The International Cessna^® 170 Association

I'm looking for a tailwheel main leaf spring; The Cessna Part Number is 0542106 and Preferred Air Parts quotes $225.
Wag-Aero shows a spring (P.31 of catalog) with their own part number for
$79.50 . It reads "Cessna 170, Most models, main leaf only". Their illustration shows a leaf spring with what appears to be an extra little hole or dot.
Has anyone bought one of these lately ? Would appreciate your input,
Thanks,
Rudy

Univair has a PMA for them. I bought one through A/C Spruce which had the Univair PMA sticker on it and, at the time, was a couple of bucks cheaper. I'd go through Univair or A/C Spruce. You can get either the main leaf only or the entire leaf set. Spruce shows the main leaf (06-15100) for $67.20 or the entire set (06-15000) for $136.50.

Doug, thanks very much, I'll check those out. I had called Spruce with the Cessna Part Number (0542106) and they didn't recognize it.
Where did the P/N 06-15100 come from ?
Rudy

Hi Rudy,

I bought one from Univair a few months ago, it was the same part number as in the 170A Parts Catalog. They have a reputation of having good metal in the springs. Since then, back a couple of months ago, heard or read that they were out of supply. Understand that Spruce is supplied by Univair, and sometimes their price is lower.

Hi Rudy,

Those part numbers are from A/C Spruce's catalog. Univair's part numbers are U170 for the complete set and U0542106 for the main leaf only.

They are the same parts so check prices between the two and order the cheaper one (factoring in shipping of course).

If you buy the "complete set", you'll get 5 leafs (the
B only uses 4). So, you just throw one away (the
shortest one) or use it as a door stop.

Bela P. Havasreti
'54 C-170B N170BP

Thanks guys,
I ordered the main leaf from Spruce for $67.50.
Prices ranged from $320 from Premier Aviation to $67.50.
I dreally appreciate the good info-
Rudy

$320 Man, what some people won't charge for a piece of steel... sheesh...

I think my tailwheel spring might need replacement due to the angle it puts the pivot line of the tailwheel ... how long should one of these last? I looked in my logbook and it appears that it was last replaced about 10 or 11 years ago.

Mike Smith
1950 C-170A

Most here would highly recommend replacement at 5 years or 500 hrs. I'd think the 500 hrs at say 1 landing per hour or 500 landings average in that time is more important.

It is far far cheaper to replace the spring more often than repair the damage after it breaks. I know first hand. A friend and I and our wives where on a trip when his broke at remote location.
Cost us all a days work plus the expense of a rental car and over night plus a weeks tie down at the location. He had to recover the plane with a borrowed spring which took another day and he still hadn't repaired the rudder. It was a really expensive hamburger as the say.

One more thing if your spring doesn't have that many landings/hours and you decide to rebend it, you need a press and do it cold. I can send you an outline of what the spring should look like new which you can print and bend the spring to match.

Personally I'd buy a new one.

Thanks Bruce, I agree with you about buying a new one. I had about made my mind up to buy one but wanted to get some "170" feedback first.

On another note, how'd you get your 170 picture to attach to all your posts?

Mike Smith
1950 C-170A

Mike, read bruce post on the member issues--> editing profile, it helped me vry well on the same issue.

Replace it. This is one of the few "cheap" preventative maintenance measures you can to for yourself. I had a similar situation of not knowing the age on mine so I just replaced it. One thing that happens is that the next leaf spring in the stack that sits on top of the main leaf starts to wear a groove in the main leaf at the point just before the tailwheel assembly where that next leaf ends. Sorry if that's a confusing description. Each time you land the main leaf flexes against the next leaf in the stack and over time it wears a groove across the face of the spring. When the main leaf lets go, this is a likely spot for it to break. Mine had a pretty good groove getting worn in it so I probably saved myself some grief by replacing it.

From what you said about the angle of the pivot bolt, it sounds like you probably are getting some shimmy anyway. Personally, if it's gotten to that point then I think you are rolling the dice each time you land.

For whatever it's worth, I pretty much agree with all said here. Saw similar comments a few years ago on same subject and went ahead and changed out my main leaf spring with new. Only difference is, I carry my old spring as a spare just in case. Also, I noted the same groove being worn on the upper surface of the main leaf spring so I GENTLY filed off the sharp edge of the next spring up and then polished the end, cleaned, painted all the springs and reassembled. I would really hate to have to rebuild or replace the rudder. Just my one cent worth.

FWIW, making wheel landings should prolong the life of the spring and the tailwheel.
Rudy