Tail wheel shimmy

[herman pahls]

What do you suspect was the solution?
The rigidity or the angle of the tail wheel, or both when you went with the Grove tail spring?

[PapuaPilot]

I upgraded to the Grove single leaf and have not had a shimmy since. My shimmy happened when I was doing my gross weight/aft CG Phase 1 testing. The problem was the angle due to the heavier tail. I have not had a problem since.

FYI when I experience the shimmy I learned to unload the tail by pushing forward on the stick or by doing wheel landings and holding the tail off as long as possible. Mine didn't do it every time either, it showed up when the chains were loose, aft CG and especially doing 3 point landings that were a little hard.

[jiott]

My experience was somewhat similar to Phil's. I have the ABW tailwheel which is quite heavy. I really don't know for sure, but I suspect the success of the Grove is both things: stiffer so it doesn't sag so much, especially over time, and the angle is somewhat better.

[Dick B in KY]

Had the same problem with my SS7. Tightened up the main pivot nuts on the tailwheel, problem solved. Be sure to grease the pivot bolt grease fitting also.

Dick B

[Wheels]

I had shimmy on my maul tailwheel, but when I went to the pneumatic wheel the shimmy went away. Also had a shimmy when I had a heavy cargo bag on the J-3. Lighter load, less shimmy.

[68niou1]

Update- tightened the nut a quarter turn, regreased the bearing and problem solved. Hopefully this helps someone else in the future. Thanks again for all the help!

Scott

[JohnB]

Hey, can we get an update from those that have switched to the grove aluminum tailwheel spring since it's been a year since these posts.
Are you still happy and the shimmy monster is still at bay?

After over 2 years with the 3 leaf spring, I just had my first experience with a severe shimmy and I didn't like it much. Thanks to the posts on this forum, I checked the pivot angle and sure enough I have negative caster when loaded down. Looks like the grove spring may be the answer.