Jacking a maule

[Allparg]

How is everyone jacking a maule for tire change... Just put abw hd extended gear on , it has 31’s so they hang over quite a bit. I have wrapped a strap around bottom of axle then up through a-frame using a engine hoist...
Thx
Ap

[maules.com]

that's one option, another is under the lower oleo bolt.
For wide aluminum gear one has to build a pad that fits under the gear leg. Use some firm padding so as not to compromise the paint.

[Allparg]

Thx Jeremy

[Allparg]

Real qustion is how did you doit in the bush, or without proper tools

[Dkuber]

We used an engine hoist with a block at the strut attach point. Not the best but what we had when we put the ext gear and 31’s on. Had to reset with the 8.00 after installing the ext gear, before we had enough lift for the 31’s.
Round 2 I learned and showed up with lift rings in my pocket! So worth the install, the swap to skis was a breeze.

[andy]

I use the Lil' Lifter 3 from Bogert Aviation that I bought in 2016 when I put the ABW 31" tundra tires on. It's not available anymore as far as I know. It has a maximum lifting height of 19". I bought a customized jack pad from them too. This is an old photo. I no longer have a castellated nut on my oleos. It's small enough and light enough to carry in the airplane but I wouldn't want to try changing a tire in the back country. I carry an ABW tire repair kit with me as well as a portable compressor/backup battery. The battery pack gives me light and power for 5 vdc, 12 vdc and 120 vac devices when I'm camping with the airplane. It can also jump start the airplane engine if I have a dead aircraft battery.

[wtxdragger]

This is what I keep in the Maule.

http://www.dynaplug.com/cars.html

http://www.dynaplug.com/ultralite_xtreme.html

https://www.milwaukeetool.com/Products/ ... ls/2475-20

[Andy Young]

I use several different methods, depending on circumstances.

In my hangar, I use an engine host, with the lifting strap looped around the engine mount, right at the back of the engine.

In a well-equipped maintenance hangar, I use an overhead hoist to lift from the same spot as above.

On the ramp, I use a jack under the lower oleo strut bolt.

In the bush, you just have to get creative. One method is as follows:
1. Girth hitch a short sling around BOTH tubes at the bottom of the gear leg.
2. Cut down a long, stout (4” diameter or so) sapling.
3. Slide the sapling a few feet through the sling, such that it is aligned with the longitudinal axis of the plane, and is sitting above the lower part of the gear leg.
4. Place a fulcrum of some sort (stump, log, rock, unfortunate friend) under the short end of the sapling (behind the gear leg).
5. Lift on the long end of the sapling to lift the tire off the ground.
6. Place long end on some sort of support the you have previously prepared (again: stump, log, rock, friend...)

[Allparg]

Thats a sweet setup andy. What the screw diameter? Me thinking a bt of reverse engineering!

[Allparg]

AY,,, thats how i installed them...by lifting at the mm. Hf cherry picker has just enough spread that the bushwheels clear... One more question... parking brake pivot bolt that screws into each break cylinder,,,, what's the sequence of the washer vs rubber oring...i think mine was installed incorrectly... i believe the ipc shows oring against master cylinder,parking brake lever,washer, then bolt head,,,,, is this correct... any idea how far down to draw the bolt?
Thx
Ap

[Andy Young]

I have no idea. I always remove that crazy accident-waiting-to-happen system.

[Allparg]

Thinking about that myself.... Had it in for avionics work. They were telling me, hey u have something wrong with your brakes,,, we couldn’t push it outta the hangar.... my response was,,, did it ever occur to you that you set the parking breakwhen you were working under and behind the dash..... no response

[andy]

Allparg, I haven't measured the jack screw but the socket is 7/8" so the jack screw is probably the same. We tried to get Bogert Aviation to manufacture more of them in 2016 but I guess there wasn't enough interest. They were going through some kind of corporate merger with Safe Jack at the time that made it difficult to get the Lil' lifter jacks. It looks like you could manufacture one yourself if you could weld and had some metal working equipment. No other jack would raise the axle enough to lift the 31" tundra tire off the ground.

Jeremy had an interesting suggestion about using an 8' 2x4 and padding at the wing-strut attach point and walk the 2x4 up until it lifted the tire off the ground. It's in one of the threads on the forum in 2016.

[Allparg]

If there were a real jackpoint on the wing i would have no problem... Having been on the wrenching end, one of the most tense moments in maintenance is that jack under the wing! Specifically downjacking... Having seen a jack through the wing before, well,,,,it wasn’t good....Shop ended up buying the aircraft, a very nice Lear.....

Anyway, gear is on,brakes are bled, rh brake dragging a bit more than i like so i will take it back off and check it out.. interior in, seats to go,then taxi tests!

Ap

[Andy Young]

No other jack would raise the axle enough to lift the 31" tundra tire off the ground.

I’ve been able to use both a floor jack and a bottle jack to install and remove my 31s. Pumping them up to their rated max pressure helps, as it reduces how much they bulge out at the bottom; this allows you to get the jack into the correct position without the tire interfering. Also, depending on the lifting range of the jack, it’s often required to put blocking under the jack to raise its height. When using a floor jack, it helps to use one with a larger lifting surface (the pad or disc at the end of the lifting arm). Some of the new ones are quite small. The older ones, and the more commercial/industrial ones, often have a big (maybe 6” diameter) concave steel dish. You can bias the jack off-center, so that the lip on the edge of the dish goes just around the nut for the lower oleo strut bolt, allowing you to offset the jack inboard a bit, clearing the tire at the ground.

When using a jack, I like to place a jack stand under the axle while the wheel is off, even if just for a brief period. I’ve never had the jack fail, but....