Well, I can report that the older style trunnions are a direct swap with the newer style that were on my ‘71, except we had to lower the squat switch by 7/8” to accommodate a lower bracket on the older style leg.
I didn’t even try to price new units, as I figured the price would be ridiculous. I found these at Texas Air Salvage for $900 each. I paid a repair station $400 to strip, inspect, repaint, and issue yellow tags for both of them. Glad I did, too, as one of them had some hairline cracks beneath the paint that I never would have seen. Thankfully just resulted in delays, nothing more.
We are in the process of swapping out the trunnions for the older style (from a ’68 P28R). Everything swapped over from the legs currently in the plane to the older-style trunnions with no problems. However, a seized bearing on one of rear mounting brackets has resulted in a delay as we wait for a new bearing to arrive. It does allow us the time for the “new” legs, with new seals installed, to sit for a few days to see if any leaks result.
Removed the side brace brackets with my A&P last weekend. It appears the studs were previously updated to the 5/8″ studs, although there is nothing in the logs to indicate this.
Steve, you were correct; it is a simple job to remove the side brace brackets and inspect the studs. Thanks for your help,
Pete
You are correct. The trunnion with the triangular shaped web with the large hole is significantly stronger and stiffer. Since it is from an earlier model, I believe that only a log book entry is required, denoting the change in part number.
Perhaps these pics are better. The brace with the larger webbing, and large hole is the recommended fix for the webbing cracking. The brace with the small web is what was the original equipment on my airplane. Lasted 47 years, so not too shabby.
Interestingly, it seems the brace with the larger webbing was the original equipment on earlier Arrows. The used legs I’ve found have come from a 1968 Arrow. I don’t know when Piper switched to the different design (probably lighter), but the recommendation from landing gear shops is to replace it with the older-style part.
About the web cracks. There are a number of UTube videos looking at the main gear at landing. When the wheel touches, the main gear bends backward due to wheel spinup. Then the main gear rebounds, bending forward due the dynamics of the event. The forward motion puts a tension stress on the web. Cracks like those shown only occur due to tension stress.
All I have right now are the pics from the website where I bought the parts. If you like I’d be happy to take pics when I swap them out; it will probably be a couple weeks.
Hi Pete;
Thanks for the update. Would you please send me the pictures of the old and new trunnions in a larger file. 1 Meg would be ideal but anything you can do would be great.
Let me know if you can do it on this site; if not I’ll get you an email address.
Thanks.
Steve
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