cessna 310 land gear cracks questions ??

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quantico

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quantico
The 310 Cessna I spend far too much money on has had two bills in the recent past for small cracks in the front landing gear parts, one small crack was on the pivot on the far front and another part that was on the main support below the pivot point. I have been sure that the plane has had no rough field use and that the pilots flying it have been very careful to not have any excessively rough landings. The plane is a 1980 R version with recent higher output engines installed. I have talked to a couple maintenance mechanics that tell me the 310 has issues with gear, that essentially this is normal. Is there a more rugged setup that holds up better or is stronger or has some mounts to damp loading to resist cracks ???? To further complicate the issue the plane typically flies with two people on board and full fuel, but not near it's gross weight.. which is 5500 pounds off the top of my head... I believe. So the plane is not landing really heavy and causing excessive wear from that.

Any ideas if 310's are just happy to eat landing gear parts ???
 
quantico said:
The 310 Cessna I spend far too much money on has had two bills in the recent past for small cracks in the front landing gear parts, one small crack was on the pivot on the far front and another part that was on the main support below the pivot point. I have been sure that the plane has had no rough field use and that the pilots flying it have been very careful to not have any excessively rough landings. The plane is a 1980 R version with recent higher output engines installed. I have talked to a couple maintenance mechanics that tell me the 310 has issues with gear, that essentially this is normal. Is there a more rugged setup that holds up better or is stronger or has some mounts to damp loading to resist cracks ???? To further complicate the issue the plane typically flies with two people on board and full fuel, but not near it's gross weight.. which is 5500 pounds off the top of my head... I believe. So the plane is not landing really heavy and causing excessive wear from that.

Any ideas if 310's are just happy to eat landing gear parts ???
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Typically what wears the 310's gear components is misalignment. The maintenance manual details a gear inspection process for 100 hour/annual inspections. It's a very lengthy and detailed inspection, hence many mechanics tend to just "swing the gear" and sign it off.

Have the gear properly inspected and maintained and the problems will go away..
 
310's , like many aircraft are getting quite old and tired. Very intensive maintence should be the rule.
 
Jimmy cooper said:
310's , like many aircraft are getting quite old and tired. Very intensive maintence should be the rule.
Click to expand...

It gets really good maintenance , and yes she is now 34 years old, which is a long life of great service. I will chat about a really good gear alignment as landing gear is a bad place for any failure.
 
Ever been wrecked in the past requiring extensive structural repair? Wondering if gear alignment can even be corrected....
 
Most people I see with gear problems on a 310 land them flat or nearly so adding extra stress to the nose gear. People always seemed to comment my propensity for stalling the 310 onto the runway nose high like you would normally do with a tricycle single rather than landing at Vmc. I always questioned back exactly why it was that I was supposed to be landing at a flying speed about 20kts faster than it wanted to land.:dunno: As R&W pointed out there is an alignment procedure for the gear, and if this is not correct, then all the extra landing speed does is exasperate the stress that causes as well.
 
It's been way too long ago to remember the Cessna SB that was their fix for the cracks. It was from the mid 70s and do remember it took a lot of work. My father's 310 G required removal of some of the nacelle skin to drive rivets.
 
I'll be the third one to recommend going to twincessna.org and joining. It's the best money I've spent on Twin Cessnas. Plus they have a great forum. :)

I'm not certain which parts you're referring to, but I'm assuming it's the nose gear trunion and it's supports? This was updated some time ago because of the cracking issues you mention. Basically, the diameter of the lugs that the trunion pivots off of are too small. If you have been replacing this part with a used part, no wonder it's cracking already. Tony said that he's never seen a used one that, when properly inspected, was not cracked.

The proper solution is not cheap, but it is a revised design that has larger lugs.

This, of course, is assuming we're talking about the same part. Do you have pictures? I doubt this is caused by a problem you're causing, just nature of the undersized components.

Welcome to PoA. :)
 
There is a landing gear actuator for each main gear, it looks like a small drive shaft. They are required to be tested for cracks, they will likely fail if you send them out for a dye test.:eek: I had to replace mine a couple years ago, no used ones available, they failed the test too, I think they were $3K each plus labor.:mad2: Like most airplane parts, it looked like any decent machine shop could make it for $200.00 :dunno:
 
N747JB said:
There is a landing gear actuator for each main gear, it looks like a small drive shaft. They are required to be tested for cracks, they will likely fail if you send them out for a dye test.:eek: I had to replace mine a couple years ago, no used ones available, they failed the test too, I think they were $3K each plus labor.:mad2: Like most airplane parts, it looked like any decent machine shop could make it for $200.00 :dunno:
Click to expand...

You're talking about the torque tubes? Mike Busch had an interesting article on those. I'm not in a hurry to have mine pulled and inspected.
 
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