’s a misplaced decimal. I’ll question them and/or ask for a quote elsewhere. I also have a subscription to Savvy QA so I can ask there.