Jabiru j160 Instructions for use

Jabiru Construction Manual
Pre-Paint>Fuselage>Firewall forward>Assemble and fit nose gear
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Pre-Paint>Fuselage>Firewall forward>Assemble and fit nose gear
Issue Revision Table
Issue
Date:
Change(s):
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18/11/2021
Adopt “Section Only” Manual System, Add Issue Revision Table and
model applicability.
Change yoke bolt to AN4-43A (was AN4-72A)
Add further reference to ‘soft-link’ steering linkage
AS
Model Applicability
Aircraft Model
J-160
J-170
J-230
J-430
Document Applicability
Yes
Yes

Jabiru Construction Manual
Pre-Paint>Fuselage>Firewall forward>AssembleAndFitNoseGear
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Pre-Paint>Fuselage>Firewall forward>AssembleAndFitNoseGear
Objectives of this task:
To assemble and fit the nose gear including the front wheel to the stage where the aircraft is standing
on its own 3 wheels, the main gear having been fitted previously.
Materials required:
Card # 7J ‘Undercarriage’
Card # 19J ‘Nose leg’
Card # 20JT ‘Nose wheel’
Epoxy resin and flock
Steps
1. Assemble the nose leg
2. Assemble the nose leg housing
3. Fit the nose leg housing
4. Assemble the nose wheel
5. Fit the nose leg and nose wheel
Assemble the nose leg
Assemble the nose leg by reference to the drawing
several pages over.
Press the nylon bush through the tube at the bottom
of the leg (photo at right, flock in place if needed) and
then fit the machined yoke with an AN4-43A bolt,
washer and castellated nut. Use a split pin to retain
the castellated nut. Fit the lower retaining collar to
the machined section of the nose leg (arrowed above)
with an AN3-22A bolt.
Fit the lower part of the suspension shaft to the yoke,
placing the nylon bush through the bottom hole,
superglue a washer on each side and secure in the
yoke with an AN5-15A bolt, washer and Nyloc nut as
shown circled in yellow in the photos below.

Jabiru Construction Manual
Pre-Paint>Fuselage>Firewall forward>AssembleAndFitNoseGear
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Slip the upper shaft into the lower section and secure with an AN3-7A bolt, washer and Nyloc nut. Slip
the red suspension rubbers over the upper shaft. Note that in the photos above the nose leg has been
left out for clarity.
Clamp the yoke in a vise and use a long bar inserted into the top of
the nose leg as a lever to compress the rubbers so that the rebound
rubber and the machined washer can be fitted to the top of the
suspension shaft and secured with an AN3-6A bolt and Nyloc nut.
Compressing the rubbers will require substantial pressure: the lower
part of the leg will need to be horizontal in order to fit the retaining
bolt. Take care that the yoke is firmly held by the vise and apply
downward pressure on the lever smoothly.
Tighten the Nyloc nut firmly and then slowly release the pressure on the lever.
Main rubbers
Rebound rubber
Lever
Nose leg

Jabiru Construction Manual
Pre-Paint>Fuselage>Firewall forward>AssembleAndFitNoseGear
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Assemble the nose leg housing
Note that the photos immediately below show the older solid steering link, the more recent design
features a ‘soft-link’ steering link assembly which is detailed later in this section. Regardless of which
steering link is used the same procedure here applies for assembling the nose leg housing.
Assemble the top and bottom plates to the spacer with the supplied cap screws –clean the threads,
use a drop of Loctite 620 on each cap screw and tighten firmly. Clean the nylon bushes and the
matching holes in the top and bottom plates with Acetone and sand all surfaces to be bonded and then
fit the bushes into the plates, pushing both bushes from the outside in towards the middle. Align the
flats on the bush collars to clear the cap screws.
Fit the assembly onto the nose leg with the steering link on top and check for freedom of movement.
When you are satisfied that there is no binding, mix a small batch of flock and flock the bushes into the
plates, taking care not to get any flock onto the nose leg.
Use a mixing stick to smooth the flock as shown at above right and leave overnight to cure, after which
the nose-leg is removed.
Drawings of the nose leg and nose leg housing follow on the next 2 pages.

