Well... yeah. You mean you tried to get the snap ring out BEFORE
removing the strut tube? No way that will work (as you pointed out). I'm
surprised you got it out at all. Hope you did not wind up scratching the
polished surface of the tube while you were wrestling it.

My point in my posting was that once the strut lower tubes are removed,
it is STILL a bitch to get these things out.

By the way, the NOSE requires the snap ring to be removed with the tube
in place.

One of the best purchases I made 11 years ago was the Piper service
manual for the plane. I have always been a person to "read the
instructions first". However, there have been cases in the manual where
the procedure they described was not quite what was necessary. In a few
cases, the procedure was outright wrong because they were describing an
earlier design. So, once you get the manual, it is important to check
and see if it was properly updated. Many of the outfits selling manuals
don't sell the latest versions.

Good Luck,
Mike


Next time, save yourself the fight. Disconnect the
torque links and pull the shaft first. THEN get the ring out to
replace the seals.