Shimmy Strut

[AirCzar]

Well after researching the issue here and talking to a number of folks that basically shrugged their shoulders the most useful blog was the suggestion to raise the nose gear.. a bit. So today we jacked the aircraft (we had to anyway for the annual inspection) put the gear handle up with the circuit breaker pulled and then used the breaker to raise the nosewheel to about a 45 degree angle I had already removed the front wheel to balance it Sho nuff this gives you room to get your hand and side cutters up to remove the cotter keys and then the nuts. Front bolt no problem to remove from within the engine compartment. The rear bolt was tougher. we turned the wheel all the way to the left (after disengaging the centering mechanism) and managed to raise the bolt just enough to clear the dampener ear. Now to rebuild the dampener, put it back in and enjoy installing new cotter pins!!! Easy huh??
Peter