Rob wrote:
… Also, I checked my gas strut and it seems like it is still good after about 12 years. I need to put a significant portion of my body weight into it to get it to compress and I definitely weigh more than 100 lbs. Unfortunately, as soon as I put some weight on my ESCO nose gear strut, it dumped oil like a sieve. As soon as I finish the nose gear attachments, I guess I’ll have to send it out for service.
Rob,
Lancair still services the Esco struts and for my money, it’s a good investment. If you have an older strut, be sure to have them install the “turning radius mod” that allows the nose wheel to pivot 60 degrees vice the original 45 degrees. It doesn’t sound like much, but the increase basically allows the airplane to pivot around a locked main, while the inside main wheel has to move forward a bit with the old strut pivot limits. Note that it’s still possible to damage the strut by pivoting it past the limit. This most often happens with a tow bar hooked to a tug/tractor. There are two very small cap screws inside the strut that shear when the limit is exceeded, and it’s almost impossible to detect this without disassembling the strut. We did this at the Lancair/LOBO fly-in at Branson in October, and most were amazed to see how small these parts are. When the screws are sheared, you lose all shimmy dampening capability, so it’s a big deal.
On testing the gas struts: It’s easy to test any pressure approximately up to your body weight by carefully padding the end that you’ll push with your chest, and pressing the strut down onto a bathroom or other scale. A digital model with instant readout helps… This is a good way to measure the compression force to the accuracy needed for this application. BTW, if the polished shaft has any dirt, rust or contamination at all, carefully clean it with solvent and fine steel wool or a Scotchbrite pad. NO SANDPAPER or similar...these are too coarse and will leave scratches. If you don’t do this, the strut will rapidly wear the internal seals and lose gas as soon as you start using it.
Good luck; hope this helps.
Bob P