Sealed Lift Struts

[sburg58]

I have a set of PA-18 lift struts, two front and two rear, that are welded shut at the top and bottom. They have the smaller forks. Does sealed mean they are welded shut as these are both top and bottom? When starting to remove one fork, oil seeped out from inside the strut.

I called Univair and they indicated all of their sealed struts have the larger 5/8 inch forks. Did or do, others manufacture sealed struts that would satisfy the strut AD? If yes, how can I tell who manufactured these and if the AD does or does not apply. I am not sure what year these were manufactured or installed on an aircraft, they did come from Alaska however, I have no idea where they originated.

I did a search and found several posts about struts but nothing on how to tell or recognize sealed struts.

Stan

 

[S2D]

Had a paper with approval for a sealed strut on the J-3. they welded up the top hole, filled the strut with nitrogen and screwed the bottom fork in with a thread sealer and it was considered sealed. ( small style fork, so wold have to redo every 500 hrs)

 

[DW]

Buy Univair---problem solved

 

[Steve Pierce]

All the sealed struts I have seen were from Univair or Airframes, Inc. and had 5/8" forks. There was a Mod Atlee did that had really big forks. Jensen's were approved to be punched every 5 years, they have Atlee's tag welded on them. They reworked your original struts and put some really big forks on them but are no longer in business. I think Wag-Aero had a sealed strut with small fork for the J3.

 

[39-J3]

I have herd rumors that Wag is trying to certify sealed struts for the Reed Clipped Wing. Does any one know if that is true?

Or are there any others in the process of doing so?

Larry