Hangar Project - Tail stand and jacks

[Z W]

I set out this year to equip my hangar with the tools necessary to change a tire on the Mooney.  It turned out pretty good so I thought I'd share what we did.

I looked for tail stands available for purchase.  None really seemed like a good option.  We rent the hangar from the city, so drilling into their concrete to add a floor anchor was not something I wanted to do, and I wanted the tail stand to keep the tail from going up or down for ideal stability.  Not looking to re-start any debates here on tying down the tail vs. lifting from the front.

I'm fortunate to have a very smart and talented guy who works for me that's good at making things.  I showed him a picture I'd seen on Mooneyspace, and asked if he could make one of those.  He said sure.  This is what he came up with:

It's a large plastic tub and furniture moving dolly, both from Menards.  He welded a T on the large piece of square tubing (no pics of that unfortunately) and set it in about 350lbs of bagged concrete.  The smaller square tube has a number of holes drilled in it, and large nut welded on top.  You can adjust the height by removing the pin at the bottom and raising or lowering the smaller square tube:

T

The shackle goes through the tail tie-down.  It actually fits in the position shown in the first pic, so the stand is capable of going much taller than necessary for a Mooney.  Once connected it's very secure, and the tail can't move hardly at all, either up or down.  It rolls easily on the floor.  It turned out very well and was probably less than $250.00 in materials.

On to the jacks.  I considered trying to make some, given the cost. I've seen designs posted here.  I wanted a mechanical failsafe on them.  I ultimately decided I was not really qualified to engineer a set I would trust not to fail and really damage some expensive equipment or hurt someone.  To each their own.

It was surprisingly hard to figure out what the options were to buy jacks that fit a Mooney.  Most are too tall.  We need the shortest ones made.  After doing a lot of looking and comparing specs, I ended up ordering a set of these Model 324 Alpha Jacks from Aircraft Spruce for $858.00:

https://www.aircraftspruce.com/catalog/topages/alphaJacks.php

They fit perfectly and work great, and have a locking collar to mechanically hold them in place for extended periods of time.  Very sturdy laterally.  And they were half the price or less of some of the more professional options that were out there.  Since I only plan to use these a few times per year at most, I went with the less expensive option.  I'd buy them again.  You don't need to also order the "wheel kit" that Spruce sells, by the way.  Wheels are included.  I ordered wheel kits initially and they called and asked if I really wanted them, luckily, and took the kits off the order.  They show as "special order" on the website, but I got them in like a week.

Mooneys look great with the gear up on jacks, like they're going 100 MPH sitting still:

The setup is very stable for climbing in and out to swing the gear.

Finally, if you're going to change a tire, you need a bead breaker.  "Aviation" ones are very expensive.  Picked this guy up from Harbor Freight for $93.16 shipped, and it works great on Mooney tires:

https://www.harborfreight.com/bead-breaker-58769.html

Pro tip - break both sides of the tire's beads before splitting and disassembling the wheel.  Otherwise you'll probably have to bolt it back together to break the 2nd bead.

All in all, it was a solid investment that will let us perform basic maintenance easier and on our schedule in the future.  I hope someone else here might find it useful.

[Rusty Pilot]

Looks great!

 

[Fritz1]

Very solid and bang for the buck!

[M20F]

We can debate the Mooney requirement to hang from a hoist versus a tail stand.  Personally though I find the engine stand method better.  Takes less room and has other uses.  
 
Nice set up.  Splitting a run often sucks, keep some 2x4’s, driving over it with a car is sometimes the only solution.  Torque the bolts correctly when you put it back on.  Most things in life are infinitely better when a torque wrench is calibrated and used correctly. 

[Fly Boomer]

4 hours ago, M20F said:

Splitting a run often sucks, keep some 2x4’s, driving over it with a car is sometimes the only solution.  Torque the bolts correctly when you put it back on.

I'm usually pretty good at figuring these things out, but "splitting a run" has me baffled.

[MikeOH]

4 minutes ago, Fly Boomer said:

I'm usually pretty good at figuring these things out, but "splitting a run" has me baffled.

I interpreted the miss-spell as "splitting the rim"; as in, bead-breaking and splitting the wheel halves.

[Fly Boomer]

1 minute ago, MikeOH said:

I interpreted the miss-spell as "splitting the rim"; as in, bead-breaking and splitting the wheel halves.

Thanks.  Once someone else points out the answer, I get a self-inflicted dope slap.

[PT20J]

Parker’s suggestion for a low-cost bead breaker. Also easier if you spray the bead/wheel area with soapy water.

[Hank]

Wow. I've just jumped up and down on the sidewall . . . .

[M20F]

2 hours ago, MikeOH said:

I interpreted the miss-spell as "splitting the rim"; as in, bead-breaking and splitting the wheel halves.

God bless auto-correct.  Yes splitting the rim. 

[M20F]

2 hours ago, PT20J said:

Parker’s suggestion for a low-cost bead breaker. Also easier if you spray the bead/wheel area with soapy water.

A fancy way of 2x4’s and driving over it….

[EricJ]

A while back somebody here suggested doing double-duty with a Black & Decker Workmate portable bench, and using the clamp function to break the bead on a tire.   I tried it and it worked great, so this is what I do now.    Since it is useful for a lot of other things and folds up flat against the hangar wall (or garage or shop or wherever) when you're not using  it, it checked a lot of boxes for me.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00PTX62Q4