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FKS Bendy: My experiences (Holy $h!t)

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Rippy087
Posts: 666 - Karma: 12

Ok, so my shop wouldn't bend my FKS 155 bindings,  understandable.  70mm brakes for a 92 mm ski (4FRNT MSP) isn't exactly a standard bend.  So after they tell me they won't bend them I just ask "can I come in here, use your equipment, and bend them myself" they are just like "yea sure why not".

And so it begins...

I get to the shop at around 5pm, I did some research on TGR, downloaded all the guides, I printed them all out and I think I'm all set.  The tech that decided he would help me, Kurt, didn't think the wood block and vice method would be good.
http://www.tetongravity.com/forums/showthread.php?t=83419
So I proceed to the entire dissassembly method :
http://tetongravity.com/forums/showthread.php?t=24647&highlight=brake+bend+tutorial

All I can say right now is Holy Shit.  I was in the shop for 4 hours before finishing, and my hands are bleeding, covered in oil and dirt, but I have two widebrake FKS 155's, well kind of.  I didn't bend them perfectly so each brake is bent at a different angle, and they don't go high enough to clear my skis.  So when I pick up my skis on monday, I'm cranking my din to 15, clicking in, and just bending them up as much as I can.  I am NOT going through the entire dissassembly process again.

Pics of this butchering are comming up on Monday after I pick up my skis.  All I can say is holy shit I;m glad this is over.  On a good note though, I talked with the manager after I finished and asked about a job, he said he will hook me up after winter break, woot!

Jake

Nov 30 2007 10:00PM
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InitialG
Posts: 1505 - Karma: 14
and thats why I bought wide brakes for my districts, fuck that mess
Nov 30 2007 10:07PM
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Tucks
Posts: 2120 - Karma: 161
yea its a pain in the ass
Nov 30 2007 10:09PM
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Aenigma
Posts: 11256 - Karma: 428
Holy crap, how did it take you that long?  My first set took me about an hour and a half to do, and there definitely wasn't any blood involved.  What were you having trouble with?
Nov 30 2007 10:12PM
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P.J.S.
Posts: 1782 - Karma: 11
4 hands are not better than 1?
Nov 30 2007 10:16PM
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Rippy087
Posts: 666 - Karma: 12
I know it shouldn't have taken that long, but first I put the baseplate on before putting the rest of the binding into the housing (my retarted mestake), so I had to pop it back off, but it wouldn't come off since the spring wasn't in.  Then I couldn't get the baseplate back on after that, for some reason it just wouldn't come on.  And if you hold it or move it incorrectly parts just pop out, and they are a huge pain to get back in.  Then I finally got the baseplate in on one, but we couldn't get the spring in so I took it apart again etc etc etc.... Then when we finally figured out a good technique to it we finished both in like 20 mins.
Nov 30 2007 10:25PM
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lyndon
Posts: 7266 - Karma: 128
Yeah, now that I know how to do mine, its not that hard. I just wish that they sold pre-bent brakes for FKS bindings like they do for the PX series..
Nov 30 2007 10:42PM
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Microcosm
Posts: 4765 - Karma: 153
let's see pics of these bloody hands. haha, that sounds pretty crazy though/
Nov 30 2007 10:42PM
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fouldsys
Posts: 7404 - Karma: 39
i bent 2 pairs of fks's 1 for 87mm and 1 for 122mm. the smaller ones were harder to bend cause they were so close to the original bends. but both pairs took me no more than 2 and a half hours.
Nov 30 2007 10:51PM
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Peach.
Posts: 3879 - Karma: 933
what a mess
Nov 30 2007 11:00PM
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720skiguy
Posts: 4553 - Karma: 21
yea dude put the spring in after, took me an hour with 2 sets of hands.
Dec 1 2007 12:11AM
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Rippy087
Posts: 666 - Karma: 12
ya that's what we ended up doing in the end, once we figured out how to do it (hammer and the blunt end of a wrench) it was so easy.  only problem was we spent about two hours trying to do it the other way.  and it took so long because I was doing it alone most of the time, SO much easier with two sets of hands (everyone was busy)
Dec 1 2007 1:13AM
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Aenigma
Posts: 11256 - Karma: 428
Yeah, pushing the baseplate on with the spring is a bitch to do.  Just pop the plate back on with a little allen wrench or something, then put the spring in with a small screwdriver and hammer and you shouldn't have any problems doing it by yourself.
Dec 1 2007 1:21AM
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=nick=
Posts: 10471 - Karma: 2,182
i did the clamp thing with a piece of plywood and took me literally 5 minutes, haha!
Dec 1 2007 2:51AM
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Rippy087
Posts: 666 - Karma: 12
we started doing it that way and switched to complete dissassembly, we got worried we would screw it up that way
Dec 1 2007 10:25AM
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coffinparty
Posts: 231 - Karma: 11
The only thing it does is that the braje won't retract proporly. For me at least. I just didn't bend them back a perfect 90 angle.
Dec 1 2007 11:42AM
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Love_Wins.
Posts: 5536 - Karma: -1
Seriously?
Wow, Even my first set wasn't that bad...after 2 or 3 sets I'm down to about 30mins from dis-assembly to putting 'em back together.
They're a lot easier than pivot series brakes...I hate those mothers sooooo much.
Dec 2 2007 12:27AM
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CTD
Posts: 6301 - Karma: 350
honestly, they arnt that hard to pull apart and put together. as long as you keep things in the turntable in order as you pull um apart, your set.  sucks you had a hard time with it tho.
Dec 2 2007 2:00AM
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LC.
Posts: 5952 - Karma: 2,423
The key for bending them at the right angle is to paint a line along the length of the brake arm on the outside of the curve before you bend so you know the right axis to bend on once you straighten them. I'm going to try the wood clamp method for the first time on my new ones.
Dec 2 2007 5:18AM
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