Seat Rollers: I think I have the wrong ones

[Karsten Wallis]

The front seats in my PA-39 just don't seem to roll right. Just seem to slide and bind on the track. I took them off, soaked them in solvent to clean, greased the rollers with lubriplate ,and reassembled. There just doesn't seem to be enough clearance with the floor AND they just don't look right. Tried to tighten and loosen the bolt that holds it on with no change. I have flown another twin and several single comanches and they seem to roll much smoother. I have a sneaking suspicion that somewhere down the line the back seat rollers were put on the front seat and vice versa. I looked at the parts manual and Im pretty sure Im right but its not 100% clear. I was wondering if one of you 6 seat comanche drivers could snap a picture of your seat rollers next time you are at the airport? Much appreciated.

[N3322G]

Karsten,

It took me awhile to correlate seat movement problems with annual disassembly and re-assembly. The shop we use now is tremendously good with Comanche stuff but everyone does make mistakes .... thanks to Clifton, haven't had the rail problems for years. It could be the rollers but you might also check the items below.

The 39 I have has had seat movement problems in the past - #1 cause has been the seat rails were improperly installed - rails are each subtly different but they are different and it does matter where they are placed in the cabin. It wasn't that the seats wouldn't move, it was just difficult. I have now permanent marker labelled them on the bottom to reduce future bad installs.

Second most common problem has been carpet binding. There are 'holy wars' on whether rails should be on top or next to the carpet rails. Piper had them on top so ours have always been there. Sounds like you have already ruled this out but just in case. Carpet thickness is much greater than the original carpet.

In general, I've learned the hard way to post-annual the interior to make sure I have unimpeded, easy access and operations of/to sump drains, fuel selectors, emergency gear area, fuses, seatbelts, seats, doors and that seat rail end protectors get back on. I smile at that last one because of the memory of my Mom when she still owned the plane inadvertently dropped her Diet Coke can as she got in the Twin. She carried it until she was an hour out from landing and then drank it. Of course as it fell, it hit the edge of an unprotected seat sail end and it poked a tiny, tiny hole. The resulting spray was funny to watch us scramble to stop it. She had visited us in TX and was flying back to Chicago - we got her another can as we thought it would be hard to fly with one finger strategically placed on the can hole for 5 hours.

Hope something here helps. Happy New Year!

[Karsten Wallis]

Pat, a happy new year to you and all ICS members! Just to be clear, I did rule out binding carpet. In fact, I tried it with the carpet out once to see if it would work better. No dice. I did remove the seat rails and they have previous labels on them (inboard/outboard and pilot/copilot). That doesn't necessarily mean they are correct though. Maybe I will take them out again and try different combos. The way you described it sounds identical to what I have now.

[N3322G]

Karsten,

I hope the seat rails are the problem - the Twin's were in fact mis-labelled at one point.

[Clarence Beintema]

Karsten,

The seat rails for the pilot's side should have 2 small screw holes mid way aft for the seat stops. The holes are 6-32nc threads, many times the rails get inter mixed from pilot to co pilot sides.

I have also seen them bent at different angles which then don't match the floor, then when screwed down they cause eat binding and in some cases damage to the ribs under the floor panels.

Email me and I can send you pictures of the seat rollers.

Clarence

pa24md@gmail.com

[Andrew Foster]

We machined new ones that were a solid cylinder instead of the thimble design of piper original. The sides of the rollers had worn and the tabs under the rail would bind. We just used straight 2024 stock, drilled a dole in the center and machined as needed. Took an hour or so. This on a 61 250

Andrew

[Clarence Beintema]

I think the spool shaped ones from Piper were meant to keep the seat feet centred on the track thereby preventing the steel seat feet for gouging the sides of the rail?

Clarence

[DAVEG24]

Why don't you just replace the old rollers with new. Chances are the old ones are worn badly. New are available. Shop around and you can probably find them at a reasonable price. Make sure the rails are clean and smooth.

Dave Gitelman