Donuts....and possible tool

[MooneyPTG]

Ok, I am in annual purgatory and I was looking at the dates on the lords donuts. All I could make out was 12 70. This could not be since my mooney is a 1974. So I called Don Maxwell and asked him if he could help me decode the donuts. Guess what! Mooney had a bunch of these during the hay day and during the slow down in the 70's they put a set of 4 year old donuts on my 20E. Soooooo I am thinking I have the oldest donuts in the fleet. 41 years old and no fuel leaks. Must be all the smooth landings (not). Any who, we ordered new ones and Don thinks that with some added weight we can do the gear under the wings but not the front without the tool. After looking at some designs I have come up with this very inexpensive donut compressor. I will keep you posted as to if it works ( it should) and how well. If it works I will make the drawing available as well as the use of the tool available.

regards

Kevin

[RLCarter]

I made my own as well, while still on the gear I checked the collars and all three were off the plate on the gear so removed them and ran a zip tie thru the bolt hole in the shock link to keep them some what in place once it was raised. The mains compress fairly easy, the nose gear will tax your nerves, welds and the jack. Mine took most of the day but I also did tires, bearing and brakes. Did a buddies F several moths later (donuts only) in 3 hrs

[ryoder]

My main gear donuts are from 1965 and are fine.  I'll do them some day.  The nose donuts are pretty new, from the late 90s.

[Guest]

The hydraulic oil in my oleos is even older, several million years I think.

Clarence

[1964-M20E]

Ok, I am in annual purgatory and I was looking at the dates on the lords donuts. All I could make out was 12 70. This could not be since my mooney is a 1974. So I called Don Maxwell and asked him if he could help me decode the donuts. Guess what! Mooney had a bunch of these during the hay day and during the slow down in the 70's they put a set of 4 year old donuts on my 20E. Soooooo I am thinking I have the oldest donuts in the fleet. 41 years old and no fuel leaks. Must be all the smooth landings (not). Any who, we ordered new ones and Don thinks that with some added weight we can do the gear under the wings but not the front without the tool. After looking at some designs I have come up with this very inexpensive donut compressor. I will keep you posted as to if it works ( it should) and how well. If it works I will make the drawing available as well as the use of the tool available.

regards

Kevin

Kevin

 

Nice variation on the doughnut tool.  I think you will need some way to attache a 3rd point to the landing gear structure.  Also do you get enough clearance between the jack and the doughnuts?

 

 

[Mooneymite]

If yours is a '74, you probably still have the mounting lugs on the nose gear for the shimmy damper.  Someone posted a method of using these mounting lugs with a turnbuckle to compress the new doughnuts on the nose gear without the special tool.

I questioned if this would be too much pressure on the lugs, or if the asymmetrical force would be bad, but I never saw anyone else chime in, so maybe it works.

I don't have the link to that thread, but maybe someone can recall it.

[Culver LFA]

If yours is a '74, you probably still have the mounting lugs on the nose gear for the shimmy damper.  Someone posted a method of using these mounting lugs with a turnbuckle to compress the new doughnuts on the nose gear without the special tool.

I questioned if this would be too much pressure on the lugs, or if the asymmetrical force would be bad, but I never saw anyone else chime in, so maybe it works.

I don't have the link to that thread, but maybe someone can recall it.

The nose gear turnbuckle method worked for me!

[N601RX]

Edited October 6, 2015 by N601RX

[MooneyPTG]

Kevin

 

Nice variation on the doughnut tool.  I think you will need some way to attache a 3rd point to the landing gear structure.  Also do you get enough clearance between the jack and the doughnuts?

 

 

will know tomorrow when the donuts arrive. Modifications will be quick and easy since we have all kinds of fabricating equipment. You may be right with the stabilizer. We were going for mass then blocking it. I will post pictures as well.

[MooneyPTG]

Worked very well. The front actually was the easiest. Had to remove a bunch of stuff to get to the pilot side landing gear pin.

