I wasn't meaning a lot of heat, as it depends on what the lug is made from. My thought was to loosen the epoxy, or soften it abit. If the lug is aluminum, a shot of hot water may expand the lug some, allowing easier removing of bushing. Of course, how bigs the lug? It seems lug is not removed from the plane when bushings are replaced??
Tool Looking for blind bearing puller ideas
- Thread starter Upnorth
- Start date
Tool
I think you need to provide more details of the piece that the bushing are installed into
Dry ice or liquid nitrogen might be an option depending on the size of the piece to shrink everything up momentarily and pop the races out
Another thought would be to make a jig that you could bolt on and fix a magnetic drill to, turn a centering pin to line up the drill and bore out the bushing with an undersized cutter, leaving just a sliver of race to pry out with a pick, it's back to drill, but safer
Or follow the maintenance manual, you can't be faulted if you follow the documented procedure
Dry ice or liquid nitrogen might be an option depending on the size of the piece to shrink everything up momentarily and pop the races out
Another thought would be to make a jig that you could bolt on and fix a magnetic drill to, turn a centering pin to line up the drill and bore out the bushing with an undersized cutter, leaving just a sliver of race to pry out with a pick, it's back to drill, but safer
Or follow the maintenance manual, you can't be faulted if you follow the documented procedure
I'd be looking at modifying the fingers on one of these, or fabricating a similar arrangement: https://shopgraytools.com/products/pilot-bearing-puller
Doggggboy
Ultra Member
Could you turn a couple of plugs that fit, one on both sides. Loctite one in and fit a zerk on the other, then fill with grease?
thinking about this ..... strict aerospace environment, very expensive part and a repair that frequently needs to be done..... What does the manufacture say to do? I mean, doesn't the above criteria suggests there should be defined process, a safe way of doing this that won't damage anything?
I'd hate to think keeping planes in the sky really depends on what us good ol' boys come up with
I'd hate to think keeping planes in the sky really depends on what us good ol' boys come up with
Last edited:
Ironman
Ultra Member
The idea is great, but I would make an endcap for one end and seal with o rings. Make an o ring sealed piston for the other end that seals on the bushing walls. Run a bolt through the center, drilled for a zerk and a side hole drilled in the bolt to discharge the grease between the bushings.
When you pressure it up one bushing should slide out on the piston side.
I hope that modification of your idea is understandable. I have found that red locktite is not the greatest glue. It works well in conditions where it has limited room to expand on a large surface.
Doggggboy
Ultra Member
There are a lot of really specific Loctite formulas for esoteric applications. We plebes tend to only have access to some of the more simplistic formulations. I'm thinking aircraft mechanics have few more colors on hand.
The way it works with aircraft is first you look in the relevant chapter of the maintenance manual to see if there is a procedure. In this case chapter 32 for landing gear. No procedure there so then you go look in the component maintenance manual from the manufacturer. There may be a procedure that's specific or a generic one for bushings and bearings. If there is nothing there you go back to the aircraft maintenance manual chapter 20. This is where you find generic instructions for many different things. Part of it will be removal of bushings and bearings. The problem with a generic reference is that it does not consider unusual circumstances. One bushing in the hole is no problem. Two facing each other there are no instructions other than something generic about using threaded rod as a puller. The instructions for installing the bushing have 2 ways to put them in. If they were put in with non drying putty they are relatively easy to remove. If they were put in with epoxy primer or sealant they will be difficult to remove. Some times they are put in with Loctite.thinking about this ..... strict aerospace environment, very expensive part and a repair that frequently needs to be done..... What does the manufacture say to do? I mean, doesn't the above criteria suggests there should be defined process, a safe way of doing this that won't damage anything?
I'd hate to think keeping planes in the sky really depends on what us good ol' boys come up with
Next time this job comes up I'll take a few photos.
You can get most (if not all) of the loctite products at Fastenal. A really nice product I recently learned about is gap filler for loose pullies and whatnot.
We all knew it had to be something complicated like that. Very interesting job you have. Thanks for posting about it.
When the dust settles and the bushings are out, let us know how you did it, what worked, and what didn't work.
Btw, what plane are we talking about here?