After spending the time building the nosegear as provided, I didn't like some of the design decisions that had been made. In particular, the only shock absorption was with a 1/2" thick piece of hard rubber near the top of the swinging nose gear arm. From what I could see, this would hardly provide any shock absorption at all. So, I decided to change the design.
I am using the existing tube and a somewhat longer nosegear rod (1" aluminum rod), but adding a spring near the top of the tube. The first picture shows this assembly as modified. All of this will fit inside the aluminum tube that's bolted to the top of the inside of the nose section of the fuselage (yeah, say that three times real fast).The black part at the far right is the original aluminum rod.
The second picture shows the compression spring and the spring centering plug that I created on my small lathe. The plug is made from aluminum and the top of the spring fits into the ridge. This keeps the spring centered in the tube and not wearing on the sides.
The third picture shows a plastic part (lower spring centering plug) which fits into the bottom of the spring and an aluminum Load Transfer Plug that fits into the bottom of the lower centering plug. The load transfer plug is indexed to fit into the plastic centering plug securely. The plastic centering plug is also slightly larger in diameter than both the spring and the plug, so it's the only part that should touch the inside of the aluminum tube thus minimizing wear. There will also be some lythium grease used, too. BTW: the aluminum plug has two primary purposes: to transfer the loads from the landing gear rod to the plastict centering plug, and also allow the landing gear rod to rotate freely for steering.
Upper Nose Gear Internal Parts
Top Spring Centering Plug and Compression Spring
Lower Spring Centering Plug and Lower Load Transfer Plug
