Seat rollers.

[Ragsf15e]

2 hours ago, Flyler said:

Did you ask about the overly expensive Mooney factory rollers? I was waiting on them, and seat rails, for a few months.  I spoke to Heather at LASAR and I thought she mentioned that they had put in a big order of Mooney manufactured rollers and were expecting them soon.  That was probably over a month ago, though.

Yep, that’s who I emailed.  Last time I bought them for my old airplane, 2021ish, they weren’t too expensive for airplane parts.  Considering they are just a plastic disc with a hole in the middle… at that time I did check with a machine shop and it was many hundreds of $$ to slice a rod of appropriate “plastic” and precisely drill the correct size holes.

[EricJ]

There was somebody here making and selling them a while back, but it was apparently not DonMuncy, and I don't remember who it was.   I bought a set from whoever it was, and they're very nice.   Haven't installed them yet... 

[DCarlton]

On 9/9/2025 at 5:22 AM, Pinecone said:

@DonMuncy makes them.

I do have one complaint about hit.  They work so well that if you are just sitting there and release the seat latch, you are IMMEDIATELY all the way back.

 

That’s the reason mine are still in a bag in a box just in case one disintegrates.    

[Ragsf15e]

1 hour ago, EricJ said:

There was somebody here making and selling them a while back, but it was apparently not DonMuncy, and I don't remember who it was.   I bought a set from whoever it was, and they're very nice.   Haven't installed them yet... 

well hopefully they’ll see this thread and everyone talking about their great rollers and make some more?  

[Skates97]

12 hours ago, EricJ said:

There was somebody here making and selling them a while back, but it was apparently not DonMuncy, and I don't remember who it was.   I bought a set from whoever it was, and they're very nice.   Haven't installed them yet... 

It was @flyingchump but looking at his profile he hasn't been on the site since August 2023. 

[outermarker]

Something I noticed as I reinstalled the seats on the seat tracks with the new rollers. The distance from the roller surface, and seat track is very close. I measured the diameter of the original roller and the roller I bought, and they were the same. However, it won't take much wear before there is metal-to-metal contact when trying to slide the seat. I would suggest a harder material to use as a roller, such as the same hardness as the original roller.

[hammdo]

This is what we used to create my OPP part by @flyingchump. See PDF…

Mooney seat roller v1.pdf

I’m certain he sold his 66 E and probably is no longer on the forum…

-Don

[Hank]

1 hour ago, hammdo said:

This is what we used to create my OPP part by @flyingchump. See PDF…

Mooney seat roller v1.pdf 125.48 kB · 1 download

I’m certain he sold his 66 E and probably is no longer on the forum…

-Don

Those are simple to make. What material???

[hammdo]

Delrin…

[Hank]

47 minutes ago, hammdo said:

Delrin…

Well, now. If only I'd known before the plant closed! Have to see what I can find, and how good it turns on a wood lathe.

[Pinecone]

22 hours ago, DonMuncy said:

Pinecone. Please double (triple/quadruple) check. I have never made or sold any. At one time or another, I may have looked under my seat and seen one, but otherwise I don't ever remember laying eyes on one.

OK, you are right, they were from @flyingchump

I found the back messages here on MS.  I must have bought something for a similar price from you about the same time.

Whoever made them, they are GREAT

[Bartman]

Replacing the rollers when they were 35 years old was one of the easiest and best things I ever did.  That was several years ago and I did get them from LASAR.  While you are at it, consider swapping the pilot and passenger seat locations to even the wear on the frames. While you are at it, clean out the holes in the rails with a hand held drill bit.

Good for another 35 years. 

[LANCECASPER]

On 9/10/2025 at 11:18 PM, Ragsf15e said:

well hopefully they’ll see this thread and everyone talking about their great rollers and make some more?  

I bought some from @Yetti a few years back for a previous Mooney. 

[DonMuncy]

Was Delrin the material used by Mooney? It appears it is readily available and not too terribly expensive. It looks like anyone with a lathe and halfway reasonable skills should be able to make them. Am I missing something?

[Pinecone]

31 minutes ago, DonMuncy said:

Was Delrin the material used by Mooney? It appears it is readily available and not too terribly expensive. It looks like anyone with a lathe and halfway reasonable skills should be able to make them. Am I missing something?

No, but not all of us have a lathe.   And hard to justify buying one for a set of 8 rollers.

