Nose gear stop plate wear

[smoss]

Referencing the IPC pic above, my plane has the copper flanged bearings (95) which mate directly to the the top of the nose gear pivot and to the top of the stop plate (50). All the unhighlighted parts were evidently phased out with SN 40.054 and above, so the large washers (90) are no longer included in the installations. The stop plate mates to the molded square on the bottom of the nose gear, which generally prevents the the stop plate from rotating, but there is a small amount of freeplay such that when you pivot the nosewheel to either side, the stop plate rotates a degree or two before coming to rest. This has been like that since I acquired the plane at 2 years old, and does not appear to be wear of any sort causing the 1-2 degrees of rotation, just how the parts are spec'd. With the slight rotation of the stop plate with side to side pivoting, the stop plate has a bit of wear in a ring where the bottom bushing mates with it, as it seems to be made of aluminum and is softer than the copper bushing. Since beginning to remove the fork for the pivot inspection regularly, and coating all these parts with some AS grease 5, it seems to have not progressed. I am wondering if this is something that others see--the slight stop plate play with rotation, and a bit of wear where the bushing meets the plate--or do other planes have stop plates that fit snugly on the nose leg square?

[smoss]

Well, I guess nobody else has noticed this yet. I talked to a mechanic who works on a lot of DA40s and he said they all have some rotation freeplay in the stop plate, with wear from where the bushing meets it. No idea why Diamond would design this part to mate with the square on the bottom of the nose gear leg so loosely.