Socket for head with very little protrusion / low profile

[Alpinord]

That's where I used 'em, Northern WI and MN. You could see the wake on the surface when a Pike was heading for the spoon like a cruise missile. One day I had a two-foot Pike on the line, and either a much bigger Pike (or a Muskie) took the back half clean off.

Don't hang your feet off the dock and splash the surface, lol.

^^^^
That is what parents used to keep unsupervised kids out of the water. They were scarier than sharks.

As a wee lad I almost got yanked out of the boat when the rod bent 180° after a strike. Landing the pike was a big thrill as a kid.

[GeezerSteve]

I have fond memories trollin' for northerns with Uncle Elmer at Mille Lacs Lake

[fatnslow]

Use a large standard blade driver jammed in the recess with one edge countering against a corner of the bolt while tightening the hex. If the threads are fairly clean you might be able to create enough resistance to tighten it up.

[Spyderjon]

......The pivots can't be tightened up any more, because although the hole appears to be open with additional penetration potential by the bolt, the bolt is actually hitting a subtle little ledge at the end of its travel limitation.......[/LIST]

Remove, drill out the shoulder/ledge & re-install. Simples!

[ill-advised strategy]

and let's not forget you could very well add some material....you could lay some fiberglass in there or a little sheet of polyethylene.

don't give up dude. it's just materials and hardware. joo can doo eet

[dcpnz]

Remove, drill out the shoulder/ledge & re-install. Simples!

I'll have to pull mine apart again to document but I don't think it's that simple at all.

At least on mine, the slop is not laterally from the nut not tightening enough.
It is vertically from material wear, either cuff or clog or both.

[XXX-er]

http://www.bndskigear.com/dynafitcustom.html

Ultimate cuff pivots at the bottom of the page with a write up in Wildsnow

I gotta ask if the pivots are that worn how worn is the rest of the boot ?

is it time to upgrade OR if you really like them shoes

find a lightly used pair of closet queens from some fucking dentist

which should be easy cuz you know what size your need ?

[dcpnz]

I gotta ask if the pivots are that worn how worn is the rest of the boot ?

Very well used but not entirely beat to death. Certainly still functional for my occasional super fast and light missions and limited racing.
Since both clogs have previously been replaced for cracks and new liners are readily available it makes sense to try and address pivot wear. Will take a look at bnd stuff.

I tend not to do a lot of rock scrambling which quickly kills ultralight boots.
Just the nature of this boot lends itself to covering big miles which leads to pivot wear.

Since I’m not exactly in contention for podium spots if I join the lycra crowd, a new pair looks unnecessarily expensive and most folks selling used think theirs are made of gold.

A move to the new RS would probably make sense for me but bsl is different and would require redrilling.

Back on topic:
Jonathan - be interested if you’ve tried anything and had any success??

[XXX-er]

the pivots are 90 US vs finding a slightly used boot

up here the going rate for a used AT boot is 250CAN$

sometimes you find somebody who never used the boot cuz it didnt fit em or whatever

[NorCalNomad]

http://www.bndskigear.com/dynafitcustom.html

Ultimate cuff pivots at the bottom of the page with a write up in Wildsnow

I gotta ask if the pivots are that worn how worn is the rest of the boot ?

is it time to upgrade OR if you really like them shoes

find a lightly used pair of closet queens from some fucking dentist

which should be easy cuz you know what size your need ?

+1 or take some measurements and turn some Delrin/ UHMWP Bushings

[dcpnz]

up here the going rate for a used AT boot is 250CAN$

Anyone selling lightly used size 27 Alien 1.0 for CAD$250 please PM me.
Calling dibs in advance....

[Jonathan S.]

[...] Jonathan - be interested if you’ve tried anything and had any success??

Thanks for the continuing suggestions, and also my apologies for not having chimed in for awhile, but was very busy both with organizing a skimo race and also “real” work at the same time.

Has the plastic around the whole has worn thinner, or has the hole worn to a larger diameter or oblong shape?[...]

I'll have to pull mine apart again to document but I don't think it's that simple at all.

At least on mine, the slop is not laterally from the nut not tightening enough.
It is vertically from material wear, either cuff or clog or both.

That’s essentially what Scarpa said:
“Depending on the generation you might have worn down the lowers where they attach or you might have worn through the plastic washers that are in between the cuff and the lowers.”
The latter they can fix, but not the former.
Might wait until the summer to send them back.

[...]
I gotta ask if the pivots are that worn how worn is the rest of the boot ?

is it time to upgrade OR if you really like them shoes

find a lightly used pair of closet queens from some fucking dentist

which should be easy cuz you know what size your need ?

