Fill plug orientation for shock struts

[DBeaulieu]

Put MLG on yesterday and it seems that having the fill plugs on facing downwards would faciliate servicing. Certainly seems to assemble easier with them oriented down. Also when setting the initial nominal length of the rod end bearing, during setup are we measuring thread length or center of the bore to shock top? Thanks for any insight...Dave

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[alaskabearhawk]

Hey Dave, I don’t know how you would eliminate all the air with the fill plugs down instead of up. Here is an excerpt from the BAM:

“Before doing any assembly work, you need to drill and tap the fill hole as indicated on the plans. Not necessary on later kits. Be sure to drill the plug hole on what will be the upper, outside of the gear strut–the highest point–as this allows for getting the maximum amount of fluid into the strut. It is critical that the shock strut always have as much fluid in it as it will hold for the gear to function properly. Ideally, there should be no air in it.”

I did a search “shock strut length” on the forum search function and came up with this:

https://bearhawkforums.com/forum/bearhawk-patrol-quickbuild/29526-shock-struts

Hope this helps

[DBeaulieu]

Appreciate!