Edited October 7, 2015 by MooneyPTG

[Mooneymite]

We want a full report on how smoothly your E taxies after you get it all back together!

 

[Hank]

That's the way to do it!

Were your old pucks white? Painted when the plane was redone . . .

[MooneyPTG]

We want a full report on how smoothly your E taxies after you get it all back together!

 

will do

 

[MooneyPTG]

That's the way to do it!

Were your old pucks white? Painted when the plane was redone . . .

That's the way to do it!

Were your old pucks white? Painted when the plane was redone . . .

the old pucks were painted when the bird was painted in the late 80's. I painted it 2 years ago in Cleveland OK

[carusoam]

Glazed donuts....

-a-

[MooneyPTG]

Ok here's what we learned. The nose gear is the easiest to replace with this tool. We used a 6" x 6" block in the front and the back touched the ground because it was about 20" long. The 2 " diameter pipe that was welded on a 2" x 6" 1/4 steel plate worked real well because we could rotate the pucks a bit and it became like a little handle to do it. The left side was a PIA with the squat switch and pipe that controls it. We removed the gear door, inner fender to get more room. The guys that say "just get a bunch of fattys on the wing" must know something I don't know because I don't see how that would help. You need a lot of control to get that pin lined up for removal as well as replacement. The tool worked great to do that. We put the 6 x 6 directly under it and it worked great. The right side was very easy but we still removed the gear door to get better access. Glad it is done. Not as bad as I thought. Cheaper than fixing leaking tanks. One additional benefit was a very thorough gear inspection.

Executive air in Green Bay WI is where we did this project during the annual. Dirk and Jake are great guys that now have experience with puck replacement. If you are considering having this done and are in the Midwest these guys could probably get this project done in a morning. If you want to give it a try on your own and have a engine hoist to lift the front and a set of jacks, my tool is available for the cost of shipping. It is my way of paying back all the help you Mooniacs have given me.

Kevin Kuehn

920 621 3473

Edited October 8, 2015 by MooneyPTG

[MooneyPTG]

We want a full report on how smoothly your E taxies after you get it all back together!

 

extremely smooth!!! The tail is also a lot higher. The plane looks more balanced and has a better ramp presence so says my wife.

I am very happy that I changed them. It probably was the most noticeable change I have ever done to a plane. Didn't realize how bad the old ones were.

[Captnmack]

PTG...could you post dimensions and materials used in making these?

[thinwing]

On 10/7/2015 at 6:44 PM, MooneyPTG said:

Ok here's what we learned. The nose gear is the easiest to replace with this tool. We used a 6" x 6" block in the front and the back touched the ground because it was about 20" long. The 2 " diameter pipe that was welded on a 2" x 6" 1/4 steel plate worked real well because we could rotate the pucks a bit and it became like a little handle to do it. The left side was a PIA with the squat switch and pipe that controls it. We removed the gear door, inner fender to get more room. The guys that say "just get a bunch of fattys on the wing" must know something I don't know because I don't see how that would help. You need a lot of control to get that pin lined up for removal as well as replacement. The tool worked great to do that. We put the 6 x 6 directly under it and it worked great. The right side was very easy but we still removed the gear door to get better access. Glad it is done. Not as bad as I thought. Cheaper than fixing leaking tanks. One additional benefit was a very thorough gear inspection.

Executive air in Green Bay WI is where we did this project during the annual. Dirk and Jake are great guys that now have experience with puck replacement. If you are considering having this done and are in the Midwest these guys could probably get this project done in a morning. If you want to give it a try on your own and have a engine hoist to lift the front and a set of jacks, my tool is available for the cost of shipping. It is my way of paying back all the help you Mooniacs have given me.

Kevin Kuehn

920 621 3473

Wipline amphib floats use similar pucks on the main gear legs...wipline actually recommends getting 10 or more guys to stand on float to compress the pucks for removal!!