The trim system on my 67 C180 is functional, but not operating very smoothly. There is a fabric boot surrounding the screw that appears to have seen better days. Is it possible that the boot is getting caught in the threads and causing drag? Has anyone seen this before?

Also, is it typical to have very high forces on the trim control wheel in order to trim in to a dive?

about 2x a year I open the top of that boot or cover and squirt some oil into the top. Mine has a screw clamp on top. I then cycle it up and down and repeat. It will usually free it up some. I'm thinking it's about time to take them apart and clean soon as it's been 5 years since I've owned it and don't see this maintenance in the logs recently.

The ones I have been around have a small slit cut into the boot with a razor blade. Put the little red tube on the LPS3 can and give them a good squirt. Have also used ACF-50 applied with compressed air.

I don't remember the trim wheel being hard to turn in any mode of flight. Might have her checked out.

In the seaplane world it is common to find the screw and barrel corroded, I've changed several over the years.

Mcfarlane is making very nice replacement jacks that are cheaper than Cessna if it comes to replacement time.

Assuming it's stiff on the ground as well as in the air, cleaning and lubrication will probably fix it. I had a fairly heavy forward trim on mine once, which went away with some lubrication and working it back and forth a few times, as Glidergeek said.

Thanks for the info everyone. This is encouraging. I will lube and cycle first.

FYI... the boot should not have any razor cuts in it. Some knucklehead probably cut it to get in there to lube. RE: lube... The jackscrew needs a specific grease. Dont spray LP in there. Use Aeroshell #33.

Not sure if your 67 has one, but if not, you should install the access panel so you can get at the jackscrew. The service kit is SK185-27. Of course the easiest way is to take the horiz and vert stab off (very easy) to gain easy access. Pull the boots up and over, clean out the springs and screw, re-lube with the proper grease, then re-glue the boot back to the base.

You can also pull the flap tunnel and clean out the gears and chain. They tend to pick up all sorts of crap over the years.

Of course while you have the stab off, its a good time to put the Kenmore Air GW increase in to strengthen up the horz stab.

bigrenna wrote:FYI... the boot should not have any razor cuts in it. Some knucklehead probably cut it to get in there to lube. RE: lube... The jackscrew needs a specific grease. Dont spray LP in there. Use Aeroshell #33.

Not sure if your 67 has one, but if not, you should install the access panel so you can get at the jackscrew. The service kit is SK185-27. Of course the easiest way is to take the horiz and vert stab off (very easy) to gain easy access. Pull the boots up and over, clean out the springs and screw, re-lube with the proper grease, then re-glue the boot back to the base.

You can also pull the flap tunnel and clean out the gears and chain. They tend to pick up all sorts of crap over the years.

Of course while you have the stab off, its a good time to put the Kenmore Air GW increase in to strengthen up the horz stab.

And having to go through this monkey motion is why most of them go to hell in the first place...it doesn't get done.

But all we ever had was user/beater grade 180's.

If you are maintaining as per the Cessna Maintenance Manual, (for the 185 at least), the jackscrews are either three year or 1000 hr overhaul if I recall correctly.
There is a variation with the NZ AOPA, to follow the 1000hr requirement, without having the calendar time coming into play.

Ya I don't think slitting them is a good thing, I've heard of guys taking a syringe and needle and shooting them up like a junkie with oil, that's if you can't get the clamp off the top.

Does this apply to a 58 182 also? Sounds like it would.

I'm starting to get lots of play in my Horizontal Stabilizer, so maybe getting close to a complete overhaul of the rear end, too.

Play is bad. (could be dangerous depending) I would give them a look. "If you have to ask" kind of thing.

Also look in the logs and figure out when the last rebuild was as the decision could be a mute point and you should rebuild them regardless. Since its expensive/kind of a pain, most just ignore the maintenance.

bigrenna wrote:FYI... the boot should not have any razor cuts in it. Some knucklehead probably cut it to get in there to lube. RE: lube... The jackscrew needs a specific grease. Dont spray LP in there. Use Aeroshell #33.

