2008 M20TN landing gear rubbing on pilot side

[Aspen2013]

Just noticed paint rubbed off landing gear on pilot side. Looking up into wheel well I see where it is rubbing. Any ideas what is causing this? May go back and see if I have any old photos and see if it is visible. 

Edited January 4, 2021 by Aspen2013
Add photos

[carusoam]

Any new tires to report with that?

Post a pic, that will help a bunch...

Best regards,

-a-

[Aspen2013]

The metal part of spindle assembly

[carusoam]

Yikes, Use caution with that...

It may be a gear rigging challenge.  Gear links aren’t strong enough to endure ‘crashing’...

Let's invite the doc... @M20Doc (Long body gear challenge)

-a-

[Guest]

Time to get it up on jacks.  I wouldn’t retract the gear in flight until it’s inspected.

Clarence

[cbarry]

Could it be that mains were pushed or power tug pushed backward forcefully onto wheel chocks (or some other obstruction) causing an over stressing event to the mains’ structure?  Also, I could possibly see how  a hard landing or really bad runway surface (pothole) may have been the cause as well.

[N201MKTurbo]

It may be that that rod is rigged too tight and it is buckling. The spring must never be completely compressed.

[Aspen2013]

I will get that checked. 

[Mark89114]

I am going to be obtuse... i have a hard time seeing what is rubbing.  I seen some marks on the donuts, large scratch on the MLG and some chipped paint on that rod.  Just trying to see the problem.  I have paint coming off in chips that look similar, just not what I would consider rub marks.  Asking to educate myself.

[carusoam]

24 minutes ago, Mark89114 said:

I am going to be obtuse... i have a hard time seeing what is rubbing.  I seen some marks on the donuts, large scratch on the MLG and some chipped paint on that rod.  Just trying to see the problem.  I have paint coming off in chips that look similar, just not what I would consider rub marks.  Asking to educate myself.

Something has knocked the paint off in a couple of places...

Looking to see if there is a matching scrape on another part...

The OP mentioned that there is a matching spot...

This shouldn’t happen...

One Long body owner found out the hard way... somebody had mis-rigged his landing gear... one of the rods broke... leading to a gear collapse...

Check to see if there is a threaded end to see if anything is bent there... (?)

PP thoughts only... some things really stick in the memory... 

Go MS!

Best regards,

-a-

 

[StevenL757]

@Aspen2013, was there recent work done?  @M20Doc and @N201MKTurbo are on the right track with their replies.

The OB rod end washers are installed incorrectly.  Have your shop (or whomever worked on the airplane last) double-check the work and adjust accordingly.

Steve

[PT20J]

We can all speculate about this for another couple of pages, but as Clarence @M20Doc said — the best thing to do is to jack it up and swing the gear and find out what’s going on.

Skip

[StevenL757]

What I wrote wasn’t speculation...and agree it needs going on jacks to rectify.

[Aspen2013]

Can you circle where these OB Rod end washers are? See log entry 

[Aspen2013]

Just to be clear I wasn't the pilot that had tail strike. 

Purchased Aug 2019. 

[PT20J]

32 minutes ago, StevenL757 said:

What I wrote wasn’t speculation...and agree it needs going on jacks to rectify.

Sorry...I wasn’t referring to you post specifically.

Could compare with other side since evidently only the left was worked on.

Skip

[N201MKTurbo]

2 minutes ago, Mark89114 said:

I am going to be obtuse... i have a hard time seeing what is rubbing.  I seen some marks on the donuts, large scratch on the MLG and some chipped paint on that rod.  Just trying to see the problem.  I have paint coming off in chips that look similar, just not what I would consider rub marks.  Asking to educate myself.

As the gear retracts, the scratched joint passes very close to that retract rod. If you have chips on your gear it is probably from rocks.

I have also seen that rod hit the gear if the bushings on the overcenter links are really worn so they move side to side.

[StevenL757]

9 minutes ago, N201MKTurbo said:

As the gear retracts, the scratched joint passes very close to that retract rod. If you have chips on your gear it is probably from rocks.

I have also seen that rod hit the gear if the bushings on the overcenter links are really worn so they move side to side.

Yep.  For @Aspen2013's benefit, there should be two washers (maybe four...I'd need to look at mine) on the aft side (on the "bolt head" side where the rod end meets the small triangular housing), and no washers on the forward side (where the assembly attaches to the spar).  The rod end needs to be made wider with the proper number of washers.  This moves the tube closer to the spar, to prevent the movement Rich describes above.

I replied to your PM, so we can talk if this is still unclear.

Steve

[PT20J]

On 1/8/2021 at 6:48 AM, StevenL757 said:

Yep.  For @Aspen2013's benefit, there should be two washers (maybe four...I'd need to look at mine) on the aft side (on the "bolt head" side where the rod end meets the small triangular housing), and no washers on the forward side (where the assembly attaches to the spar).  The rod end needs to be made wider with the proper number of washers.  This moves the tube closer to the spar, to prevent the movement Rich describes above.

I replied to your PM, so we can talk if this is still unclear.

Steve

Steve, I don't understand this. I looked at my airplane (1994 M20J) today and there are no washers on either side of the rod end and, in fact, there is no space for any washers. I looked at the IPC and SMM for the M20J and the M20R and I don't see any washers indicated there. I have never rigged the landing gear, so I want to understand this better. Can you provide any references for how to rig this?

Thanks,

Skip

[StevenL757]

15 hours ago, PT20J said:

Steve, I don't understand this. I looked at my airplane (1994 M20J) today and there are no washers on either side of the rod end and, in fact, there is no space for any washers. I looked at the IPC and SMM for the M20J and the M20R and I don't see any washers indicated there. I have never rigged the landing gear, so I want to understand this better. Can you provide any references for how to rig this?

Thanks,

Skip

Skip, your observation is correct.  Although the "J" has a different model and different retract part, @Aspen2013's is messed up, and shows no washers between the rod end and the attach point.

The Ovation maint. book is incorrect, which I verified this morning.  It calls for the same bolt at both ends of the rod, which is wrong.  It also doesn't show all the washers needed to adequately eliminate the "play" of the rod in the housing.

[Aspen2013]

New updated photo showing problem. Mechanics that don’t have a clue. Both washers placed under bolt head and then tightened down as to bend the bracket. 

[PT20J]

56 minutes ago, Aspen2013 said:

New updated photo showing problem. Mechanics that don’t have a clue. Both washers placed under bolt head and then tightened down as to bend the bracket. 

This looks like a Mooney goof. The bracket where the rod end mounts is too wide assuming that the rod end is correct. The manuals do not call out washers to shim the rod end and other Mooney models with a different part don't need shimming. The logbook entry says that the retraction test showed no problems, so either they missed it or the interference occurred subsequent to the maintenance. It would be interesting to see a picture of your right side since it wasn't worked on. Perhaps it came this way from the factory. Might be a good idea to contact Mooney and maybe file a Service Difficulty Report. 

Good that you noticed it.

Skip

[StevenL757]

Agree.  Probably good to raise to @Jonny to cascade internally as appropriate.  I'd suggest the OP follow up with at least a call and/or note to the appropriate folks at Mooney.  There's no way the corporation will prosper if things like this aren't addressed and remediated now and going forward.

[carusoam]

Looks like the washers were supposed to be on the inside of the bracket(?)...

To use up the extra space...

Without the space being used up, the bracket(?) just got crushed...

+1 for comparing the other side...

+1 for contacting Mooney...

Unfortunately, I’m not that familiar with my plane... and my hangar is that far away... or I’d go look... 

Best regards,

-a-