Jacks

[Kerrville]

Can anyone tell me if jacks for an rv7 will work on a Mooney m20j?  A friend offered me his jacks but am not sure if they will fit. 

[MikeOH]

36 minutes ago, Kerrville said:

Can anyone tell me if jacks for an rv7 will work on a Mooney m20j?  A friend offered me his jacks but am not sure if they will fit. 

How far away are this friend's jacks?

Will he let you try them?

[MB65E]

Depends on what adaptors/ pads it has. 
Mooney wing might be lower than an RV7.

not sure,

-Matt

[Hank]

Just make sure to use your Mooney jack points 

[Kerrville]

That’s what I am afraid of that the wing may be too low. I can try them but it is a long drive. Good deal though if they work. Just hoping someone might know and save me a trip if it’s not worth trying. 

[Fly Boomer]

21 minutes ago, Kerrville said:

That’s what I am afraid of that the wing may be too low. I can try them but it is a long drive. Good deal though if they work. Just hoping someone might know and save me a trip if it’s not worth trying. 

A 24-inch jack is ideal.  You may get by with something an inch or two higher with some creative ramps, blocks, or wing lifting, but 24 is the low stress option.

[Stan]

"A 24-inch jack is ideal.  You may get by with something an inch or two higher with some creative ramps, blocks, or wing lifting, but 24 is the low stress option."

I put my J up on ramps.

[Hank]

2 hours ago, Stan said:

"A 24-inch jack is ideal.  You may get by with something an inch or two higher with some creative ramps, blocks, or wing lifting, but 24 is the low stress option."

I put my J up on ramps.

How do you get it up there? I've driven cars up on ramps, but don't see taxiing my Mooney up them.

[BDPetersen]

If you have a trolley or bottle jack handy and a bar stuck through the knuckle (whatever it is called) of the gear, you can lift enough to slip a too tall wing jack into position.

[Fritz1]

After some back and forth I bought Meyer A521 Jacks, two I bought new and another two used from a hangar neighbor. The 521 is a 21" jack, using the 21" jacks you cannot lift one main up and then insert the other jack, you have to insert both main jacks and then bring them up. This means any jack taller than 21" is trouble for a Mooney. I use the 3rd jack to bring the nose up which is the correct way for a long body. If you just hold the tail down the door will not close any more which indicates undue stress in fuselage, you may be able to use use just two jacks in a mid body or short body. Bottom line, I think 21" is the max that will work in a Mooney.

[PT20J]

Alpha 324 24” jacks work fine with my M20J. My pucks are pretty new. 

[EricJ]

7 hours ago, PT20J said:

Alpha 324 24” jacks work fine with my M20J. My pucks are pretty new. 

They're good on mine as well, and the pucks are far from new.

However, we had to use a pipe through the knuckle and floor jack to raise a C model wing high enough to get it up to change a flat tire.    Then we could get the 24" Alpha jack under the wing and lift it further for sufficient clearance with the new tire.   So if a tire is flat it may not fit.

[1980Mooney]

You didn't say if your friend with the RV-7 had proper jacks with a wide base or homemade ones to go with his "experimental".   Some Vans builders/owners use nothing more than a stack of 2x4 with a bottle jack.   Some have made something that looks proper, but I question the width of the base to prevent tipping.

 

Someone on Vans Airforce measured the height from the floor to the bottom of the wingtip on an RV-7.  He said it is about 25 inches.   If your friend has 24 inch jacks they may work on your Mooney per @PT20J and @EricJ

"RV-7 Wing Height May 4, 2008 - Does anyone have the distance from floor to the bottom of the aft tip of the wingtip for a -7? I'm just trying to figure out some hangar space.
Just measured mine
24.75" inboard aft corner of wing tip
25.25" outermost aft corner"
 

Also make sure that the jack pad/jack point adapter on the top of the jack actually fits your jackpoints.  Don't be this guy.  Mooney N2585W, a 1965 M20E, fell off the jacks back in 2017 and it wound up at a salvage auction after his insurance company scrapped it. The good news is that someone did repair the plane and it is still currently flying.

