Hi Rick,
I bought the Grove gear for my XL. The gear comes drilled with wheel mounting
holes. I also got it gun drilled for the brake lines.
In order for the gear to fit, you will need to buy or build lower adapters to mount
the gear in the standard Zenith upper gear channel hardware. You can buy
the adapters from Zenair Ltd in Canada. The price I paid with shipping, etc
was $185. Pricey but done right. The price will vary with the current exchange
rate. You mount it toward the front to move the balance point forward, thus
making the plane a little more tail heavy on loading and rotation.
The gear needs to be notched just like the Zenith gear. Keep in mind that this
gear is not 6061 but a 707x alloy that is much more susceptible to corrosion.
Therefore, you should plan to at least prime it as soon as you get it for protection.
I can say from the experience of a forced landing in another XL with standard gear
a few weeks ago that if I was able to keep the nose up a little longer, the
nose gear would not have folded under the the plane and I would have sustained
no damage. Of course, the last statement is based on the assumption that the
Grove gear adapters are strong enough to prevent the rotation of the main gear
within the clamps under that type of force. Nothing is for sure until you
test it to its limits.
Hope that helps.
Bob Tezyk
Midlothian, TX
601XL QB Jab 3300
Working on the wings
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