Nylock versus Castle Nut with a washer

[Tmosely1]

I am not as experienced as I know some of you are, so I am going to let you guys take a look. I was doing my weekly walk around and when I went to check the prop I found that it would rotate slightly on the shaft. I went ahead and removed the cotter, castle nut, and the prop. I am going to order my new keyway today due to it having a little damage from prop movement, but I need to decide the nut issue. (insert nut joke here) I did a dry reseat on the prop with no pin to check the castle nut and it is positioned on the shaft at a place where it will need a washer between the prop and castle nut to function correctly. Question.... Stainless washer between the prop and castle nut so the pin is actually holding the castle, or make the move to the brass Nylock?

Thanks Guys..

[ski4evr]

I think you should look up lapping a prop. The taper should fit tight enough that the nut is only a backup to keep the worst from happening. When properly fitted "lapped" once you pop the prop forward on the shaft, you need a puller or hammer to get it off.

[glp86]

I put a new prop on my 2000 SAN a few weeks ago and my castle nut fitment / alignment looked exactly like yours does. I just put the cotter pin through the hole and bent both ends over to where they went into the notches on the nut. I haven't had an issue.

[Tom_H]

There's a decent chance the nylock would be too tall and cover up your cotter pin hole. I would just snug up the castle nut all the way and throw the cotter in as an emergency stop for the nut. I'd be pretty surprised if your castle nut backed itself off, so shouldn't be a big deal if the cotter isn't in the castle.