Hey Guys,
On a 185, if the trim wheel is turning freely without issue on the ground and aft trim is good in the air, but forward trim to push nose down is "heavy and stiff" Where should we look first, jack screw, trim wheel or what? Any thoughts appreciated.
Thanks,
H Nay

The air loads in flight always make them heavier in the nose down direction. This is despite the pretty stout springs over the jackscrews that help to offset the air loads. How stiff is normal? Tough to say without flying another one. Both my old 180 and current 185 are this way.

I've noticed that trimming nose up on mine (after takeoff with some nose-down trim) is harder if I'm holding up elevator than if I'm not.
Maybe the same way when trimming nose down.
Try relaxing pressure on the yoke before trimming.
My nose down trim adjustments are usually pretty small so I've never noticed if it was tough or not.

Mine is similar, and from what I've heard, not unusual. In cruise, just pull the yoke back and trim forward, that will take some of the load off as you trim. If you go too far, it's easy to roll back a little.

My 180 started to get hard to move a couple of years ago, it ended up being the jack screws were worn out, I ended up buying the high zute stainless ones from McFarlane, night and day difference.

My 180k has that issue when I moved battery to firewall.when loaded heavy aft c of g on problem nose down.flying empty at high cruise nose down very stiff.never had that problem befor I moved the battery