Gear strut access

[Tim213]

Hi everyone, I know there are numerous ways to do this but I'm looking for advice on the best way to fit the bottom panel around the gear leg struts to allow removal/access. A separate panel that just slides over the struts themselves seems the easiest but any of you with better ideas and especially pictures would greatly be appreciated. I've also seen various types of rubber boots over the struts as well, if you did this would you do it again? If so how did you secure the rubber boots? As always thanks for the help.

[Mark Goldberg]

Tim, as you say there are various ways to do this. It is for sure easier to access the shock struts from the bottom rather than the top. All those bottom sheet metal panels need to removable for annuals. I mostly wanted to mention some fiberglass fairings that Bob Barrows makes for the upper part of the shock struts. They fair in the round upper part. I have not used them on my planes. But maybe you might be interested and I wanted you to be aware of them.

A separate little sub panel might be the cleanest way to have access without taking off the bigger panel. Mark

[Ed.Meyer]

We made a small panel section that fits around the rear portion of the gear legs and installed nut plates to connect with the larger bottom boot cowl that is fitted around the front portion. We also made a small removable panel under the gascolator to access it during annual. There us nothing else there that cannot be accessed with floorboard removal.

[Battson]

I find having one large panel is a sure-fire way to scratch the paint a lot. It's a tricky area to removed / install the panel.
I would tend to join the panel with an overlap down the centreline and nutplates. It will mean removing a few more screws for maintenance, but save you time overall by avoiding fiddling around with one big panel.