At the risk of offending Skyport, which is not my intent, I feel I should share
some observations about the MLG upgrade with the brake fluid and "rubber cups".
I notice in my aircraft history, about three years ago the MLG struts were
totally rebuilt, with new donuts and the Skyport rubber cup upgrade. I
recently removed them because they were stuck in the compressed position,
making them absolutely solid links. To my surprise, several others quickly
reported the same problem!
I have been trying to pull them apart with several mechanisms, with no success
as of now, in other words they are complete junk, I think I will probably pull
the ears off the piston before they break loose. They have been soaking in
several types of rust solvent!
The problem appears to be that the brake fluid cleans the surfaces and then
moisture in the air rusts them, and the first landing they stay compressed. If
I ever get them apart, I will share photos of what happened.
I would suggest that if you have such strut upgrade, that at least every annual
you pull the bottom bolt and drop the bottom part down enough to at least check
for corrosion of the piston (and bore). This is a very quick and simple
procedure, and costs far less than a replacement set of MLG sturts (if you can
even find them). Of course, you must not try to lubricate the surfaces with a
petroleoum product because of the incompatibility with brake fluid.
I had a spare set of struts with belleville spring washers I used on mine, and
I put new O rings and hydraulic fluid. If they leak, I will go for a nitrile
cup and stay with hydraulic fluid.
Comments welcome.
