The firewall sliders as designed by Zenith leave a gap at the bottom if fully raised. I thought it would be a good idea to increase the length (and a bit of width) to provide better coverage. After experimenting for quite a while, I discovered that they designed it as they did to prevent binding. As I think about it, the only times the gear (and steering rods) move up is on deflection at landing. For that brief instant, I bit of a gap is not the end of the world. Where you need protection is in the event of a fire in flight. At that point the gear, steering rods and slider are all fully down anyway. Back to originals, but with greater understanding of the original design intent. I had several other items on my brake/steering punch list which I knocked out. I replaced the nuts on the top of the steering rod ball joints. The previous ones had been on and off too many times to be trusted. On the other end of the steering rods, I safety wired the castellated nuts that hold on the steering rod to the rudder pedals. Finally, I safety wired the four bolts that screw up into the nylon blocks for the main gear bearing. These could easily wiggle loose with vibration since they are just screwed into nylon and point down. Now they are secured.
