WD-40 for landing gear

grease is probably ,( or is it "prolly" now?), cold. grease gets thick when cold

 

That old grease needs to be cleaned out. Without taking it all apart, might try some slick 50 grease.

 

If you think the tubes are dry and binding, extend them all the way out as far as your can when empty. Wire wheel the legs and apply a thin coat of grease all around the leg the full length. The grease will go into the joint instead of running down with gravity. Of course lube the normal zerks at the gear boxes.

The greased gears always turn slight harder in the cold.

 

I prefer fluid film on the legs. Wd40 has a knockoff called gel lube,it’s not bad but does wash off.

 

Take the tops off the legs and add 4 to 6oz 75/90 synthetic gear lube preferably when the legs are extended. Then open the gearbox and remove the extra grease in there and close it back up and add some 75/90 to it either by a rubber plug that is on some or by putting it in a 1/2 emptied grease gun and putting it in through the zerks. Then run the legs up and down 4 or 5 times to mix the grease and oil. This was a way to "winterize" landing gear when running to the mines of Northern Saskatchewan that worked well.

 

Get the water out of the gears by draining the gearbox. I have used antifreeze sprayed on the legs for lubrication in cold weather.

 

Yeah WD - 40 works we'd used all sorts of stuff to improvise including some diesel, grease anything to keep things free and lubricated, the extreme cold don't help much either.