REFLECTOR: Main gear leg problems

[Dave Philipsen]

Recently I noticed that at least one of my wheels (haven't looked 
closely at the other one yet) is cambered out slightly at the bottom.  I 
believe this is due to excessive heat from the brakes causing the gear 
leg to soften a bit.  From the heat and the weight of the airplane the 
gear leg has splayed out slightly at the bottom. I'm not so sure that 
grinding off part of the axle mating surface on the leg will help that 
much because I believe that the bolt holes are angled.

I have an idea and I just thought I'd throw it out to the group to see 
what kind of response I get.  What if I were to take the wheel off, 
remove the axle shaft and re-mount it on the opposite side of the gear 
leg (pointing inward)?  Then I would allow the full weight of the 
airplane to rest on the axle shaft which would rest on a block of wood 
on the floor.  Perhaps I could use a heat gun to heat the bottom of the 
gear leg and allow it to bend back in the right direction.

Is this feasible or would it be more work than it's worth?  I suppose 
the other alternative would be to buy some aluminum feet as I have heard 
the factory sells these.

-- 
Dave Philipsen
Velocity STD-FG
N83DP