Tony: I'm not an expert on the assembly but on my Legacy I don't believe the loads for extension or retraction would cause a double weld break like that.   The hydraulic stopping loads are not supposed to be transmitted to the weld.  The spacer on the hydraulic actuator takes the load when dropping the gear and the retraction loads stop when the cutoff valve is struck as the wheel comes into the well.  Even if both welds were somehow inferior I can't see how those loads would be transmitted to the welds.   Is it possible the hydraulics put an unintended load on that assembly either through adjustment issues or some other reason or that there is some other friction?  Glad it worked out in your favour.  I'm anxious to learn what caused this.