Yoke Bearings

[Mark Hislop]

The three small bearings that support each yoke at the panel in my 337 have lost their rubber coating. At least I think they are supposed to have a rubber coating.

In my aircraft, these bearings are part #S2010-3. Cessna is very proud of these little bearings, wanting in the neighborhood of $150 each. (That a pretty exclusive neighborhood. )

I found a place that will repair or exchange these bearings for $50 each, 1/3 the price of new. It is

Robair (www.robairrepair.com)

This guy has developed a business making and selling common Cessna parts. I used him a couple of months ago when a part of my seat broke. He had a beefier replacement, complete with PMA (or STC, I don't remember now) for 1/3 the price of the OEM Cessna part.

Hope this helps some of you.

Mark

[WebMaster]

That is very helpful, Mark.

[hharney]

Mark

Looking at the website for the parts, there is no indication about Skymaster 336/337. I assume some of these parts are interchangeable with the 207? Is there a search engine or anything for looking up parts? Do you just call him on the phone?

[Mark Hislop]

I don't think there is a search engine. I have found the parts there by using google, and his site shows up. I don't think he has a lot of Skymaster parts. The ones he does have I think are common to other, more numerous models.

[patrolpilot]

You never know how an old post/topic might help someone. Need the control column bearings (S2010-3). A Cessna source said the best they could do is $250 a bearing, there are three on each column. Rob Air has improved bearings for $50 each.

[wslade2]

Rob Air also rebuilds the brake swivels

[patrolpilot]

Originally Posted by wslade2

Rob Air also rebuilds the brake swivels

Do you know what he charges for the swivels?

[kbecker]

I replaced by yoke bearings with Robair bearings about 2-3 years ago. Couldn't have been happier with the bearings or the purchase experience. I saw the bearings during the annual last month and they still look great.

[Learjetter]

What symptom or indication are y’all seeing that needs yoke bearing replacement as the fix?

[wslade2]

Answering patrol pilot’s question on the swivels:
I paid $500 for robair to do them. They’ll be overhauled and tested for leaking before returning. Mine had corrosion at the seat that was resolved.

I started to try and do them myself, but these swivels are the ultimate in unobtainium; left it to someone that does them rather than damaging or loosing any of the small irreplaceable internal parts when they popped out. Or getting/making special tools and technique.

[patrolpilot]

I just purchased the swivel from Commodore, it was $450 exchanged. Great to know two businesses are offering them.

[patrolpilot]

Originally Posted by Learjetter

What symptom or indication are y’all seeing that needs yoke bearing replacement as the fix?

With my yoke aft, I can move the control wheel in a pretty good circle. The pilot side is way worse than the pax side which would make sense. I will get a video in the next few days.

I reached up back toward the firewall to the Roller (20), Retainer (21), and Sleeve Assembly (23), and they were rock solid. All the movement is back at the panel in the Bearing (30) and Bracket (29) Assembly. Numbers are references in Maintenance Manual, I wish the Parts Manuals used the same figure numbers!

As a note, there are no Rollers (20), Retainers (21), and Sleeve Assemblies (23), in the Textron parts chain. That's a big deal, there are a lot of Cessna models that use these assemblies.

[kbecker]

I had too much play in the yoke tube and upon inspection noticed that these bearings had lost their plastic coating, thus rubbing metal on metal. The plastic coating is not available as a stand alone item. The bearings from Robair have a more robust plastic coating.

[patrolpilot]

The RobAir bearing caps are Delrin rather than nylon. Delrin has the edge when it comes to wear.

[Learjetter]

Thanks…I’ll double-check the play/grind on the yokes, now that I know what abnormal is!