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Repair Bent Main Gear Leg?

P

paulsmeds

Member
RV-6A, reports are the prior owner porpoised on landing and the second, smashed the front gear so hard it sheared off the bolt and ran the gear leg up into the cockpit. Logs show it repaired professionally and looks great. It also says the pilot side gear leg was replaced. Engine and prop full overhauled no sign any skin contacted the ground. In cruise it banks slightly to the right requiring a tiny bit of left aileron pressure. Today we noticed that the co-pilot side wheel is out of alignment towed outward 5 to 10 degrees. It would explain why it doesn’t push/pull out of the hanger without some effort and why it wants to roll right in flight. Flyable, landable, takes a little more effort than others I’ve flown.

My question, short of purchasing a new factory bent gear leg, is there any other way to tow in the gear to alignment? As I’m typing this, I’m pretty sure the answer is a new gear leg because if it was bent in the incident, possibly the leg strength has been compromised? Wanted to explore options before going for a new gear leg.

BentMain.jpg
 
Looking at Van's Store, it looks like a replacement gear leg is just under $900.
Or... (brainstorming)... heat it up cherry red and straighten / un twist as needed, then get it re heat treated.
I think it cost me $100 to get something heat treated 40 years ago.
And in the end, will it worry you on every landing? Will it actually be much cheaper?

Also note --- early planes the gear leg was not pre-drilled (hence two parts on the store). The builder would drill on assembly, which means a pre-drilled one will not drop in.
Currently the pre-drilled are powder coated (off white), while the undrilled are bare metal. This may help you identify which one you have. I won't guarantee that someone didn't take an undrilled one, drill it themselves, and then get it powder coated!

[Edited to add bold emphasis...]
 
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Do not heat it and try and bend it straight yourself.

The gear legs are hardened to a specific Rockwell value.
The chance of you maintaining that is slim to none if you start messing with heat application.
Langair, the company that has made all the gear legs for RVs, has also straightened a lot of bent ones.
I suggest you give them a call
 
Wow you guys are great and fast. I think I can live with it the way it is until Feb when the conditional inspection is due. I'll call up Langair and get the details and send it in during the downtime of the conditional inspection. Thanks for the guidance!
 
I don't believe Langair can correct the axle alignment without having the airplane. The following is an option:
Remove the gear and have it annealed.
Reinstall
Heat the bend cherry red and bend axle to desired alignment.
Send the gear to Langair for heat treatment or have it done locally.
I have the specs for heat treating.
 
I talked with Harmon at Langair. His feeling is that the tow out could not be due to the landing incident that damaged the other gear legs. To get a tow out bend due to an incident is near impossible without a visible bend in the leg. His take is that when the gear was originally fit back in 2000ish, that they didn’t get the alignment right prior to drilling the hole and installing the bolt.

This puts me a little more at ease that the gear leg isn’t damaged. For now, we will keep flying it but look at removing that leg during the condition inspection in Feb to verify if it is bent or just installed incorrectly. If bent, he said $100 to straighten – which seems like an incredible deal. If installed incorrectly, we are looking at a new gear leg as the hole is drilled wrong. He says a replacement gear leg might be hard to come by as they don’t make them for the 6A anymore. Thanks everyone for the comments and getting us on track with Langair.
 
File the hoes into an oblong shape. Cut and drill/ream some doublers from the next size .058 wall tubing. Line up the gear with the doublers in place and very carefully tack weld the doublers. One small tack, let it cool completely, then one more etc. Remove gear and finish weld
I once went to visit a friend who is no longer with us. He was head first in a 6A with a MIG torch. He welded the holes closed so they could be redrilled/reamed. Very few have that kind of welding skills. You can also use 7/16 x .065 bushings instead of the doublers. Ream the bushings to a tight fit on AN5 bolt before welding.
 
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