Shimmy Strut

[Ernie Martin]

However, I have found an easier indicator that it is the dampner: if it happens only when the dampner is hot. I've had to overhaul the dampner once on each of my two Skymasters and each time there was no shimmy on the first takeoff of the day (especially if it's a cool morning) and shimmy when you landed on a hot day (I'm in Miami) or if you took off soon after a hot landing (remember that the dampner is close to the front engine). One other thing: if the housing is sound, your A&P can rebuild it using the seals shown in the parts catalog.

Ernie

[Kim Geyer]

You can also connect your tow bar and turn the nose gear left and right, if the dampener is low on fluid it will make a squirting sound.
Kim

[Jim Rainer]

I had this problem about a year ago and my mechanic convinced me to change the front tire first and if that didn't work, he'd pay for it. It worked! The old tire looked OK but his knowledge of the problem told him that he had worked on lots of shimmy dampners first then find out all that was needed was a new tire!