Narrative:

I was informed we had a boeing 767-300 aircraft in for an ETOPS check and daily check (dc) going to ZZZZ. Several co-workers did the walk around inspection and called in for one main and one nose tire change. Hearing this I printed up the aircraft maintenance manual (amm) references for both tire changes. I picked up the tire change cart and headed to the gate to help. After helping with the main tire change; we moved to the nose; jacked and pulled the left-hand nose tire off. After 'F' procedure and step-4 of amm 32-45-02; looking at the axle; seeing what we thought was a spacer; we compared both the old and new inner bearing races. They looked the same. So we thought the spacer on the axle was the one in question. After torquing the axle nut on; we checked the amount of threads comparing to the right-hand side [right nose tire axle]. They were the same. So my co-workers felt safe to the sign the job off. Prior to my lowering of aircraft jacks; I watched one of my co-workers do a wiggle check [shake the tire] which passed. I feel the amm does not identify clearly enough how the spacer interacts with the bearings and axle. Also; it does not show how many threads to look for after the axle nut is properly torqued on. Should threads be visible or not? Maybe a change in the amm is needed to prevent this ongoing problem.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A Line Mechanic reports a B767-300 left nose wheel tire axle spacer was not reinstalled during a tire change. Mechanic notes the Aircraft Maintenance Manual (AMM) does not show how many threads to look for on the nose gear axle after the axle nut is properly torqued.

Narrative: I was informed we had a Boeing 767-300 aircraft in for an ETOPS Check and Daily Check (DC) going to ZZZZ. Several co-workers did the walk around inspection and called in for one main and one nose tire change. Hearing this I printed up the Aircraft Maintenance Manual (AMM) references for both tire changes. I picked up the tire change cart and headed to the gate to help. After helping with the main tire change; we moved to the nose; jacked and pulled the left-hand nose tire off. After 'F' procedure and Step-4 of AMM 32-45-02; looking at the axle; seeing what we thought was a spacer; we compared both the old and new inner bearing races. They looked the same. So we thought the spacer on the axle was the one in question. After torquing the axle nut on; we checked the amount of threads comparing to the right-hand side [right nose tire axle]. They were the same. So my co-workers felt safe to the sign the job off. Prior to my lowering of aircraft jacks; I watched one of my co-workers do a wiggle check [shake the tire] which passed. I feel the AMM does not identify clearly enough how the spacer interacts with the bearings and axle. Also; it does not show how many threads to look for after the axle nut is properly torqued on. Should threads be visible or not? Maybe a change in the AMM is needed to prevent this ongoing problem.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of April 2012 and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.