I OWN A VERY NICE TOMAHAWK. METICULOSLY MAINTAINED. I DO HAVE A PROBLEM WITH A NOSE GEAR SHIMMY,SOMETIMES ON ROLL OUT AFTER LANDING. THIS IS THE ONLY TIME THE SHIMMY OCCURS AND THEN VERY SPORADICALLY. SHIMMY ONLY STARTS DURING LAST 1/3 OF ROLE OUT (AIRCRAFT SLOWED CONSIDERABLY.I HAVE ALREADY INSTALLED STERLING AVIAIONS STEERING ASSEMBLY UPGRADE, HAD THE NOSE GEAR REBUILT AND REPLACED ALL TIRES AND TUBES (AIRCRAFT HAS 6.00 TIRES ALL AROUND AND REPLACED BOTH MAINBRAKE ASSEMBLIES. BUT STILL GET THE SHIMMY SOMETIMES. ONCE SHIMMY STARTS BRAKING WORSENS THE CONDITION. ANY SUGESTIONS WOULD BE GREATLY APPRECIATED.
Make sure the nosewheel is balanced. Even 1 ounce of imbalance will make the nose vibrate in an up and down fashion. If it shakes side to side, then you still have play in the scissors or the steering linkage.
The scissors should have no play when trying to shake it side to side. Make sure the bushings and bolts in the strut and the nosewheel fork have no play. Even a tiny amount will allow it to shimmy.
The shimmy is usually caused by an imbalanced tire/wheel assembly, and it gets worse as play develops in the steering and the scissors.
THANKYOU GLENN. THE SHIMMY IS DEFINATELY SIDE TO SIDE. I WILL CHECK EVERYTHING AGAIN. IT IS JUST SO STRANGE THAT IT IS SO INTERMITANT AND THEN ONLY OCCURS DURING THE LAST PART OF THE LANDING ROLEOUT. I WILL HAVE MY A&P CHECK THE BALANCE
I've said this a few times on here, try the discs, we had exactly the same problem for years, replaced tyres, tubes, positioned tubes differently etc etc. Replaced the discs due to corrosion and shimmy has never been back.
