Overheard a new guy talking about cotter pins and it got me thinking

I was grabbing a coffee at the hangar break room last Thursday and I hear this fresh A&P telling another apprentice that he always reuses cotter pins because they're 'still good.' I almost spit out my drink. Man, I remember being that guy about 6 years ago when I first started at a regional line in Phoenix. I figured if it wasn't bent or broken, why waste a new one? Then I had a 737 wheel hub nut back off during a routine taxi test because that little pin gave out. Took me 2 hours to redo the whole assembly and write up the paperwork. Now I keep a big bag of fresh cotter pins in my toolbox and never think twice about tossing old ones. Any other mechanics out there got a lesson they learned the hard way from a tiny part nobody thinks about?

2 comments

2 Comments

jade_hunt4826d ago

Respectfully I gotta push back here. A cotter pin failing from reuse is a myth I've seen busted a dozen times, your problem was probably an undertorqued nut or a worn hole.

harper_singh1825d ago

Yeah I get what you're saying about the cotter pin thing, I've seen those tests too. But funny enough a buddy of mine had this exact thing happen on his trailer last summer. He was hauling a skid steer down the highway and the whole hub just came off, wheel went bouncing into a ditch. He swore up and down he reused the cotter pin and it snapped clean in half. We found the pieces on the shoulder of the road. Now maybe the hole was worn or the nut was loose like you said, all that could have been in play too. But I've seen enough stuff break from reuse that I just buy new ones every time now, it's a dollar part so why risk it.