 

Top of Wing......

[1980Mooney]

On 10/11/2024 at 2:17 PM, Kerrville said:

Can anyone tell me if jacks for an rv7 will work on a Mooney m20j?  A friend offered me his jacks but am not sure if they will fit. 

Aircraft Spruce doesn't show the RV-7 however supposedly it is slightly bigger than the RV-6 which is shown.  Ask him to measure his jacks.

 

[bigmo]

On topic / I’m sussing out jack options too. My F has the LASAR ‘cone’ jack points (I assume that’s the right term). I’ve found jack tios that have a standard a/c ‘cup’ receiver (the kind of ball female receiver) but I’ve not found any that mate with the cone.

i could drill the top of the jack with a step bit and create a nice cone receiver, but surely there’s a jack top made for these cones right?

[PT20J]

39 minutes ago, bigmo said:

On topic / I’m sussing out jack options too. My F has the LASAR ‘cone’ jack points (I assume that’s the right term). I’ve found jack tios that have a standard a/c ‘cup’ receiver (the kind of ball female receiver) but I’ve not found any that mate with the cone.

i could drill the top of the jack with a step bit and create a nice cone receiver, but surely there’s a jack top made for these cones right?

All the jacks have a spherical cup. This is to allow the jack point to freely rotate as the angle changes when the wing is lifted. They will work fine with the Mooney or LASAR conical jack points.

[1980Mooney]

10 hours ago, PT20J said:

All the jacks have a spherical cup. This is to allow the jack point to freely rotate as the angle changes when the wing is lifted. They will work fine with the Mooney or LASAR conical jack points.

True all specifically designed/specific use aircraft Jacks have a spherical cup.  My caution was when buying a used jack from an experimental aircraft builder, make sure it does have some sort of cup or adapter for lift points.  It may be a homebuilt wing jack assembled from a braced automotive bottle jack that only has a flat (crosscut or ringed) lifting surface on the top of the jack.

[Kerrville]

Thanks for the input y’all. That’s some scary stuff. I may just build my own so I can be sure they are good. I’ve got the lasar jackpoints as well. 

[kerry]

I use a 34'' sawhorse under the wing 24'' outboard of the gear door.  Lift the wing by using a bar in the gear and a floor jack as mentioned above and slide the sawhorse under the wing,

[Kerrville]

I’m thinking about getting a harbor freight long ram 23.25”-43.125” bottle jack and weld it to a 3’x3’ plate of steel for a base and brace it to the four corners. Step drill a conical convex depression in the top of the ram? Could be done for under $75. 

Edited October 19 by Kerrville

[MikeOH]

1 hour ago, Kerrville said:

I’m thinking about getting a harbor freight long ram 23.25”-43.125” bottle jack and weld it to a 3’x3’ plate of steel for a base and brace it to the four corners. Step drill a conical convex depression in the top of the ram? Could be done for under $75. 

How are you planning to lock the ram?

No way I'd trust the sub $0.01 plastic seal in a Harbor Freight jack!

[Kerrville]

I don’t trust it, but sadly it’s probably the same seal in the $500 jack, made in the same Chinese sweatshop. 

[MikeOH]

10 minutes ago, Kerrville said:

I don’t trust it, but sadly it’s probably the same seal in the $500 jack, made in the same Chinese sweatshop. 

Likely true; which is why all the aircraft jacks I've seen have a method to lock the ram.

[DonMuncy]

People like Grainger or Mcmaster sell collars in most sizes, that can be used for safety clamps on Jacks.

[N201MKTurbo]

I have locking collars, but what’s the point? If they leak down, it lands on the wheels. If the wheels are off the axels and gear doors don’t hit the ground with the jacks all the way down.

If you are building home brew jacks, keep these things in mind.