furloughed ual

My Feedback: (31)

looking for comments on the DreamWorks ProLink struts and retracts.....quality, tolerances, etc, etc.....pros, cons, the good, bad and the ugly.....Thanks....

mr_matt

My Feedback: (10)

I have them on a BVM BobCart ARF, they are a drop in, beautiful fit and finish.

The BVM wheels and brakes are a DIRECT drop in.

15 flights so far, no problems. Highly recommended from me, for what that is worth!

dbarrym

My Feedback: (47)

I have a set on my Boomerang XL. They've worked great and look cool. I will use these on whatever sport jet I can fit them into.

Only negative - check the hardware carefully for tightness on arrival, I had the nosewheel lower strut collapse on the second flight due to the screw holding the lower "collar" (that the trailing link pivots off) being loose. ten second fix, no worries.

Barry

highhorse

My Feedback: (2)

I don't have a set yet...but I can tell you that Todd is really great to work with ! That alone is worth a lot,

Dave Wilshere

We bring them into the UK and so far everyone is happy. The Bandit units are proving popular with so many people flying from grass in the UK-this will test the fit and quality.
Tolerances are good and the material choice looks right, pins are good quality...go for it

Dave Wilshere

furloughed ual

My Feedback: (31)

Barry, did u have to do any mods to the XL to get them to fit.....Also, r u using the retract units from Todd as well as the Intarico wheels and breaks....in other words, r u sing the DW combo for the XL and any mods needed to make them fit.....I'm doing an XL....that's the reason for the specific questions....Thanks.....

dbarrym

My Feedback: (47)

I did have to make some minor mods to get the struts in the wings, this has been well documented by others in the long Boomer XL thread. Basically you need to do get the retract housings canted forward as much as possible to allow the wheels/tires and lower trailing links to sit properly in the existing wheel wells (which also need to be moved forward as much as you can). This can be accomplished with some grinding on the mounting rails and opening up the forward edge of the wheel well cutouts.

I did make some changes to the nose retract mounting to get the wheel entirely into the fuse, you need to tilt the retract body. I did take pics of this and will post them for you. In retrospect I might have left the wheel sticking out, as when my strut came apart (on rollout), it caused the mount to break and nose got chewed up a bit - if the wheel stuck out the tire would have taken the beating.

Barry

Edit to add - I am using Robart 630 retracts...I did not buy Todd's full gear set (it was not available at the time, or I would have).

highhorse

My Feedback: (2)

UAL, the older style have a sharper knee bend and definitely require a lot of work to mount (I have the older Jet1-a, very similar)(make sure your dremel has a full charge!) but his newest style trailing link is almost straight and will require MUCH less work. Worth it.

Call Todd and ask him, he's very familiar with the boomers.[8D]

furloughed ual

My Feedback: (31)

Thanks....will do....

dbarrym

My Feedback: (47)

Found the pics... what I did was cut some angled blocks from 3/4" thick by 1/2" wide ply (made from two layers of 3/8" thick ply laminted with epoxy). These were then cut/sanded with a 3/8" taper and Hysoled onto the existing nosegear mount bearers and firewall.

Barry

dbarrym

My Feedback: (47)

Next you need to relieve the forward former to clear the strut. I used a pnuematic die grinder with a 3/4" sanding drum but a Dremel with sanding drum would also work fine.

Hope this helps!

Barry

furloughed ual

My Feedback: (31)

I appreciate the pics....

gooseF22

I like your screenname. I just returned to AA.

wd40

My Feedback: (81)

Will these work on a Bobcat xl ?

lov2flyrc

My Feedback: (24)

Mike,
The Pro-Link Bandit struts fit the Composite BobCat and Bobcat XL, basically drop-in.
Todd

Tom Antlfinger

My Feedback: (24)

How are you guys mounting the strut cover piece on the Bandit ARF?....or just leaving it off?

Kevin_W

My Feedback: (1)

Yes.
I just put them on my XL today.
It did require a little grinding on the wheel well holes since the wheel base is slightly wider with these struts than it was with the wire struts.
I'm not sure if it was the struts or the new wheel bushings, but my Bobcat's ground handling is MUCH MUCH better that I every remember it being in the previous 850 flights.
I am very happy with these things.

Andrew Bird

I've mounted a set on my Bandit ARF and they are working great.

I had to dremel out a bit of material around the strut to get the fit right and also alter the angle, slightly, of the retract units so the wheels weren't too close to the back edge of the wheel bay.

I thought the doors would stand a little pround from the wing. I have just used a piece of tubing glued to the inside of the door and attached it to the leg with wire. It's glued just above the dog leg so the door can sit right on top of the lower part of the leg. This way the door sits flush with the wing when retracted.