I should have started this little project yesterday so I could get the gear brackets installed today but I didn't so installation will have to be tomorrow. Some time ago I fabricated some self-locking gear nuts using Van's stock hardware. I took the nuts and glued them into four box-end wrenches and cut/ground the wrench ends so they would fit down inside the gear weldments. They worked fine but before final installation I decided to upgrade the hardware per some discussions on Van's Air Force Forum.
So, I had to get four more stubby wrenches and cut off the box end, epoxy the new nuts in place, and let them cure. Tomorrow morning I will grind them to fit and get the gear brackets installed. I should then be ready to jack up the bow and slide the gear legs into place... I hope.
You can see the new hardware below. The close tolerance bolts are a little longer than the stock ones and the nuts are a little deeper with more treads. The washers are also smaller in diameter which should guarantee they don't contact the gear weldment on their circumference.
Oh by the way, I am grinding the two outboard gear brackets a bit to keep them from contacting the skin on the bottom of the fuselage. They are very close when loosened up so the gear legs can slide in.