At almost 1.1 million earned vertical feet, some other little things are acting up, although overall I’ve still been very impressed by their durability.
Sizing is kind of the issue though – I’ll omit the full story for now, but after our arctic spell here, I really shouldn’t keeping trying to get away with downsizing like this.
(For example, often I wasn’t regaining sensation in my toes until an hour after getting off snow, and after one race -- negative 20F at the summit, and the resort even tried to cancel my race on me -- my toes still hurt when I went to bed at night...)

[...]I tend not to do a lot of rock scrambling which quickly kills ultralight boots.
Just the nature of this boot lends itself to covering big miles which leads to pivot wear.

I’ve been pretty good so far with rock scrambling on both these boots and even PG boots...although then again, the soles on the original-generation Dynafit EVO (i.e., white with red & black accents) started crumbling (literally) after only a few hours of off-snow travel, so maybe I just average out across all those boots!
Agreed though on how the efficiency of these boots lends itself to more wear, i.e., more strides per hour = more wear & tear!

[...]but bsl is different and would require redrilling.[...]

I know that feeling!

Speaking of which, with a race quiver reshuffling brought about by new boots and changing race series sponsorship, I’ll have a pair of these from this past season for $295 (plus USPS shipping from 01002):
https://skimo.co/dynafit-dna-skis
Condition is pretty much pristine – only light amount of use on resort groomers.
Drilled just once for LTR “1.0" for Alien 1.0 sz 26 bsl 279.
(I have three local buyers potentially interested, so I’m not posting them elsewhere for sale just yet.)

[XXX-er]

At almost 1.1 million earned vertical feet, some other little things are acting up, although overall I’ve still been very impressed by their durability.
Sizing is kind of the issue though – I’ll omit the full story for now, but after our arctic spell here, I really shouldn’t keeping trying to get away with downsizing like this.
(For example, often I wasn’t regaining sensation in my toes until an hour after getting off snow, and after one race -- negative 20F at the summit, and the resort even tried to cancel my race on me -- my toes still hurt when I went to bed at night...)

)

I don't do that silly shit anymore but if you can feel your feet a week later ... yer golden

[JTrue]

Running into the same issue with mine, seems like it is likely a washer that has worn, but haven't pulled them apart to look yet.

[Jonathan S.]

And ... success:
https://www.facebook.com/NERandoRace...39304529444116
Sort of -- finally resorted to surgery after one pivot in particular became far more loose than the other three.
I also understand now why Scarpa says nothing can be done for the more typical loosening up, since I doubt any normally available washer would fit in that tight space (and any tape would have to very thin yet somehow not get kinked up over time).
And many thanks again for the rec on the IceToolz, which is perfect for this application!

[Jonathan S.]

Also, in case anyone thinks this might exist (or is better than I am at quickly checking out some industrial washer supply websites), the specs for a washer to tighten up typical loosening Alien 1.0 pivots at around the 1 million vert feet mark:
ID = ~11.4mm
OD = hmm, would have to disassemble again to get a precise #, but probably around 12mm
thickness = ditto, but around 7mm based on the broken-off protrusion.

[jono]

OD of 12 mm? That's not a washer, that's a really thin wall tube! Or was that what you meant about the film tape?

[Jonathan S.]

OD of 12 mm? That's not a washer, that's a really thin wall tube! [...]

Oooh, interesting - one of these might work:

http://www.speedymetals.com/pc-3411-8242-12-od-x-0035-wall-dom-steel-tube.aspx
1/2" OD {A} x 0.430" ID {B} x .035" Wall {C} DOM Steel Tube

http://www.speedymetals.com/pc-3420-8242-58-od-x-0095-wall-dom-steel-tube.aspx
5/8" OD {A} x 0.435" ID {B} x .095" Wall {C} DOM Steel Tube

[plugboots]

Before and after picture of what Steve was talking about



Sent from my iPhone using TGR Forums

[jono]

Oooh, interesting - one of these might work:

If you're lucky in the needed size? In case you need to get more precise and don't mind making your own:

https://www.mcmaster.com/#shim-stock/=1ctrhau

The options in metal are more varied, but with a seam in there I might try for plastic as it seems less risky to the boot. Nice to have no seam if you can use tube, of course, but if necessary at least a seam could be located carefully since you're not rotating 360 degrees.

[Jonathan S.]

And ... success!
Mainly.
More specifically, even just little shims of 0.4mm LDPE (from a milk container) make a huge difference.
Unfortunately, the "mainly" part is that I've tightened up three out of four pivots, and unfortunately I got too carried away with the loctite on the fourth when I previously disassembled/reassembled it for investigative purposes.
But for a pair of boots with 1.16 million vertical feet, good enough!
Some other details here:
https://www.facebook.com/NERandoRace...50597431648159