Bell Crank Fun (not)

smittysrv · Post by **smittysrv** » Wed Jan 16, 2008 7:06 am

I officially declare this week "Pushrod Hell" week. I was using my torque wrench to tighten all the bolts that hold the Bell Crank to the spar and the last one was starting to take a little longer to get the "click" than the others, so I stopped at "snug". Am I going to be OK with this or does anyone have a suggestion?

weezbad · Post by **weezbad** » Wed Jan 16, 2008 7:55 am

if it got easier before you quit than you need to change it. at least remove the nut and inspect the threads for an hourglass shape..you'll know when you feel them...and this is sometimes visible from a pitch change in the threads.use a pitch gage to check for bolt stretch..Remedial but better than nothing. i would be reluctand to leave it as is but i dont have the feel of it you do...

smittysrv · Post by **smittysrv** » Wed Jan 16, 2008 8:15 am

Thanks William!

Which brings up another question, which is tougher, the nutplate or the bolt? Is it the bolt that strips first or the nutplate, or both?

rv8or · Post by **rv8or** » Wed Jan 16, 2008 10:56 am

I would think the nutplate is stronger.

Another thing you could do is lower your wrench setting to the lower end (it's 20-25 for those bolts I think). See if you get a click then.

Or just change the bolt...

Joe

smittysrv · Post by **smittysrv** » Wed Jan 16, 2008 11:06 am

That's what I think as well. Just to make sure, I've sent an email to Van's
to see what they say before I try anything. How are they at answering
emails?

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smittysrv · Post by **smittysrv** » Wed Jan 16, 2008 11:22 am

Me again. I just got off the phone with Van's. They said that the nutplate
is made of harder metal than the bolt, so the bolt should have stripped,
rather than the nutplate. They also suggested to just put in a new bolt.
However, if the nutplate is stripped, then put in a new bolt with loc-tite.
I'll let yous guys know what happens with this.

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weezbad · Post by **weezbad** » Wed Jan 16, 2008 11:52 am

the bolt will give longbefore the nut plate ....ive intentionally done this with
an AN3 to see the torque peak......this one torques to about 24 inch pounds plus drag to 32 then broke around 70....it however turned forever , or so it seemed, before it broke...i used a new dial indicating wrench from snap on.

TomNativeNewYorker · Post by **TomNativeNewYorker** » Wed Jan 16, 2008 11:59 am

Sounds as if the nut may be bottoming out onto the grip portion of the bolt. Sometimes a washer or two can fix this if the bolt grip length is just a hair too long.

weezbad · Post by **weezbad** » Wed Jan 16, 2008 12:04 pm

it would have clicked or indicated proper torque yet not beeen all the way down.

smittysrv · Post by **smittysrv** » Wed Jan 16, 2008 12:38 pm

SUCCESS!! I took out the old bolt and replaced it with a new bolt and it worked. I torqued it to about 23 inch pounds without any problem. This is good info for us. Apparently your NUTplates are harder than your BOLTs. Wait a minute...

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