I still recommend cold bending - and here's why:

True, the BEST way to do it is to heat and quench - HOWEVER, both the heating AND quenching must be done properly.

You cannot heat an area of the steel, bend it and quench it without affecting another part of the steel.

If you are going to do it, the steel must be heated, bent, and then the ENTIRE piece needs to be heated to the proper temperature (Specified by the type of steel and the desired temper) for the proper LENGTH OF TIME (Again depending on material and temper) and THEN quenched properly (Ditto) And possibly re-heated to desired temper.

So here is the bottom line.

Cold bending: Not Idea, but fast and reliable

Heated bending without quenching: Anneals the metal to a soft state which will bend under most landing gear applications

Heating and quenching: Best way, but time consuming and MUST be done properly to achieve desired results.

Now... It is true that doing a so-so job of heat treating may not be perfect but can still achieve a usable gear, the same can be said for cold bending.

However, there is a better chance of screwing up the temper when using heat.

Therefore. I will stick to cold bending.