[SkyKing]

Mark,

To begin this project you'll need to jack up the nose of the plane using a small hydraulic bottle jack. You should place it on top of a 6x6" block of wood under the front jack point, so that when you begin the jacking operation the jack is already snug against the jack point in its collapsed position, as most of these smaller 3 and 4-ton jacks only have a 7" to 15" maximum lift height.

As most of these automotive bottle jacks are flat on top, you'll need to fashion an adapter, either out of a small block of wood or go to a metal fabricator and have one made out of steel. A piece of hard wood, or even a small block of 2X4 will do the job. What you'll need to do is drill out a hole in one side to fit tightly over the top of the jack, and on the opposite side, drill out a recessed inverted 'tit' to fit the jack point.

Once you've got your 'adapter' completed and fitted, make sure to block the main wheels securely so that the plane will not roll, then jack up the nose so that the nose wheel is just barely off the floor and the strut is fully extended.

What you're going to do now is release the pressure on the nose gear downlock so you can manually push the strut/nose gear partially forward and up into the wheel well. This step is necessary to that you can get a screwdriver on all of the screws of the inspection panel that's directly behind the nose gear door on the belly, and once this is removed you can then reach up inside and service the strut and follow the procedure in the manual in Section 2-25, with respect to Figure 2-5.

With the master switch off, pull the landing gear breaker out so that NO POWER will be applied to the landing gear circuit. Then, standing outside the plane next to the pilot's side storm window, reach through and turn the master switch on, then move the landing gear lever to "UP"... THEN VERY CAREFULLY and JUST MOMENTARILY, tap the landing gear circuit breaker in so that the pump motor starts and the lock releases. As the nose gear strut begins to kicks forward, pull the landing gear breaker out and shut the master off. This happens pretty quickly so be on the ready.

Now, you'll be able to position the nose gear strut so as to reach the fitting through the inspection panel, and to also perform the complete strut service operation in Section 2-25 of the Service Manual, if desired.

BTW, with the nose gear inspection panel open, you can get a good look at the uplock mechanism and this provides an opportunity to clean this area, as well as lubricate the cam followers and the track.

SkyKing