8 Zircs per main gear; I don't believe you ;)

[Prior owner]

If I can’t wiggle them out, I’m going to be left with using a pick to clean them and a needle fitting on my grease gun to service them, and then duct tape to seal them... not going to remove the main gears now- the plane has been AOG for too long already and this will set me back another few weekends. It’ll go n the list for next annual. 

[PT20J]

3 hours ago, M20Doc said:

They are difficult to remove without further damaging the bearing.

Do you have a preferred technique? Can you catch them with a small bolt extractor or left hand drill bit? If the IPC is correct (for the M20J) the forward trunnion uses a press-in zerk and the rear trunnion uses a tapered thread

Do you have a favorite grease gun coupler that minimizes damage in the tight spaces?

Skip

[Guest]

5 hours ago, PT20J said:

Do you have a preferred technique? Can you catch them with a small bolt extractor or left hand drill bit? If the IPC is correct (for the M20J) the forward trunnion uses a press-in zerk and the rear trunnion uses a tapered thread

Do you have a favorite grease gun coupler that minimizes damage in the tight spaces?

Skip

I’ve tried drilling them out with no success for the presses in ones.  On the forward one, remove the gear leg and drive the broken part out through the now open bearing.  Really not worth it in my opinion, like Pilot Coyote above get a needle type grease point and grease it carefully.

I use a standard grease adapter adjusted for a loose fit in the zero fitting, hold it in place with one hand while operating the grease gun with the other.

Clarence

[carusoam]

18 hours ago, PilotCoyote said:

Turns out I was wrong - there is a broken off fitting in each of my trunnions... They had been primed and painted over. I used Scotch Brite and there they were. Now I've got to get them out of there!

Sounds like the C was trying to get back to fixed gear status...

Amazing power of the MS community...

Great follow-up!

best regards,

-a-

[TheTurtle]

For the ones in the front trunion that were missing drilling was getting too sketchy so I overnighted one of these since I cant get these damn zerks off my mind now...

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000MCZK9M?ref=ppx_pt2_dt_b_prod_image

Worked awesome.  There's not enough pressure on that bearing that it takes more than hand force to hold the rubber tip in the hole.  Grease came out around the trunion.  Was thirsty.  

I still havent found 8 zerks but with all the back and forth and talking with lasar i'm going to say it's not a firm rule.

But I can now sleep and forget this issue and will be ready with the right tools and knowledge next annual to make it no big deal.

Now who has pics of the "11" in the front 

[carusoam]

There is a penny in here somewhere....

https://smile.amazon.com/gp/clpf/category/all?category=all&q=Mooney

MS CBs supporting Mooney Summit... (smile version)

Best regards,

-a-

[PT20J]

The pictures can be hard to make out. Here is a drawing showing the location of all 8 main gear zerk fittings. I verified that this is correct for my '94 M20J today while changing the oil.

[carusoam]

For anyone with an iPad...

Click skip’s Pic... then stretch with your fingers...

The zerks are easy to see, the HD is retained, and becomes more visible when clicked...

Best regards,

-a-

[TheTurtle]

2 hours ago, PT20J said:

The pictures can be hard to make out. Here is a drawing showing the location of all 8 main gear zerk fittings. I verified that this is correct for my '94 M20J today while changing the oil.

Im missing the one in the top left near #20.  I put a pic earlier in the thread.  No hole there or anything.  They must have added it for later models.  @Hank has a 70 with that fitting.  But I wonder if his gear has ever been replaced.  

[Andy95W]

11 hours ago, TheTurtle said:

Im missing the one in the top left near #20.  I put a pic earlier in the thread.  No hole there or anything.  They must have added it for later models.  @Hank has a 70 with that fitting.  But I wonder if his gear has ever been replaced.  

Same here.  My guess is it got added in 68 or 70.  My 1964 doesn't have it, and neither did my 1967.

Final answer: 7 zerks per main gear, unless there are 8.

[Hank]

5 hours ago, TheTurtle said:

Im missing the one in the top left near #20.  I put a pic earlier in the thread.  No hole there or anything.  They must have added it for later models.  @Hank has a 70 with that fitting.  But I wonder if his gear has ever been replaced.  

