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Kupe's Zodiac 650B
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Date:  8-29-2015
Number of Hours:  1.50
Manual Reference:  
Brief Description:  Tow Bar Attach Point

Spent some time installing the towbar attach point. This assembly is built by Zenith to use with their collapsible tow bar - something I can carry easily in the baggage area behind the seats.

The biggest challenge is measuring and drilling two holes through the lower nose gear assembly - that is one THICK piece of steel pipe (which is probably a good thing!). To drill a straight hole 90 degrees to the wheel assembly all the way through the pipe seemed daunting until I discovered the Big Gator V-drill guide - a block of steel with precise drill bit guide holes in it that conforms perfectly to a rounded surface like a pipe. with a little duct tape and a couple of clamps, the drill guides did the trick for me.

The first hole was a 1/2" hole to hold a steel tube the tow bar fits into. I went through most of a drill battery charge drilling my way through both sides of the gear pipe. Once the 1/2" tube is in place in through the gear, then a 3/16" hole is drilled from the front of the gear, straight through the center of the steel tube then out the back of the gear for the securing AN3 bolt. Lots of measuring and re-measuring required to line up that "trick shot," but using the drill guide helped me nail it dead center.

After cleaning up the holes and the cross tube a little bit, I reassembled it all back together and tested it out. Good to go! I think it also might work with one of those ubiquitous Cessna-type tow bars as the cross tube size is comparable to the axle bolt size used with a Cessna towbar.
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Half-inch hole drilled through the axle.  Pretty much used up a full Li-Ion battery charge.

Half-inch hole drilled through the axle. Pretty much used up a full Li-Ion battery charge.

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AN3 bolt in place after drilling through the gear and the 1/2

AN3 bolt in place after drilling through the gear and the 1/2" tube.

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Towbar in place at full extension (it's collapsible). Works like a champ - my own pull toy!

Towbar in place at full extension (it's collapsible). Works like a champ - my own pull toy!

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