The Cessna 120-140 Association Forum

Greetings to all. I am a brand new member here and, as of 4 days ago, the new owner of a 140. I have a little problem that I am hoping someone can help with. When I apply right rudder, the brake is engaged at full deflection. I have determined that the linkage needs to be shortened, to tilt the pedal away from the steel tube of the rudder arm, but I have adjusted the rod end as far down as it will go (bottomed out on the threads). The "ribbed" rod enters the brake, activating the brakes. On the top of that rod it is threaded and has a clevis type end on it. This end attaches to the brake pedal at the top. Because it is too long, the bottom of the pedal hits the steel tube at full deflection and then begins to apply brake. The left side has a slightly different geometry and does not have this problem. The entire system seems to be installed in the only locations that it could be so I am kind of at a loss. It is possible to shorten the "ribbed" rod that has the linkage on top of it? Anyone have this problem before? I read about it on a Stinson site but no one ever posted a solution.

It sounds to me like the thing that needs to be adjusted might be the rudder rigging. The rudder should probably reach its stop before the pedal interferes with the tube. If you could post a short video of what's happening it would be easier to figure out.

Thanks. I will run out to the airport tomorrow and get a video and pictures. The rudder pedals are aligned to each other but the right one hits the tube much sooner than the left.

I can’t post a video here. If anyone who is familiar with this issue could shoot me your email or cell, I could email or text 3 short (15 sec) videos that show the issue pretty clearly. I am pulling my hair out - just bought the plane and can’t fly it because of the brake and the landing light. Agh!!

Thank you, John Cooper! For future readers, my right rudder applied right brake. It turns out that John was exactly correct, and the pedals were not adjusted far enough aft, at rest. The main culprit, was the wrong turn buckle on the right rudder cable. We replaced the turnbuckle, adjusted the cables to pull the petals aft, and everything works perfectly. Interesting note, in the past couple weeks that I have been dealing with this, I have looked at several 120s, 140s, and 170s. Several of them had the same problem - full right rudder deflection begins to apply the brake.

Glad you got it sorted!

Meloosifah:
Ditto my comment about your light solution! Easy to see that you will be an asset to the group!