Main landing gear

[John Bombard]

I recently purchased a 1947 Ercoupe 415-D. Had problems with the goodyear brakes right from the start so I decided to convert to the cleveland wheel and brake system. Since the tail of my coupe sits about a foot lower than the reccommended 75" I decided to install new donuts on the main gear struts at the same time. Little did I know what a hassle it would be to install the new donuts. I finally found a neighbor who has a hydralic press which I utilized to compress the donuts enough to expose the groove to reinstall the snap rings. This ment I had to work through the two holes on either side of the donut cap to install the snap ring. It was quite a chore but finally managed to get both struts completed.     Inoticed that one knee joint had quite a lot of slop in it (side to side movement) when the wheel was lifted off the ground. I wasn't too concerned as i thought that was probably how it was supposed to be. When I got to the other wheel I noticed that the lower leg did not drop down when the wheel was elevated off the ground . The knee joint was bound up. I decided that since I had to rebuild this knee joint i might as well do both of them at the same time. I was able to drive out the knee pin and then proceded to remove the bushing in the lower leg. It was onlly then that I realized that the bushings are made of a bakelite material. I will order the new bushings tomorrow from Skyport or Univair.     My question is: when I receive the new bakelite bushings is there any special proceedure to instal them? I know they are a very tight fit and they seem very fragile. I'm afraid if i try to pound them into the lower leg, I wll destroy them. What is the best method to install them. My second question is: on the knee joint that has a lot of slop in it, can I double up on the large bakelite knee joint washers to take up the slop?     I would appreciate any information on this matter.                                            Thank you,                                             Jack Bombard                                         100 Piper Drive                                         Trenton, SC  29847                                           [EMAIL PROTECTED]