One of the first things I bought years ago before I even stated building were the parts for the LG shock struts. Those parts are the bronze cap, the steel piston, the "O" rings, snap rings and springs. I even have the original 2-1/8 x .065 shock strut cylinder and top sleeve. After 2-1/8 4130 tubing was no longer available there was an engineering change in Apr 2009 to machine the cylinder out of one piece using steel AISI 1020 D.O.M. tubing 2-3/8" O.D. x 2.00" I.D. After that change I bought the new cylinders from Avipro.
I cut the tubing for the piston shaft to length and took it to a local shop to have the end threads cut for the rod end bearings. I understand that it is best to have the treads cut using a lathe and I don't have one that big. They only charged me $10 so it was well worth it.
The first thing I did today was weld the steel piston on the shaft. Then I cut some .100 steel pieces to close the bottom of the cylinder and welded them on. Then I set up the fuselage for LG strut construction.