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Fit the nose leg housing
Level the aircraft laterally: a straightedge across the bottom of the front doorframes or across the front
wing attachment lugs will provide a good reference, then pack under the main wheels as required in
order to level the aircraft in the lateral or rolling plane.
Place a straightedge or ruler under the centre of the fuselage and measure up 20mm. This is the
position for the bottom of the square outer backing plate for the nose gear housing.
Centre the outer backing plate on the lower firewall and drill one top ¼” hole only and push a bolt
through, then fit up the nose gear housing and place a digital protractor or a spirit level across the top
of the white bush as shown above and carefully level the nose gear housing.
Once it is level, drill the other top hole and recheck for level then drill the bottom holes and bolt the
nose gear housing in place. You will need to flock the 2 internal braces in place at this time –sand and
clean the surfaces to be bonded then mix a small batch of flock and coat the back of each brace then
press into place and secure with 2 x AN4-16A bolts at the top and 2 x AN4-22A bolts at the bottom and
tighten the Nyloc nuts firmly.
35mm
25mm
20mm

Jabiru Construction Manual
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Drill the holes for the steering links: measure out 25mm and up 35mm from the top plate and drill a
pilot hole, then use a 1¼” (32mm) hole saw to drill through the firewall. Note that the predrilled holes
in the firewall may not be in the correct positions, so measure carefully as above.
Drill the top holes of the internal braces (circled at right and at above right) from the back of the
firewall and then fit the bolts from the firewall side with 1 penny washer under the head of each bolt
and a normal washer and Nyloc nut on the inside of the firewall.

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Assemble the nose wheel
Press a bearing into each side of the
hub until the bearing reaches the
bottom of the machined hole –use a
large socket or piece of heavy tube
that is slightly smaller in diameter than
the outside of the bearing to press
against the outer rim of the bearing. A
small hand press or a bench vise
would be ideal for the purpose. Do not
press against the inner rim of the
bearing –this can damage the bearing.
Fit the bearing spacers into the bearings with a drop of Loctite 480 and slide the axle through the
spacers.
Check each end of the axle and spacer: both ends should be exactly level. If this is not the case then
grind either the axle or the spacer until they are level. If the width of the wheel and spacers are wider
than the length of the axle this will put a side load of the wheel bearings.
Partially inflate the inner tube with the valve out, then liberally coat the tube with talcum powder, fit it
into the tyre and place the tyre on the hub with the valve stem facing up and then fit the rim to the
hub, making sure that the valve stem is through the hole in the rim, bolt the rim to the hub, taking care
not to pinch the inner tube, and inflate the tyre to 35 PSI.
A drawing of the nose wheel can be found on the next page.
Assemble Rubber soft-link steering yoke
The most current nose legs feature a
rubber soft-link nose leg steering
yoke subassembly which is mounted
above the top plate of the nose-leg
housing, instead of the older solid
nose leg steering yoke. A
photograph and drawing are
provided to reference during the
assembly of the rubber soft-link
steering yoke. (the photo on the left
shows the nose-leg installed and
finished with the soft-link steering
arm)
Rubber soft-link arm placed
on top of Nose-leg housing

Jabiru Construction Manual
Pre-Paint>Fuselage>Firewall forward>AssembleAndFitNoseGear
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Use the nose-leg as guide to align each part. Slide the steering link (small teardrop shaped aluminium
part) first and the steering arm (larger aluminium part) on-top as pictured. Insert the cylindrical rubber
damper with 1/4 inch penny washers top and bottom and bolt in place with AN4-16A bolt, nyloc nut
and washer under the head of the nut. Remove the soft-link steering yoke assembly from the nose-leg.
Fit the nose leg and nose wheel
Slide the nose leg up into the nose leg housing and
fit the rubber soft-link steering yoke (arrowed but
not shown in photo) above the top bush with the
arms of the yoke swept back towards the firewall.
Secure the yoke to the nose leg with an AN3-22A
bolt and Nyloc nut.
Roll the front wheel into the machined yoke and fit
with the AN4-72 bolt. Use a washer and castellated
nut, tighten the castellated nut and secure it with a
split pin.
The aircraft is now sitting on its own wheels,
however it will still need a trestle under the
empennage until the engine has been fitted in the
next task.

Jabiru Construction Manual
Pre-Paint>Fuselage>Firewall forward>AssembleAndFitNoseGear
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This completes the Pre-Paint>Fuselage>Firewall forward>Assemble and fit nose gear task