On Tue, 1 Jun 2004 09:46:14 -0400, "Bob Chilcoat"
wrote:

snip

play, they would have replaced it. He speculated that it might have been in
a "tight" point in its travel when they checked it. I'm not convinced, but
it's not worth arguing about. We might try and get some relief on the labor
to put it in. I understand that the replacement comes as a kit with drum,
screw, and new cables. If they had done it at the annual, the floor would
already have been up. We haven't had a price yet, but I don't expect it to
be cheap.

How does "missing" it during annual translate into a discount for
repair? Taking the tailcone off to access it for inspection or repair
takes about 5 minutes. Popping the rear seats and yanking the "floor"
could also be accomplished in about 5 minutes, but there is no reason
to remove it to change out the trim drum or screw.

Have never heard of a "kit" to replace a trim drum, doesn't mean it
doesn't exist, tho.

The oilite bushings that the drum rotates in/on are cheap, with the
drum out, I'd change 'em. Unless the cable is frayed, I'd leave it.

Very seldom is the steel screw worn, but it is quite common for the
aluminum drum to be worn both internally and where the aforementioned
bushings ride.

It takes about ten minutes to yank the screw and try it in a new drum.
Somebody that knows how to do it could swap out the drum and the upper
and lower bushings in about two hours. As others have pointed out,
somebody that doesn't know to do it is likely to screw it up.

TC