SHERDILL

My Feedback: (6)

Hi
I had installed these mechanical retracts that had this purple colour housing on a 40 size GP P-51 Mustand,just two landings i admit seconed one kinda hard on a rough grass runway and one of the retracts broke, the strut became free in the plastic housing,so i have gotten Robarts 609HDs for a 60 size,they seem to be a lttle heavy but i think are sturdy enough for taking some beating.Since i had a really hard time fine tuning the mechanical retracts to work properly with metal rods my question is can i use a cables instead of a metal rod to operate/actuate the mechanical retracts, your input will be highly appreciated.

Thanks

Salman

JohnW

My Feedback: (6)

I doubt the cable will be able to deliver enough pushing (compression) force to move and lock the gear, but it might work. You can get cables to push, I often use cables for push-pull throttles, but that application requires considerably less force. There are things you can try to help aid pushing force, such as soldering any part of the cable that leaves the guide tube the ends such that the last inch or two of the cable is solid, and lots of mounting points for the guide tube to stop flexing. But, I think you’d be better off figuring out why your solid push-pull rods aren’t working. There are plenty of posts with pics here on RCU on how to set up retracts, where to drill the holes on the wheel, etc. You might try a quick search.

flyngfrog

I'd used cables once in a Ultrasport 40 mostly because the servo was 90ª (perpendicular) to the rectract. It worked fine but were light retracts. I recommend the rod and make it as straight as possible.
good luck