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PSA: I torqued landing gear bolts wrong for 2 years straight
Was doing a routine gear swing on a 737 last month when a senior guy walked by and asked why my bolt pattern was backwards. Turns out I had been tightening the bolts in a circle instead of criss-cross. The extra stress was probably bending the gear trunnion bit by bit. No one flagged it during inspections either. Any other mechanics out there find out they've been doing some basic thing wrong for way too long?
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theaw6510d ago
Gotta say I used to think the circle pattern was actually better because it felt more balanced. Read a forum post a few years back that changed my mind, though. Some guy broke down the physics of it and showed how criss-cross keeps the load even across the whole surface. I mean, I'm still not 100% sold but it makes sense when you think about how metal fatigues over time. Now I always double check my torque sequence on anything with a pattern, just to be safe.
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lunah869d ago
Wait, does that mean I've been doing my battery terminal bolts wrong my whole life? I always just went in a circle, figured that's how you spread the pressure evenly, like tightening lug nuts on a tire or whatever. Then I watched a buddy of mine do that same criss-cross pattern on a motorcycle frame once and I felt like such an idiot. The worst part is I've probably stripped a couple of those terminal threads over the years because I was too stubborn to look it up.
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