Front strut caster bolt?

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soarer20
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Front strut caster bolt?

Post by soarer20 »

I have a 20 but I believe the design is similar on the DA-40.

The front caster retention bolt has some rust and a little wear on it. The shop wants to replace it but the part is not available (new or used). Long lead time apparently.

Has anyone removed and reinstalled that caster bolt successfully?

Sort of curious if diamond installed the bolt in the caster hub or if they machined the threads into the hub?
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Steve
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Re: Front strut caster bolt?

Post by Steve »

Nick:

On the DA40, the threaded portion is not a separate part, but integral to the nosegear leg. From your photos, the bearing surface appears to have significant damage as well. I would agree with your shop - the area above the threaded portion appears to have a wear groove which could act as a stress riser. There also appears to be corrosion on the threaded portion which could obscure a crack there. A fracture anywhere on the retaining stud would cause loss of the nose wheel...

I think that you are looking at a new (or used) nosegear leg to fix this issue. :(
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Charles
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Re: Front strut caster bolt?

Post by Charles »

My plane has a similar issue and Diamond recommended replacing the entire NLG strut.
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