Assist straps

[cvj774]

image

Attached is a picture of straps on a 170B on my field. Has anyone seen this type of strap and if so, where to get a set?

Carl

[bagarre]

There are a few threads on this forums about the assist straps.
I made my own by re-using the ends. It's not hard to make these up and stitch some leather over them.

[Bruce Fenstermacher]

Here is one thread:
http://www.cessna170.org/forums/viewtop ... rap#p81198

Here is another:
http://www.cessna170.org/forums/viewtop ... sist+strap

The first problem is if you don't have the ends or want to buy a completed set, most cars, or at least the cars you can get assist straps for, did not have two ends but where a loop with a single attachement. The nest issure is all the car assist strap hardware I can find has 2 screw to mount it, not one like the original.

The second thread linked above have several links to car restoration places so you can see what's available.

[Blue4]

I'm sad to say you're going to have a difficult time finding a pair of these straps. I had to replace one strap (really, one attach bracket) and it was North of $100 for a "repairable" strap.

If you'd like to make some assist straps, there is some good information here in the forums -- some pretty ingenious Home Depot engineering, I must say.

If I were to do it again, I'd take 1" climbing webbing (its tubular nylon) and fill it with 7/16" rope, fold the ends over and mount grommets -- screw that into the door posts at the grommets and you have the same function with a fraction of the hassle.

-Scott

[blueldr]

When I needed an assist strap, I bought two loop type straps to get the mounting ends. To provide the necessary strength, I connected the two mounting ends with a short length of bathroom chain, as is used on the tail wheel steering, covered with a piece of clear vinyl tubing. The leather cover was sewed on and they looked very original.

[Chuckles]

Hi,
I needed 2 assist straps and, as usual, I found this forum to be a wealth of information. It quickly became obvious that sourcing original Cessna straps would be near impossible, but there were lots of solutions posted here and this is the one that I came up with to "McGyver" the situation.

These were purchased at Shoppers Supply from the Horse Tack department - $11.50 each. Hardware from the same store was $2.00 each. Total, including tax, was less than $15.00 each for a total of less than $30.00.

So far, so good.

Cheers,

Bill

[bagarre]

Those look good!
Are they attached to the trim panel alone or did you have to put in new mount points in the airframe?

[Chuckles]

Hi Dave,
They are mounted to the trim panel. There is not much room behind the trim panel so you have to do some custom fitting.
They support lots of weight. It sure makes entering/exiting a lot easier, and safer!
Cheers,

Bill

[JohnNielsen]

I have a single strap with ends in black that could use new leather. They are very hard to find. $100 plus shipping if you want it.
John Nielsen
715-568-3980