SB 07-11-09: Discussion with Harmon Lang

[ando]

Took my nosegear leg to a local machine shop. "No problem, I can thread that for $50". Next day he called to tell me he was giving up.

Sent it to Langair. Harmon called me and said he had gotten several of these half re-threaded legs and may not be able to save them all.

Seems that if any high-speed steel from the first attempt is imbeded in the threads, they can't be saved. Too great a risk of ruining Langair's tooling.

Also, it takes a lot more set up time to pick up the exact thread line once it has been started. Its a one shot deal. If the set up isn't done perfectly, the leg will be ruined.

I lucked out. It looks like mine has been salvaged, but others may not be so fortunate. Consider sending it to Harmon right off the bat...

Good Luck All!

[Build9A]

Good info for those of us who are (were) considering doing ours locally.

On another note does anyone know if there is any difference between the old type gear leg and the newer version other than the length and threading. Is the leg made stronger or made differently in any way or exactly the same? thanks.

[Little_Richard]

The gear legs are identical in design. No changes whatsoever except the axle length.

It is also likely the die may not follow the axle exactly as it should and will leave non-uniform threads resulting in a compromised thread strength.

[mark manda]

I recall him saying about the same thing back in Aug. of 2005 when I dropped off my nose gear leg.

[AlexPeterson]

Originally Posted by Little_Richard

The gear legs are identical in design. No changes whatsoever except the axle length.

One needs to be a little careful with this - the nose gear design was indeed changed somewhere in the late '90's. You can dig around in Van's site for details. I understand that this answer pertains to the shortened vertical portion recent design change.

Originally Posted by Little_Richard

It is also likely the die may not follow the axle exactly as it should and will leave non-uniform threads resulting in a compromised thread strength.

I would guess that thread strength in this application could be one hundredth of normal and be safe. It basically just has to deliver the compression of the spring washers.

[Little_Richard]

Yeah I guess I assumed we were all talking about the 603-2 and 603-3 gear legs. My mistake.

[ando]

Just got an e-mail from Van's shipping dept. saying that the forks are back-ordered. Shipping expected in 2-3 weeks.

I ordered it on 03 DEC and likely wont get it until the last week of JAN. Bummer.

[gmcjetpilot]

Those gear legs are works of arts and Harmon is the artist. Great thread, good advice.

[Ron Lee]

Someone recently posted a pic where Langair cut into the bottom of the old fork one inch. Serves the same function and maybe is better. I have not seen anyone discuss the pros and cons of cutting into the old fork versus getting a new fork.

Still need to cut the bottom of the gear leg I believe.

[jimbower]

Go ahead, call me crazy for expecting a refund, but Harmon's instructions stated that out of the requested $100.00, $75 would be used for machining with the rest going for return shipping. Any overage would be refunded; any underage would be billed. I paid $20 and some change to ship my gear leg in its wooden box per his instructions. I got it back in a smaller cardboard box with the explanation that he is saving money by not shipping it back in the owner's wood box. Great. Unfortunately, he didn't pass that on to the sender. He stated he saves about $10 by using cardboard, so I thought I would get a $15 refund. Hey, it's not much but it's lunch! However, here is his less than honorable reply:

You are the first one to request a refund.

Shipping cost =$13.43
Ups fuel charge = $2.97
Residential surcharge = $1.95
Pick up service = $1.05
Shop rate to calculate all these charges $15.00
Packaging materials to save the $15.00 penalty for wood =$2.25

Total = $36.65

I guess if we had sent it back in the wood box you would have had to send us more money. Then I would have to spend time sending you a bill. I think we should call this a wash.
Harmon

In nearly 8 years of homebuilding, I haven't before dealt with somebody who played that game ($15.00 for calculating all charges, indeed). You guys can be the judge of whether I'm making a big deal of this or not, but it really did leave a bad taste in my mouth.

Jim Bower
St. Louis
RV-6A