Volkl Aura w. dynafit mounting problems

[Gurterno]

Hi

My girlfriend bought a pair of 2008/2009 Volkl Auras for mounting with Dynafit Vertical bindings (the up to din 10 version). I normally mount all my bindings myself freehand but I didn't dare to mount dynafits as I thought it might be difficult to get them completely lined up.

Anyway, to the problem, the guy in the skishop told my girlfriend he couldn't mount the skis because they were too thin (!!!). He claimed the skis were supposed to come with some kind of plates which we haven't got. This sounds like complete crap to me. Has anyone heard of this? Could the screws be too long? Couldnt he just get some other screws, that shouldn't be all that difficult should it? This is the shop which is supposed to be the best in town and I would assume they have mounted loads of dynafits and loads of Volkl Auras as they sell both.

[Mulletizer]

I had this problem a while ago (but due to a thin ski, rather than a missing plate. A tech was able to sort me out with some shorter screws; if that hadn't been the case then I would have ground them shorter on a stone. AFAIK, the Verticals came with a plate - you could probably pick one up from Salewa/Dynafit USA, if that is where you are.

[Gurterno]

The bindings are complete with plates. He told us that the ski was supposed to come with a plate, which I've never heard about. The screws could of course be too long, but that shouldn't be that difficult for him to check. Just place the screw in the binding and put it on the ski and see if it's too long.

I was just checking if this was a common problem with the Auras. Someone would have experienced it previously if the skis were too thin for standard screws.

[Mulletizer]

Ah. I guess I need to learn to read. ;) The grinding screws bit still stands though.

[HitMe]

The short Mantras and (even more so) Auras are indeed super thin. I bought a pair used which had som dimples in the base because of too long screws. But the skis are more solid than most with wood cores and metal uppers, so there is typically no problem to get the bindings to stick and unless some screw holes are unusually far back or far in front (I don't know the hole pattern of the Dynafits), the regular 3.5*9 drill will not harm the base.

So what is needed is just to either use a tiny bit shorter screws or to grind the screw down a bit before mounting. Getting a good connection with the upper metal sheet becomes important so you might want to tap before mounting.

[AsheanMT]

Chiming in from a shop perspective.

Volkl informed us (all shops) that the Aura is too thin and would require a thin plastic shim (not really a plate, more like a clear 3mm thick plastic sticker) We recieved a few extra in our shop for folks that didn't get their shims. Even with the shims its still very important to check screw depth as its still possible to dimple the bases while using them. Screw grinding is pretty much necessary for the two screws at the back of a heel piece.

So, in short, shop dude was not lying to you but is rather incompetent being that he can't figure out a way to get er done.

[AlpenChronicHabitual]

So, in short, shop dude was not lying to you but is rather incompetent being that he can't figure out a way to get er done.

Quoted for truth.

Grinding down a set of mounting screws takes less than 10 minutes and isn't that hard to do.