Oleo Struts

[Ron Spiker]

A couple of my oleo struts are leaking. We have one of them pulled apart now. Is the only thing to change to stop the leak the one o-ring on the nut just below the rubber pad? The o-ring in there looks in fine condition, but perhaps a little small.

[bryancobb]

Hey Guy:

There ARE (2) O-Rings in each strut.

They both had gotten a "Flat" at the contact area on mine. This was the cause of the leak.

The Outside one is clearly visible when you disassemble the strut.
The inside one is NOT visible and you must remove the piston off the bottom of the inner strut to get to it.

The brass piston SCREWS off the inner strut (counterclockwise after removing the safety wire and keeper screw). Be careful not to damage the piston ring, and don't scar up the piston or the inner strut. They must be perfect condition when you reassemble them.

After the piston is off, the top nut which holds both O-Rings can be slid off and the inner O-Ring can then be seen and replaced.

the inner O-Ring has to slide across the inner strut's sharp threads when reinstalling the top nut. The threads must be covered somehow to avoid shaving off the inside surface of the O-Ring when it goes across them.

I wrapped the threads (ONLY ONE TIME) with scotch tape and removed it after the nut/O-ring was past the threads.

Hope this helps.

Bryan

[Ron Spiker]

Thanks Bryan. Yes, that helps a lot. I tried getting the piston apart, but have been unsuccessful so far. I have the screw and safety wire off, but the piston didn't want to turn. I'll try again though.

Ron