Gear leg identification

[AWilson]

I used the guidelines in another posting which nicely explains how to determine what gear legs you have. I assume mine are correct for my 170A. Which is early 170 gear. But there are some differences. Mine have 2 holes drilled through them on each leg not 1. And 1 divot for the brake line bracket on 1 leg and no divot on the other.

I find it odd that the Identification details for a early 170 gear says thickness is 5/8 but ranges from .640 to .685.
5/8 is .625, so the range is completely outside of the 5/8ths size.

Actual leg dimensions:

Passenger side: .625, .624, .633, .622. These fall within the 5/8ths callout.
Pilot side: .651, .646, .651, .646, .648, .657. These fall within the .640 to .685 callout.

Generally I think I have the right legs. But because of the differences I am interested in what the forum thinks. Also any comments as to the condition of the legs would be appreciated. Surfaces are varied and in some spots rather textured, in others smooth. I don't really see any shot peening although I am not sure what that would look like. The reason I have been closely scrutinizing the legs is I have a wing low condition and preliminarily believe 1 leg is way toed out. I will be confirming that next week. interestingly enough, the thicker leg is the low wing side and the toe out.

[cessnut]

Those might be 140 gear legs. They had two holes drilled there for the step to bolt on. Only the underside is shot peened. It can be tough to see if you don't know what you are looking at. The upper surface rough texture is normal for the really early legs.

[AWilson]

OMG if that is correct then I assume they are too weak for a 170 and I would need to replace them. I appreciate this. With that I would greatly appreciate others thoughts. Guess I need to take the axles off so I can identify the part numbers. Hopefully the 140 legs were identified in the same place. Unfortunately I will not be able to do that for at least a week.

[n2582d]

Here George has a cut-n-paste from the Cessna Service Manual revision regarding gear inspection. Further down in that thread Mod Cessna includes two Cessna Service Letters or Bulletins regarding C-120/140 gear legs.

[AWilson]

Thanks so much. It is not looking good for my gear but it looks like I have all the info I need to positively id them. Need to get my mechanic out with his jacks so we can get the axles off and get the numbers. I will post when I have that.

[n2582d]

If the 120/140 gear marking are located like they are on 170 gear, there is no need to remove the axle. Duplicate numbers are stamped at the each end of the gear. I believe the upside down “2” shown on the inboard end of mine indicates how many shims were originally used at the inboard end to level the wings. Unless someone had tried to add C-140 steps to your gear at some time (which would make no sense on a C-170) Cessnut is correct; those are Cessna 120/140 gear legs.

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[AWilson]

Gary thanks for the additional info. I’m about 95% positive there are no stampings on the axle side end. I will look again.
I will look at the attachment end. I will need to take the single bolt out and pull them away from the fuselage. Im beginning to think they may of been filed away on purpose.

[cessnut]

I haven't held my 140 springs up against my 170 springs, but if I recall correctly they were about the same dimensionally. 140s had 1/4 inch axle bolt holes, but I've seen those drilled out before. Either way, I wouldn't go into panic mode just yet.

[n2582d]

… But I don't really see any shot peening although I am not sure what that would look like.

Check out the second photo here for a closeup of shot peening.

[Bruce Fenstermacher]

The Cessna 140 serials 13400-14306 used landing gear PN 044138. Cessna 170 serial 18001-19219 used landing gear PN 044138. They both used the same gear. 170 serial 19219 is the 19th 1950 170A built. After that a variant of the same gear was used till a the 239th 1953B model. After that the "Lady Leg" gear was used.

[n2582d]

Years ago Doug pointed out at the bottom of this page a slight discrepancy between the 1948 C-170 IPC and the C-170A IPC. The C-170 (s/n 18003-18729) IPC says the gear is p/n 0441138 -- the same as that used on the 1947 C-140 (s/n 13400-14306). But the C-170A IPC adds a "-3" to the gear leg p/n -- 0441138-3 -- and says this is the part number used even on the first 1948 C-170s. Without looking at the blueprints who knows what the difference is between p/n 0441138 and p/n 0441138-3. It could be something as minor as a different primer. But my guess is that the -3 p/n eliminates the two holes used on the 120/140 for the step. George writes that, "The first rag-wing airplane had PN 0441138. That spring-rate was changed with the 170A's to PN 0441138-3."

