Shock Disc Damage

[FlyWalt]

Good morning all,

I am at a new shop that has a good bit of Mooney experience. They found this damage on one of my nose disks. Have y’all seen this kind of damage before?

Thanks,

Walt

 

[LANCECASPER]

I have never seen it in 30 years. What is the date code on those shock discs?

[Shadrach]

Never seen anything like it. Surely that was caused by a FOD strike or a manufacturing defect.  I doubt age was the driver or all of the disks would likely be exhibiting similar symptoms.   If that’s the only damage, I doubt it makes much functional difference but it’s certainly not an airworthy part.  Do you have an idea when you last saw it intact? 

[FlyWalt]

43 minutes ago, Shadrach said:

  Do you have an idea when you last saw it intact? 

No I do not. I’ve only owned this aircraft for 18 months. From the looks of the gear paint I’d say she has been beat up in her past though. 

[Shadrach]

1 hour ago, FlyWalt said:

No I do not. I’ve only owned this aircraft for 18 months. From the looks of the gear paint I’d say she has been beat up in her past though. 

Paint does not last forever. We had all our gear and the main wheel wells stripped painted in 2000.  Wheel wells still look nice but the gear are ready for paint again. What year and model is your bird? Date code on the discs?

[DCarlton]

5 minutes ago, Shadrach said:

Paint does not last forever. We had all our gear and the main wheel wells stripped painted in 2000.  Wheel wells still look nice but the gear are ready for paint again. What year and model is your bird? Date code on the discs?

Slightly off topic....   Curious if you painted just your gear and wells, did you disassemble the gear or paint it fully assembled?  I'm considering painting just the gear and wells if I can find someone to do it.  

[Shadrach]

1 minute ago, DCarlton said:

Slightly off topic....   Curious if you painted just your gear and wells, did you disassemble the gear or paint it fully assembled?  I'm considering painting just the gear and wells if I can find someone to do it.  

It was disassembled but I did not do it. It was completed while the plane was down for engine overhaul.

I replaced the shock discs last year and opted to remove, strip and paint the shock link assemblies on all of the gear. It was a “while your in there” kind of thing. I did it more for corrosion protection than cosmetics. The rest of the gear will likely be painted in the next few years.

[DCarlton]

5 minutes ago, Shadrach said:

It was disassembled but I did not do it. It was completed while the plane was down for engine overhaul.

I replaced the shock discs last year and opted to remove, strip and paint the shock link assemblies on all of the gear. It was a “while your in there” kind of thing. I did it more for corrosion protection than cosmetics. The rest of the gear will likely be painted in the next few years.

Would like to do something similar but have no idea what it would cost.  Gear works great now too.  Concern would be getting it reassembled and rigged properly.  

[Shadrach]

9 minutes ago, DCarlton said:

Would like to do something similar but have no idea what it would cost.  Gear works great now too.  Concern would be getting it reassembled and rigged properly.  

Nose gear tool rents for $50 ($500 deposit) from LASAR. I would figure 10ish hours to R&R all three gear plus refinishing the gear components. Add a another 10hrs to mask, scuff and shoot the wheel wells

[Ragsf15e]

1 hour ago, DCarlton said:

Would like to do something similar but have no idea what it would cost.  Gear works great now too.  Concern would be getting it reassembled and rigged properly.  

I got a quote to do this a year or two ago for 6k.  It was a quality shop, but I had similar reservations… i had my mechanic do junk the wells with the gear in place instead.

[Shadrach]

2 hours ago, Ragsf15e said:

I got a quote to do this a year or two ago for 6k.  It was a quality shop, but I had similar reservations… i had my mechanic do junk the wells with the gear in place instead.

That’s a shop that’s pretty proud of their work and good for them. However, I speak from personal experience when I say that R&Ring the gear is not that hard nor time consuming. My plane was already on jacks for annual but I’m certain I could remove and reinstall all three gear assemblies in a day. I didn’t do it in a day because I had to wait for the zinc primer and top coats to cure, but collectively, it was a day’s work to R&R and it was my first time. My IA had never done the gear on a Mooney either. I think powder coating the gear legs is the way to go but it would require special care to mask off hinged mating surfaces where powder coat would interfere with clearances and cause figment issues