Landing gear Vee brace welding

[Shay King]

Have you guys welded both sides of the reinforcement pads on the Vee of the Vee brace?
I can’t get all the way in there with the tig torch.

[Brock]

@Shay, no I welded min like you did.  Nice welds btw.  After welding, I realised two things.  Once weld on one plate, both sides first.  Two, don't tack the second plate until the suspension tubes are attached to the gear.  By doing this you can make sure things are nice and lined up to the gear and adjust the plate for a nice straight alignment.  I ended up putting a slight bend in one of my suspension tubes as it didn't line up so great.

[Shay King]

Thanks for the reply Brock.
I’ve made up the shock struts with rod-ends like somebody on here did. I had to make my own inserts. I used the specified drill bit and taps but the fit is a little bit sloppy. I’ll bring them to the next home-builders meeting and get some engineering advice/opinion. The rod-ends should compensate for any misalignment.