Interested to know:

Expected man hours per side to make the change of the outside bracket if all else clean and good.

No seaplane rings, what is the best way to jack it up.

Guess Pponk will have some guidance but any advice and vectors to videos or reading material will be appreciated.
Will also install the beef up kit.

Thanks.

Read through the cessna 100 series service manual. It describes building a jig out of 4x4 to jack from the belly to remove the gear. Personally, I think the 4 eye bolts on the top and using a chain hoist looks a lot safer. Either way make sure you have some extended jack stands for extra safety and don't depend on a hoist or a jack while you're under then thing wrenchin'.

I replaced my right outer. Made a cradle for the belly .went through the floor boards to change.it was 16 hrs to change my self .no max rivets did all my riveting my self except 2. Years before I did it from the outside can’t remember how long.when done looked original except for log book entry.my arms had a lot of scratches. That’ was a long while ago.used a pponk casting a little thicker

Thanks to both of you for the valuable Info.

Was reading the service manual 2-2 and they describe the block of wood to stay clear of the fuselage and make contact with the gear legs.
In this case that would not work since we are removing a gear leg but believe one could also make the block touch the fuselage sort of how they do with this jack?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BaedNCX7peA

Was also questioning myself if putting the pressure there and removing the outboard bracket might not influence the gearbox shape a bit for good installation of the new one?

Jacking just outboard of the wing struts?

Don't know if the shop has means to hoist from the engine mount and if that is a good option.

A sheet metal guy with good experience will do the job so he should know but I want to gather as much info as I can to make this job as safe and well done as we can. Planning on helping out and stay involved.

sea plane eye bolts on top of the plane. 4 of them.

I pick the airplane from the upper engine mount bolts right at the firewall. I welded up a spreader bar and pick from both uppers using an overhead lifting strap choked around the cluster. (just make sure you are in the cluster and not around the bolt as the strap will lean in and bend the firewall/skin lip.

FWIW, this job is not rocket science, but it should not be dismissed as its pretty intensive surgery. Lots of folks have different ideas on how to do it, but doing it right should mean pulling the upper gearbox lid as well as the outboard skins (which means repainting.) One also has to buck pretty big rivets, which can be tough if one dosnt have a lot of experience or a 2nd pair of hands.

Its easy to just drill out rivets w/o paying close attention to opening up the holes or driving them with a punch, but this area sees a lot of stress, and those big rivets cant have any wiggle room for good shear strength. If the bird has been repaired in the past, you may find yourself with a lot of 525 fasteners on the outer skin.

I have been told by some of they grey beards that it can "correctly" be done with magic and no trace, but I've done it twice now and have had to pull the outer skin even after opening up the top. (maybe my beard is not grey enough yet)

The PPonk part is the way to go.

Thx for sharing.

If I may ask,
What are the things that made you feel they could have been done better on the two repairs you did?

i think you misunderstood... Im not saying the repairs could have been done better, I was saying that ledgend had it that the repair could be done less invasively, which I found not to be the case

I replaced my landing gear brackets in 2008 due to heavy granular corrosion. 1977 C180. Lifted the plane up with a fork lift using a strap around the engine mount and placed on a wood saw horse I built specifically for the project. All work was done from inside the plane other than the rivets drilled out and replaced on the outside. I used new PPonk gear brackets. I soda blasted the gear legs and painted while I was into the project. I'll look for pictures to post of the project. It was not hard, just took time. The guy across from my hangar built an RV-7 and assisted with the rivets.

Bruce

MLG project

Thx for the Info and Pic. Limeric, glad all went fine.

Is that an Acorn exhaust?

No, Regular Cessna, but a Kenmore bolt on extension that was in place prior to my ownership. I will add that I needed to trim and cut the ends of the saw horse with a Sawzall to make room to drill out the exterior rivets and for the rivet gun to work.

i located pix of the project and will add soon.

Note: If you are a member or join the International 180/185 Club, Norma or Randi will give a discount on the PPonk beef up kit and landing gear brackets. Worth asking.

Bruce

I seem to remember you can't go out the top of the gear box without cutting some angles, which is why I've always gone out the bottom. Anyone remember that? Did you guys cut structure to get the outer bracket out?

I can get the outer bracket out the bottom in around 4 hrs, probably because I've done so many, but the point is that it isn't hard. Reinstallation of the bracket isn't too tough and depending on how fancy you want to get cleaning things up and epoxy priming and chroming the inside of the inspection plates, you can probably get it done in 12-16 hours.

There is ONE rivet on the aft gearbox bulkhead that you have to pull the strut to buck. I usually save that one for last, after it's sitting on the gear again.

limerick wrote:

IMG_2822.JPG

Wow, well done! If I’d done that it would have surely left those angles with little cracks after it was bent back to its original spot.

Guess I was fortunate the one time I did this project it was coupled with a belly skin replacement, much easier with that out of the way. Also we had it suspended from the seaplane lifting eyes, almost like cheating compared to the way you guys are doing it.

I guess thats one way to do it.

limerick wrote:

IMG_2822.JPG

"Carefully" imparting tons of stress in to a part beyond what it was designed for is no less likely to damage it than imparting the stress like a butcher. It seems like a a lot of work, just to avoid a lot of work.

Like i tell my kids, a lot of times the hard way and the right way are the same way.

Yeah, my hat is off to Norma at Pponk.

Excellent customer service.

limerick wrote:

IMG_2822.JPG

Thanks for the great Pic, I am not a mechanic and wonder if heating the aluminum for bending when doing the job so might help avoid cracks and if so to what temp??

AEROPOD wrote:

limerick wrote:

IMG_2822.JPG

"Carefully" imparting tons of stress in to a part beyond what it was designed for is no less likely to damage it than imparting the stress like a butcher. It seems like a a lot of work, just to avoid a lot of work.

Like i tell my kids, a lot of times the hard way and the right way are the same way.

----

Thx Aeropod. Any chance for you to share some pics when doing it from underside pls?