Not that I'm aware of.

[corn_flake]

What kind of grease are you all using for the Zirc?   Multi-Purpose, High Pressure Moly, Lithium, etc...  Or is there a special aviation grade grease?  

[Hank]

There are many "special aviation greases." Which one to use depends to some extent on which ine is already there. Some are generic and will mix with mist anything, some are not. I always note in my logbook which grease is used where; seems my prop hub has #5, most everything else has #6 or #22. YMMV, etc.

[TheTurtle]

10 hours ago, Hank said:

There are many "special aviation greases." Which one to use depends to some extent on which ine is already there. Some are generic and will mix with mist anything, some are not. I always note in my logbook which grease is used where; seems my prop hub has #5, most everything else has #6 or #22. YMMV, etc.

Heres my list

mil-l-7870	aeroshell 3
mil-g-7711	aeroshell 22
mil-g-81322	aeroshell 22
mil-l-3545	aeroshell 5
mil-g-3278	aeroshell 7 or 33
mil-g-23827	aeroshell 7 or 33
mil-h-5606	aeroshell fluid 41

 

 

Book calls for MIL-G-7711 or MILG-81322 Grease on the main gear grease fittings.  Which should be #22

[Hank]

I thought my A&P said that #6 & #22 are the same? Or one replaced the other?

[TheTurtle]

41 minutes ago, Hank said:

I thought my A&P said that #6 & #22 are the same? Or one replaced the other?

I think the 22 just does a wider temp range but I cant remember now.  22 is -65 to +204.  6 does -40 to +121

[Hank]

1 minute ago, TheTurtle said:

I think the 22 just does a wider temp range but I cant remember now.  22 is -65 to +204.  6 does -40 to +121

That should suffice to lube the zircs in the landing gear. Wheel bearings may get hotter than 121°F if you land fast or have a long, long taxi, but they also use something different (I think, my IA always repacked them while I was greasing the struts). Or if you land in AZ / NM, etc., from May to September . . . .   

[Skates97]

 

On 4/21/2019 at 9:32 PM, TheTurtle said:

Im missing the one in the top left near #20.  I put a pic earlier in the thread.  No hole there or anything.  They must have added it for later models.  @Hank has a 70 with that fitting.  But I wonder if his gear has ever been replaced.  

 

On 4/21/2019 at 9:46 PM, Andy95W said:

Same here.  My guess is it got added in 68 or 70.  My 1964 doesn't have it, and neither did my 1967.

Final answer: 7 zerks per main gear, unless there are 8.

I have a 65 that was  converted to retract and I don't have that one either, checked when I was at the plane last night. Just 7 per main gear. My question is how do you lube that one? Spray tri-flow on it like the rod ends?

[TheTurtle]

11 hours ago, Skates97 said:

 

 

I have a 65 that was  converted to retract and I don't have that one either, checked when I was at the plane last night. Just 7 per main gear. My question is how do you lube that one? Spray tri-flow on it like the rod ends?

if all else fails hose it down with triflow  I dont see any other option there.

[Will.iam]

Ok i know where the 8 zerks are on the main but you say 11 zerks on the nose where is the 11th?!? Might as well keep this in the same thread so someone can do all three. 

[WAFI]

Has anyone run into the nation wide grease shortage like me? I tried to buy some yesterday and was unsuccessful at Airparts in FFL.

What GREASE do you guys use? Brand / Type? 

[PT20J]

Interesting. I use Aeroshell 22. I just checked Aircraft Spruce and the website says indefinite backorder. 
 

 

[Vance Harral]

I ordered a tube of Aeroshell #7 from Aircraft Spruce at the beginning of September, and I'm still waiting on the order to be filled.  I need it for our annual in April, and I'm starting to think I need to look elsewhere.

[Hank]

9 hours ago, Will.iam said:

Ok i know where the 8 zerks are on the main but you say 11 zerks on the nose where is the 11th?!? Might as well keep this in the same thread so someone can do all three. 

My pictures are on my tablet at home. Yes, there are 11 on the nose, I'll post 'em tonight.

Did you include this one?

[Yetti]

ha.   the lubricants section of wally world has been sparce to dry.  Two different towns