Not sure if your 67 has one, but if not, you should install the access panel so you can get at the jackscrew. The service kit is SK185-27. Of course the easiest way is to take the horiz and vert stab off (very easy) to gain easy access. Pull the boots up and over, clean out the springs and screw, re-lube with the proper grease, then re-glue the boot back to the base.

You can also pull the flap tunnel and clean out the gears and chain. They tend to pick up all sorts of crap over the years.

Of course while you have the stab off, its a good time to put the Kenmore Air GW increase in to strengthen up the horz stab.

The access is terrible. I think I will remove the vertical and horizontal to service it this time. Did you install the access panel Bigrenna? I'm a little concerned about cutting a hole in the tail cone at that location, especially since I do a fair amount of off-roading.

Isn't the 185 vertical stab is required for the 3190 GW increase? I have casually begun to shop for one of these, but they are pretty hard to come by.

Yep. I have the service kit installed. Its easy and no biggie. And don't sweat it... wont compromise the integrity. After all, all the later model 185s (which are heavier) have it installed.

Yes to increase the GW to 3190, you have to have the 185 vert stab. But the doubler is installed on the horizontal and not the vertical. The Kenmore STC comes with the doubler so if it were me, and I had the vert and horiz off, I would install the doubler to beef up the horiz regardless. Then if you can source a stab, go for it and get the GW increase. FWIW, Peter at Skywagoncity had one 185 stab left when I was up there. The earlier "3 bolt" are really getting hard to find, so If its on your list to do, I would look in earnest.

This is what the service kit looks like installed….

http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5538/1129 ... a97a_b.jpg

Cheap at twice the price.
There is a way to lube(with grease) the jackscrews without taking the tail off.

If you are interested, ask….

Kenmore is very close to getting a kit together to convert a standard vert fin into the larger one. There is an old Cessna SB that shows you how. Should be pretty easy once the appropriate skins are available.

Halestorm wrote:Kenmore is very close to getting a kit together to convert a standard vert fin into the larger one.

Kenmore has been saying this for a long while now. I tried to go this route first before I bought an entire 185 stab. I spoke to them at Osh last year as well as several calls in Oct.

The service kit to upgrade the 180 stab to the 185 stab is SK180-33A. Cessna no longer has any, and "supposedly" the only one left in existence is held by Kenmore. Their plan is to use this as a template to fab new ones. That said, it seemed they were not very eager to try to make the kit, and when it came down to cost, I was told it was going to be in the $6k-$7k range, which was quite a bit more than I found the 185 stab for.

Net net is I wouldn't hold ones breath. If you can find a solid 185 stab, (and you are really hot for the GW increase) I would snatch it up.

I did mine (a 63) a few days ago. You can do it without pulling the stab, but it is easier to get at the chain to re-install it if you do pull the stab. Make sure you follow the proper steps when putting it back together or she wont be rigged right.

My trim was getting pretty stiff and after pulling the covers under the seat it was easy to figure out why.. the forward chain was rusted pretty good. A new chain and cleaning up the jack screws and the rear chain, some lube and she is smooth smooth smooth now.

bigrenna wrote:FYI... the boot should not have any razor cuts in it. Some knucklehead probably cut it to get in there to lube. RE: lube... The jackscrew needs a specific grease. Dont spray LP in there. Use Aeroshell #33.

Not sure if your 67 has one, but if not, you should install the access panel so you can get at the jackscrew. The service kit is SK185-27. Of course the easiest way is to take the horiz and vert stab off (very easy) to gain easy access. Pull the boots up and over, clean out the springs and screw, re-lube with the proper grease, then re-glue the boot back to the base.

You can also pull the flap tunnel and clean out the gears and chain. They tend to pick up all sorts of crap over the years.

Of course while you have the stab off, its a good time to put the Kenmore Air GW increase in to strengthen up the horz stab.

Just curious where do you find the SK185-27 kit? Is it a factory item? How much do they cost? And how hard is the kit to install?