Repair or replace Landing Gear?

[duncan]

I continued cleaning up my old Landing Gear forks over the weekend.
I used a soft wire brush to clean away light rust on the welds, but then I was disappointed to find the following:



A closer view:



It looks to me like a crack in the dropout, though if I try to move the dropout it seems solid enough.
Could it be just a surface defect, or is that wishful thinking on my part?
Don't know if I caused this 20 years ago, or if it was like this when it left the factory. Almost certainly the former if it is a crack.

Question is, is it better to get it rewelded, or cheaper to find a new set of Landing Gears?
I've searched the 'net, but only the 'Standing Gears' still seem to be available NOS, and I don't like those.

[DR VINOAH]

im gutted 4 u ,

but all is not lost ,there r a few fellas on here who  could fix em ,

r they for a rider?

if not leave em, like it ,proper battle scare

[Bren Gunn]

Get new drop outs fitted, I'm sure someone will be able to help you out on this site

[duncan]

Too many Miami Hoppers! They claimed a front Skyway and now my forks.

Although very hard to make out, a very thin corresponding line runs along the top of the weld on the other side of the fork, so it's a crack.
Also possibly a 5mm crack on the other dropout at the same place.

I've yet to clean up the Quad frame and see what sort of condition it's really in.
It depends on the condition of the frame as to what I'll do about the forks.
The rebuild was never going to be concours, it's too used, but I'd like it all to be structurally sound. Not sure yet whether I'll be happy with re-welding or if I'd prefer new ('84) forks.

As for me using this bike again, well I wouldn't like to test those welds nowadays unless they'd been fixed 

[theRuler]

repair them, but dont give them too much stick afterwards

[duncan]

Three votes for a repair - that seems to be the general concensus.
I agree it's the right thing to do, save the original f&f if at all possible, but cost would be a factor.

The dropout itself is cracked, not just the weld. Would this be repairable? Cut away the damaged part and weld in a filling piece then mill down?
I wouldn't be happy just filling any gap with weld. (edit: I imagine the crack itself would be 'raked out' then filled with weld - never thought of this!)

Making a completely new dropout wouldn't be a trivial task if it is to match up with the other one, and I would want it to match exactly.
It would take a fair bit of time, and could it be done using the original materials (Cr-Mo)?

I'm not trying to get free advice, I would have to rely on someone else to do this.
I'm thinking about repair costs vs. replacement costs - if it encroaches on the price of a NOS set then is it sensible to attempt a repair?
I suppose it's a case of how much am I willing to pay to retain my original bike, and would replacement forks spoil its feel of 'originality'.

Probably the above are questions for someone who would be doing the repair, I'll ask again when I've checked out the frame condition. Thanks.

[oberonspacefruit]

get a few quotes.

should be tigged really

[duncan]

Thanks Oberon,
I'll look into that. The more I think about it, the more I see it makes sense to get the originals fixed if possible.

[sawzall]

shouldnt be to difficult to do, make a cardboard template(corn flake box) get it cut out in cro-mo then get it tig welded should cost less than a replacement set of lg

[duncan]

Good idea, if I can find a piece of Cr-Mo the right thickness this would be an option, I'll check around.

I'm still hoping that the original dropouts could be retained after removal and repair, or similarly I could find a donor set of Landing Gears (perhaps a broken set that someone has) and remove a dropout from them to replace my cracked one.
Are there any inherent problems with re-using a dropout that's previously been welded? Lack of metal where the welding was carried out before (can't tell at the moment if the weld 'eats into' the dropout), or loss of strength from welding twice?

[Bren Gunn]

A good fab shop will be able to remove the old drop out and fit new dropouts, you won't be able to tell it's been replaced, and it will just as strong as the old one.

Check out this link, it'll give you some idea of what can be done...

http://www.vintagebmx.com/rodmiles.htm

Bren

[duncan]

Thanks for the link, he could certainly do what I require.
With repair costs plus 2-way shipping, it's maybe going over the top in my case to send a pair of forks overseas.
I know you just meant to point Rod out as an example, your info's much appreciated.

Would I be willing to spend more on repairs than the forks are actually worth? I think I probably would, but not until I've checked out other possibilities closer to home.
I know the bike's a bit of a scrapper, but it's my old one, it won't be sold, and it has to be 'right'. I can't believe I'm worrying so much over an old piece of metal 
I suppose that's how this hobby grabs people..

Edit>> Got a new pair of LGs. May get these repaired in the future, or may leave them 'battle scarred' as Vinoah says, not sure.

[MartyC]

Dude, there are many more than capable welders on this great Island (provided you're in the UK)  that can do your repair, where are you based?  There's a couple of guys on this site that could do it for you, you'd never know they were repaired.  A couple of guys have had seat tubes on Rippers replaced and to look at them you'd never know!