14-13 gear struts

Bernie, Hard chroming is the way to repair your gear legs. Measure the top of the tube and you'll find the original diameter, which I believe is 1.848." Hopefully, you can find a shop that can do the machining and hard chroming 'in house.' Remember they must bake it per mil-spec after plating. Dan
 
Kevin, These bearings were in production, as of a couple years ago. They are fairly expensive, at $25/ea, as of a few years ago, at your local bearing supply house. I find them on Ebay, once in a while, under 'aircraft bearings.' WARNING! Be very careful when pressing the old bearings out of the cast housing. The housing can break easily. Same goes for installation. I have some of these bearings in stock, if you get in a pinch. Dan
 
Dan,
The local guys wanted $63 and I found some on line for $36. I looked at that casting and could see that they could be broken fairly easily. I took the seals off and cleaned and repacked the old ones on one side and they seem to be OK for now. I will take a look at the other side also.

Thanks,
Kevin
 
Make sure the original bearings are as close to perfect as possible. Practically, no one bothers to check them - even during an extensive restoration. The ones I've pulled have about a 50% chance of re-use. Now is the time to clean and lube the through shaft and U joint. Swab out the holes in the rear spar and apply a thin coat of varnish. Isn't this so much fun! Dan
 
Hi Guys,
Been browsing this strut forum due to a problem that started not long ago with my 14-13-2
The left strut wouldn't come out completely when in flight. Saw a pic of me landing and the left strut stays in taxi position while the right one is completely extended. Is this mean the thing has to come apart?

Alain.
 
I had that problem once. It was due to bad o-rings that swelled (sp?) up ond binded. Replaced them with the proper oring an problem went away. larry
 
For those who opened them already, how many of each two seal size should I order for each gear leg?

Alain
 
Dan or other,

'splain me this: in Dan's Apr 12, 2009 post, he lists that the gear strut tube measures around 1.848" OD. i measured mine and that's pretty close to what i got near the bottom (1.838" +/-).

But, the MSC BUNA-N U Cups (item 319869530) specifies that their inside diameter is 1 7/8" (1.875").

Can that be the correct packing ring to use? the strut tube would be a little sloppy inside that sized seal's ID, right?

let me know what else i need to consider to understand how it would work, i want to order the correct seals.

jeff
 
They fit mine fine and don't leak. If you over tighten the brass nuts it will squash them enough that the strut won't move.

Kevin
 
The correct place to measure for the original diameter is at the top of the tube. There is little or no wear at this location. This is how I came up with 1.848. The wear and tear comes at the bottom of the strut.......where all the dirt gets to the metal and then slides in and out of the lower bushing and packings and does a nice job of honing to .010 undersize like Jeff has. Get your airplane up on stands, like you were going to do a retract test. Pull the lower gear leg down as far as it will go. Get in there with your 2" micrometer and measure fore and aft, side to side every inch. 3-4 thou. undersize is tolerable. However, with a worn bushing, there is no way any seals or packings will hold fluid at 10 thousands undersize. The only fix is to hard chrome back to standard, get a new bushing and packings to match. The machining and hard chroming will cost over $1000.00. These airplanes have been around 40-50-60 years. The landing gear is worn out. If you want a serviceable airplane that doesn't leave a trail of oil, Bellanca owners will have to 'bite the bullet' and get the correct repairs done. Nuff said.
 
I found a machine and chroming shop who will do my gear legs.

Regarding the baking after chroming step, the machinist asked me what the tolerance was for the final diameter of the shaft as he said that the baking will slightly increase the final diameter.

Does anyone have an idea about this? I am assuming that the final diameter ought to be at or near the 1.848" that Dan stated, but is there a published or generally acceptable tolerance range?
 
Jeff, If you will talk with your machinist, you will find that the final dimensions will change less than .0005 after baking. This is not going to influence this crude installation. Dan
 
I have a guy who says he can bake the gear struts after chroming. He wants to know what type of steel the struts are? >> Tool steel, or 2140, or 4130??

One of my airplane buds said that he would guess that the gear leg strut would be 4130, anybody confirm that thought?

jeff
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top