Frustration assembling carbon fiber landing gear.

[pmacafee]

I bought two versions of the same style landing gear on Amazon.com One was from Hobbypower and the other from Makefire. Neither included instructions and both were difficult for me to figure out how to assemble in a manner that is structurally sound. The screw that is supposed to close the clamp on the leg seems too short and I cannot clamp the leg correctly and have it fit around the bracket to the mounting plate. Does anyone have any experience with these type of legs? I already figured out how to mount the compass so it does not crash.

 

[Fyod]

Take a picture, there are various CF sets out there.

 

[pmacafee]

Here is a photo of the leg clamp that I have a problem with



Here is the screw that seems too short to reach the threads on the other side of the clamp.

 

[Fyod]

Iirc, both didn't have to go through. Only one half is threaded so one screw goes past half way to clamp it, the other screw can be short. I remember this was a brain teaser and took a couple trys before I got the correct screws in the correct positions.

 

[pmacafee]

In your illustratin, the long screws go through a washer, the tilt-adjustment plate, the half with no threads and then into the threads on the other side. A short screw then goes through a washer, the adjustment plate and into the opposite threaded side. I get this part, but the long screw provided is so short that it cannot start the threads on the other side. The threads on the threaded side of the clamp do not go all the way to the split in the clamp. Maybe I have a knock-off of a working design that you bought and some skimping was done in the tooling or provisioning. What brand of legs did you buy? Neither of mine included washers, maybe that is a clue. If you can make it work, maybe I will return mine and buy your brand.

 

[Fyod]

I added the washers myself, I didn't like the screws biting into the carbon.
I can check the lengths for you when I get home. I remember having the same problem.
Once you get through this initial frustration, you'll be really happy. I love the adjustment and the slight flex the legs provide when landing hard-ish. And they're very sturdy.

I would also recommend attaching the compass to a cut leg from the original l.gear to have the same position.
But you'll need a longer screw to mount cut leg + carbon plate to the body. I got mine at a hardware store.

 

[p fandango]

i've got the same legs, i ended up buying longer screws

 

[pmacafee]

i've got the same legs, i ended up buying longer screws

Where do you get longer screws? What is the spec for the screws? I assume they are metric and the local hardware store has some m3 metric screws that are just a tad bigger, so I assume these are m2.

 

[p fandango]

Where do you get longer screws? What is the spec for the screws? I assume they are metric and the local hardware store has some m3 metric screws that are just a tad bigger, so I assume these are m2.

i got them off ebay, i've had them on a while so can't remember what size they were (M2 does ring a bell, but no guarantee's)

 

[pmacafee]

Yeah, I am finding them on Ebay and Amazon. The ones that are too short are 16mm, so I will try for 20mm length.

 

[Fyod]

Are you sure they weren't included? There will probably be only two of them and I remember I screwed them in somwhere else and then had to swap them when I realised the mistake.

 

[pmacafee]

Are you sure they weren't included? There will probably be only two of them and I remember I screwed them in somwhere else and then had to swap them when I realised the mistake.

There were 4 of them and I got two different sets of gear. Both had the same problem and I used the longest ones provided. Thanks for the word of caution.

 

[Fyod]

Correct, one for each clamp, I missed that there are four.
Here's the longer side screw, the one on the opposite side of the clamp is about 3/4 length.
I don't have a tape measure here though.
The hex is the standard tool that comes with the Phantom.

 

[pmacafee]

I think it is m 2.5 and I just ordered a pack of 2.5 x 20 from Amazon to be here on Saturday.

 

[phalcon51]

Any idea how much more weight these add, considering that you're keeping the compass leg from the original landing skid?

Thanks

 

[pmacafee]

Any idea how much more weight these add, considering that you're keeping the compass leg from the original landing skid?

Thanks

It would be great to know. Don't have a scale handy.
-P

 

[Fyod]

I didn't have the chance to weigh them when I installed mine, although the tubing is extremely light, but even if some slight weight is added, the benefit of having wide legs restricting tip-overs and being able to move them back so they're not in the picture is great.
It is also much easier to hand-catch than with the standard legs.

 

[phalcon51]

Can these be made retractable using the Phantom radio?

 

[Fyod]

With some talent, yes. I have given it some thought.
Although it would be much easier to make the bottom two skid poles just retract or "slide" to the rear. Then I am sure you could film in GoPro wide.
You can see mine are staggered to the rear. I never have the poles in the video. But to be able to film in wide, they would have to go back a tiny bit more.

 

[Marlin009]

I added the washers myself, I didn't like the screws biting into the carbon.
I can check the lengths for you when I get home. I remember having the same problem.
Once you get through this initial frustration, you'll be really happy. I love the adjustment and the slight flex the legs provide when landing hard-ish. And they're very sturdy.

I would also recommend attaching the compass to a cut leg from the original l.gear to have the same position.
But you'll need a longer screw to mount cut leg + carbon plate to the body. I got mine at a hardware store.

That's really sharp looking.

I like what you did with the compass. I've seen them on the side of the flat piece. Is location of it that critical? I know orientation would be.
Is that to get it down away from other "stuff"?