Torque Tube Bearing Bolts Loose?

[Cameron]

So I was sitting in my ASII earlier today, engine running, waiting for it to warm up a little. I was almost ready to spend some exorbant amount of money to get a hamburger 90 miles away. I was doing my usual control check when I noticed that the rear torque tube pillow block was wiggling for and aft a little bit when I actuated the elevator up and down. The controls felt just like they always have, but this troubled me, so I taxiied back to the hangar andgot outfor a closer inspection. What I found out was that the bolts that holdboth the front and reartorque tube pillow block bearings (or bushings... I am unsure of correct terminology here) were just barely tightenedand the nuts were retained with cotter pins. In my mind, these bolts should be torqued down and then locked in place by a cotter pin or some sort of lock nut, but some previous owner tightened the bolts up just a little for a reason.I have a feeling that after I tighten them down, my control system willbecome much stiffer, or maybe even lock up. It works very smoothly right now.


Anyway, my question is: Should these bolts be torqued down tightly, or should they be torqued down just a little, or is either acceptable?

 

[Neil]

 

[Cameron]