FlyingDude

How do I tell if my '67 M20E has the new or old style donuts/gear? I have 3 donuts in the nose gear whereas the diagrams in the parts manual show 4 donuts in the nose gear. Can we say that the 4-donut version is the old style and 3-donut solution is the new style? Thank you.

Yeah all roads lead to buying official hardware. It seems it's worth the expense. They put some work in it.

I can't answer if I"need" that bolt. My mechanic said I should replace it. Since I won't be able to retire, I might dig deeper.

I just did a search. Even spruce carries clevis bolts! So are these 9### bolts actually clevis bolts? Does anyone have a correspondence/equivalency chart? Thanks in advance

I'll definitely check them out. Thanks

Thanks

That's EXACTLY what my wife said. She said "is it really that expensive or is this your latest thing to obsess over?" ~$700 special bolts (part numbers starting with 9 in the parts manual + AN9 bolts because standard AN goes up to 8) ~1350 donuts (11 x 122$) ~$50 generic bolts (AN bolts) Hence my b*tc*ing and whining. Well, if Mr Al Mooney designed them to be such rare commodities, then I'll only be thankful for the guys who still carry such items... Imagine what if you can't find them anywhere :-S

my AP said lifting by engine mounts is a good way, because we're lifting the engine in the end. I also found the bolts but they're damn expensive. Let me ask it this way: "Has anyone used AN bolts instead and regretted it?" "How/why are these bolts so Special?" They only thing I notice is that they're smooth (no threads) along their shaft and have threads only at the tips. Is that it?

I replace all nuts and washers regardless. They're cheap. Bolts, depends. Landing gear is under a lot of stress, so I'm on board with this practice. But... All those parts starting with 9 are Mooney parts. Aren't there any replacements? Apart from the cost, availability is a big problem...

I just looked and can't locate them on spruce. Namely: 914004 914003-501 914007-3 and -5 914020-19. The other AN## parts are standard hardware, so that's not too hard. Are there alternative part numbers? Or a bundle which contains all of these? Thanks for your help

Thanks, that's a good tip. Are original part numbers available? Did you get equivalent hardware from spruce or hardware store?

Thanks. Could you post a pic of the spacer's height as well?

Yeah guys, I appreciate the legal advice and the "don't try this at home" warnings... The official maintenance manual is 50+ years old. That very document calls for lifting by the prop, which the prop company later forbade! The MM has been superceded by SBs that call for lifting by the engine (which some of you call nonsensical... So it's not just about finding printed papers and following them... As for the "leave it to the professionals" calls... I've seen some monkey business performed by "trained and certificated mechanics"... So I trust very few mechanics. Mine is at the top of the l

Thanks guys. Bob E's method is a pretty smart one. You can use it if you remove the wheel but the donuts still bear the plane's weight. You can't use this method while changing the nose donuts, but it'll work to keep the nose high while replacing the mains donuts. PilotCoyote that's a pretty nice method. I'll check that with my AP and see if I can find a hoist. I don't know if I have the spacer. I'll look into that. Do you have a picture/link to the SB at hand? I'll Google it but you know... Anyway, I was planning on using a compression tool for the nose. Is a gear swing mandat

This is a good tip. Thanks. How high do you jack the plane up? I built my own jack with a threaded central rod. Same height adjustment range as the ones on spruce. I just don't trust myself with lowering those hydraulic lifts... Bounced the car on the ground too many times. Don't want to repeat it with the plane How do you lift the nose? By the engine lift, jack under the prop or pull down on the tail? The engine method should be the official method now but finding a hoist is not that easy around here... Thank you.