Quote:
Originally Posted by WDBCB20
What is it with URO that they won't just simply make an exact copy of the OE original, pass the cost of the additional thickness i.e. more rubber on to the customer? Is this really so hard to achieve? Many of the members here already chimed in that they would be happy to pay more to get OE fit and quality!
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Hi guys, in the past it was difficult to accurately replicate seal profiles. Often the seals were NLA, and decades-old used seals are no longer their original shape. Or if new OEM seals are available, sometimes they're not the quite the same shape as OE, so you get some design creep in the shape of a profile (an imperfect copy of an imperfect copy).
However, a few years ago we invested in a FaroArm scanning system, which greatly enhanced our reproduction accuracy. Then about a year ago we added a
Creaform HandySCAN BLACK | Elite system to our metrology lab, which is really stepping up our development program.
If you're curious about Creaform technology, check out these videos:
HandySCAN BLACK: The Ultimate Reference in Portable Metrology
HandySCAN Black Elite Landing Gear Scan Demo
This technology will really help us create accurate seal profiles going forward. It's still not easy to guess the original shape of a seal that hasn't been available new for a long time, but these tools and software will help our engineers capture complex 3D shapes digitally, and enable them to make tweaks to the shapes that will hopefully be more accurate representations of the original items (when they were new).
Needless to say, we're pretty excited about it.