 

[Ragsf15e]

40 minutes ago, DonMuncy said:

Was Delrin the material used by Mooney? It appears it is readily available and not too terribly expensive. It looks like anyone with a lathe and halfway reasonable skills should be able to make them. Am I missing something?

I agree completely.  Would also need a good drill press and skills to center the hole.  You laugh, but those “simple” machine skills are above a lot of us!  I checked with a machine shop last time and they wanted something like $400 to do a 1’ section of delrin.

[EricJ]

3 hours ago, DonMuncy said:

Was Delrin the material used by Mooney? It appears it is readily available and not too terribly expensive. It looks like anyone with a lathe and halfway reasonable skills should be able to make them. Am I missing something?

I don't think the originals were delrin, they may have been some sort of phenolic or something like that.   Delrin is definitely a good choice for a modern replacement material, though, and, yes, delrin can be cut on a lathe.

 

[Hank]

2 hours ago, Ragsf15e said:

I agree completely.  Would also need a good drill press and skills to center the hole.  You laugh, but those “simple” machine skills are above a lot of us!  I checked with a machine shop last time and they wanted something like $400 to do a 1’ section of delrin.

No. Drill them on the lathe, you'll get right down the middle that way. Once I get home, I'll be delrin shopping and playing with my wood lathe.

[EricJ]

Just now, Hank said:

No. Drill them on the lathe, you'll get right down the middle that way. Once I get home, I'll be delrin shopping and playing with my wood lathe.

Cutting deltrin is a lot more like cutting metal than cutting wood.

[Hank]

1 minute ago, EricJ said:

Cutting deltrin is a lot more like cutting metal than cutting wood.

Yep, but the plant closed and there went my access to a metal lathe. As long as I can buy the right OD (7/8"), drilling and cutting off won't be too difficult. 

[MikeOH]

Curious as to the 'hardness' of delrin compared to phenolic...will it wear as well/last as long?  My recollection is that phenolic is pretty hard material.

[EricJ]

20 minutes ago, MikeOH said:

Curious as to the 'hardness' of delrin compared to phenolic...will it wear as well/last as long?  My recollection is that phenolic is pretty hard material.

They're comparable, with delrin being probably a bit harder.  In race cars delrin is often used where solid metal bushings or mounts are illegal (e.g., for suspension mounts, etc.), because it's much harder than even very hard polyurethane and nearly indistinguishable in performance from a solid metal bushing.  So it's essentially a "cheater" material for getting around the rules (I encountered it a lot when I was a compliance official, aka scrutineer).  It's really hard, robust stuff.   It's a really good material for something like a seat roller.

[hammdo]

I have delrin bushing in my track camaro.. hard as heck…

-Don

[Yetti]

Derlin Rod.    I think it is 7/8.    Centering on a lathe is hard without turning the piece after centering.     especially at the end of a semi flexible rod.    It's also hard to center if you recess the rod into a chuck to eliminate sway.

So what I did was cut the rod to width or a little over on a table saw.   Then created a square jig to hold the round rod.   Then could center precisely on the milling machine and drill the hole using the horizontal table.

There was some square up/final dimensioning for the width that could be accomplished with a flat file.

I still have a bag of them cut somewhere.  

https://www.amazon.com/BuyPlastic-Delrin-Acetal-Copolymer-Diameter/dp/B092Y8F2ZK/ref=sr_1_2?crid=39XWK6QWO0NJ4&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.GLKXYP5rUVhCOeaCKW55RBbtcn7FYezCSDlGG2mC0SfvU9-kTBu8Tkru_TNpKX4QJl2GAFe8qSSBpE-oQpRQwLI3JttJh86SvgDc9Pu7tUUgXuu5aF7DujgqlGbXN76BPIvQ1wq6U80Vg-5ufFBhsE7kCGJm_kBx2SnUfmG4x7BMstxtBey7itspjyJQrySv6gcdY_yKc8lI649dblcwK2HL8f0Gi0ih_GX6L4--JB0.eDWZVQWq3C434BWcpVX4h-gceYWaihsuSjw6fXdPr6Y&dib_tag=se&keywords=delrin%2Brods%2B7%2F8&qid=1757792148&sprefix=delrin%2Brods%2B7%2F8%2Caps%2C166&sr=8-2&th=1

 

[Flyler]

Collet Chuck and a parting tool... I can hear that delrin singing now.  It makes such a unique sound.