spongy brakes and nose wheel pant problem

["Emanuel Lewis" <ruman@worldnet.att.net>]

On 8/23 I wrote that I had a chronic problem with "spongy" brakes.  Several
of you suggested that the gear legs may be interfering with the motion of
the calipers.  Sure enough, that was the problem.  Shaping the gear legs so
that they follow the contour of the bottom 180 degrees of the axle is a
sure way to guarantee proper clearance.

Now I have a second problem that someone may have the solution for.  I
recently installed the nose gear wheel pant for the first time.  My first
landing with the pant on was one of my better ones, and I was able to
gently lower the nose wheel to the ground.  However, as soon as the
nosewheel touched, the nose started to tuck and a vertical oscillation
started.  I was not able to stop the oscillation until the plane was almost
stopped.  At the same time I noticed the smell of scorched rubber. 
Inspection of the pant revealed several cracks on both sides in the region
of the aft 180 degrees of the tire.  Disassembly of the pant showed rubber
scuff marks in the same locations on the inside.  This occurred even though
there was at least 1" clearance between the pant and the tire.  The pant
was secured as shown in the plans.  The only thing I could think of is that
the pant twisted on touchdown causing the tire to grab it on one side, then
release, snap back and twist the opposite way, get grabbed by the tire
again and continue until the plane stopped.
Manny Lewis
Std/FG