Hello all,
I'm having a dickens of a time managing the health of the leading edge of my inner gear doors (M20J). Summer of 2011 my right-side unit was cracking severely on the leading edge, so I ordered up a refurb replacement from LASAR, had it painted up and installed, life was good.
Middle of last year I noticed the left side was starting to crack as well, but we tried stop-drilling a hole which worked for a little while. Then the crack started spreading again, but this time it was toward to aft part of the unit which is reinforced so I just watched it for awhile. Finally it started spreading again toward the front part and I have ordered up a new refurb from LASAR and am in the process of getting it painted for installation.
Lo and behold, on inspection the other day I noticed that the right-side, recent refurb from LASAR is now cracking vertically right along the seam where the leading edge is sandwiched and riveted between two outer skins. I had thought their refurb approach would be bullet-proof, but apparently not. Or perhaps there is something I need to consider and tell my A/P when he installs these things so that whatever vibration or friction is causing my problem will no longer occur.
I'm open to all thoughts and suggestions. Thanks.
Jeff