Toe in out

[Ian]

Do you ever adjust toe in or out on Maule oleo gear? I think this may be the reason for left wing low. When you look at gear from front it is slightly out of symmetry. The left gear is more splayed out then right.

Any thoughts.

Ian

[maules.com]

Ian, check previous thread June 16 'Maule lists'.
Your problem can be oleo springs, bent gear or axle camber/caster.
Remove the fairing and straight edge the A frame tubes. Replace your old ridgid brakeline with stainless braided line at same time, money well spent.

[Ian]

Hi Jeremy

The gear leg is new as is the spring. I actually replaced spring twice as problem persisted and Maule sent me another thinking it may be a bit soft. I replaced the landing gear leg prematurely in retrospect as there doesnt appear to be anything wrong with the old. Both oleo springs are new and both gear legs have been unbuttoned and restored with flex brake lines . I have just had to do an engine teardown on the IO-540 due to metal in oilscreen from the cam. I , under close watch of my friend and mechanic will be replacing the cam,lifters, oil pump gears, main bearings, and misc. hardware and gaskets. The cylinders are good and have mid 70's compression. Even though it will be called a repair the work I am doing is tantamount to a field overhaul- all the ancillary compenents are new. The engine is 23 yrs old 1000 hrs never overhauled before. I am all but certain that it sat for long periods.
Back to the point of this- I pushed up on the left wingtip sans engine and the gear leg pulled in a bit righting the asymmetry.

I am now wondering about the likely hood that two new springs which I installed in the left oleo strut were soft or is the axle slightly back causing wheel to track out.

Maule has said that they have attached long bar to axle and pulled forward to bend things very slightly.

It is not a huge issue more one of cosmetics as it does not affect ground handling as far as I can tell.

[a64pilot]

I fear something in the fuselage is bent.

[a64pilot]

If it's toed out, then the wheels will splay out if the aircraft is moved forwards and splay in if it is moved backwards.
Is toed a word?

[Capt. Kirk]

I'm no plane mechanic but I can throw some things out there that might give you some ideas. If you think you've got a toe out condition that is resulting in a wing low when parked, drag the plane backward some distance and see if the wings come back to level...that might answer the question about toe in or out.
Another thing you can do is take some measurements on your oleo struts...is one longer than the other? is there more piston shaft sticking out of one than the other? If so, might indicate that one spring is stiffer than the other. While you're in there looking at the oleo struts, take a look at the truss that they're mounted to.
Now for the obligatory statement of the obvious...how's your fuel? Got one aux tank full and the other empty?

[a64pilot]

Of course I'm sure you know that if the fuel selector is either in both or off, fuel can crossfeed to either side, so if a wing is a tiny bit low, fuel will crossfeed to the low wing until it is not just a tiny bit low.

[maules.com]

I suppose I should add that I once found up to 60lbs of mud-dauber wasp mud in a wingend which left the plane very difficult to rig and impossible to sit straight.
The rolling fore and aft will tell you if it is toe in or out as suggested.
The landing gear can be toe'd correctly with the application of a 15ft pipe over a carbon steel round shaft inserted into the axle and preferably the tyre on a greaseplate.