Wilson, it's quite unlikely, but I would make sure your gear legs aren't from the early (1946-47) C-120/140 as those legs (p/n 0441110) used 1/4" axle bolts. Here's a discussion on the different C-120/140 gear legs.

[AWilson]

My original reason for looking at my legs is that of a wing low condition and what appears to be a toe out condition on the pilot side leg. So if they are 140 legs, is this condition one of the legs trying to tell me it doesn't belong on my aircraft? Possibly.

So here is my understanding of the comments:

The 2 brake clip holes tell us they are definitely either 044138 or 044138-3 legs. One of those numbers fit in with my aircrafts serial number, 18963.

There is no way to tell exactly which I have because we don't know what the -3 means. So I cannot tell if these legs were meant or could be used for a 170 or not. All we do know is that they will be acceptable for a 140.

IF the -3 means brake clip hole delete, then mine are not rated for my aircraft.

A number of 140's gear have broken along the brake clip holes. The 170A gross weight is 750 lbs more than the 140.

There is no value in finding the serial number on the legs because it cannot be cross referenced to anything. It doesn't tell me if I have 044138 or 044138-3.

Additional fact:
My aircraft was converted to tri gear back in the 50's. I have a picture some where that I can post. It was converted back to a taildragger in the 80's. So the current gear legs may or may not be the originals. Unless the gear legs were used in the tri-gear configuration. I will take a look at the picture closely and see if I can see the 2 holes.

Options:
My original reason for looking at my legs is that of a low wing and what appears to be a toe out condition on the pilot side leg. So if I cannot resolve both concerns with shimming at both ends of the pilot side leg then the issue of whether I have 140 or 170 gear leg doesn't matter because I have to replace the tweaked leg(s).

If I can be successful shimming then I need to decide if "It will probably be ok" (famous last words) and use them, or change them out regardless for at minimum, peace of mind. Or am I simply being a worry wart again. My most prolific trait!

[n2582d]

Anderson, at The Landing Gear Works may be able to help identify the gear if you give him the gear serial number.

The C-170 and C-170A IPC show one hole for attaching the brake line clip further forward on the gear leg than the two holes you have. What you have is most like what is illustrated in the C-120/140 IPC for the step attach. Either way, the holes are a weak point in the gear and should be inspected as described in the Service Letter.

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Jim Hayton (if he hasn't retired) or Anderson can recondition your gear but I'd recommend going with a later gear, either 0541114 or the lady leg gear. Of course, if the toe-out isn't too bad it can be corrected with shims between the axle and the gear leg. So too for the low wing; the gear can be shimmed at the inboard end to correct for this if the gear isn't too tweaked.

I've reached out to Cessna Support asking what the difference is between 0441138 and 0441138-3. I'll let you know if I get a response.

[AWilson]

I think your advice is the way to go. I think I will go with a gear change out. I will determine if my current legs are tweaked or not so I can sell them.
I appreciate your comment. Also in taking the initiative to see what the dash 3 is. It will be useful for many 170 owners.

Finding a good used set is now the focus.

[n2582d]

Here’s the response from Cessna Support:

The best we can tell the 0441138-3 should have been the gear leg used on the aircraft. Based on the gear leg drawing information below, the difference between the 0441138 and the -3 is the -3 only had one hole in it not two. Since there is no step used on the 170 gear like the 120/140 the second hole would not be used. The hole that is in the -3 would be where the strap for the brake line would attach. It would seem odd that engineering would leave an open/empty hole in a gear leg. That would be a good place for corrosion to form which is a bad thing when it comes to gear legs. Our best answer is that it appears that it should have one hole in it and would be the -3 part number.

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