Squeaky Skis

[Dr.Evil]

I recently purchased a brand new pair QST 106 and STH2 WTR 16 bindings (the bindings were professionally mounted). After about 3 or 4 days on them, both skis developed a squeak whenever the ski flexed on snow (which is pretty much all the time). I did confirm the squeak wasn't coming from my boots by trying another pair of skis back to back with the QSTs. I could even get the "left ski" to to squeak when hand flexing it.

I took the "left ski" back to the shop that mounted them, and the toe piece was remounted/re-glued in the same holes. The squeak on that ski was gone for about a run before it came back. The squeaking is super annoying, to where I don't even want to ski them now (too bad because they are super fun skis). I'm pretty sure the squeak is coming from the front toe piece on both ski.

I talked to a few ski techs and everyone is stumped, has anyone else come across this before?

[BlazersTimbers503]

Same exact thing started happening on my Enforcer 104 Free’s with STH2 16’s this season… 4-5 days on them, same as you. Let me know if you figure it out. I haven’t had the chance to take them to a shop yet and I have other skis I’ve been riding instead.


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[2FUNKY]

Double check the toe height on the binding and the toe wings are good n tight. You should be able to get a sheet of paper between the afd and the boot sole.
Make sure forward pressure is set correctly as well.
Recheck all binding screws are tight and binders are flat on the ski with no gap.
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[Dr.Evil]

Double check the toe height on the binding and the toe wings are good n tight. You should be able to get a sheet of paper between the afd and the boot sole.
Make sure forward pressure is set correctly as well.
Recheck all binding screws are tight and binders are flat on the ski with no gap.
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Thanks for the suggestion. Binding are definitely flat and all the screws are tight, I'll double check the toe height and wings, but since I can get the one ski to squeak just by hand flexing it, I think it's something else.

[Dr.Evil]

Same exact thing started happening on my Enforcer 104 Free’s with STH2 16’s this season… 4-5 days on them, same as you. Let me know if you figure it out. I haven’t had the chance to take them to a shop yet and I have other skis I’ve been riding instead.


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Are your bindings the WTR version?

[waxoff]

Never encountered that myself. But, my first point of interest would be the forward heel "flex" mount screw position. I'd pull those screws and grease the top metal plate interface to the plastic below it. Reglue holes and retighten the screws

[2FUNKY]

Thanks for the suggestion. Binding are definitely flat and all the screws are tight, I'll double check the toe height and wings, but since I can get the one ski to squeak just by hand flexing it, I think it's something else.

Oh ok. That is weird. Never heard a ski squeak by hand flex with no boot in the binding.


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[Djongo Unchained]

Pull the left ski clamps and put another set on there and see if they squeak.
If not, it's something in the first clamps.

[BlazersTimbers503]

Are your bindings the WTR version?

I’ve got the MNC version. Last day I was up my left ski started squeaking when I was laying down hard turns, then started happening on my right one as well (but worse on the left). It got progressively worse throughout the day, so much so that I’d hear squeaking every now and then just straight lining groomers. Heading back to the car I did notice there’s a really slight amount of play on the toe wings, so I was hoping that tightening those would help fix the issue.

[Dr.Evil]

Pull the left ski clamps and put another set on there and see if they squeak.
If not, it's something in the first clamps.

Ya, I was thinking of swapping the bindings from another set of skis, however a friend who’s a shop tech said you should only remount the binding in the same holes once before you risk stripping/compromising the holes.

[Djongo Unchained]

I personally prefer only the initial mounting but many here change up their clamps somewhat more regularly. They may say it's not an issue unless you can't properly turn a screw.

I ski all older solly clamps and one set has squeaking issues. I just laugh and squeak along. It could get annoying tho fosho.

[BlazersTimbers503]

Ya, I was thinking of swapping the bindings from another set of skis, however a friend who’s a shop tech said you should only remount the binding in the same holes once before you risk stripping/compromising the holes.

Did you get the squeaking figured out? I still haven’t gotten mine to the shop yet.

[Dr.Evil]

I think the issue with mine is that there is some sorted or rubbing between the base of the toe piece and the ski. As mentioned earlier, the "left" ski had a louder creak when skiing, and I could get it to creak just by hand flexing it. I first tried sprinkling some powdered graphite around toe wing and base of the binding. After hand flexing it for a bit, the squeak slowly went away, I'm guessing the graphite worked it's way in between the binding and ski. The next morning, I hand flexed the "left" skis and it was still quiet, I took it on snow and after 1/2 a run the squeak returned on both skis (loud as ever on the "left" ski when flexing it). Later that day when I got home, I tried silicon spray around the base of the toe piece, the creak instantly went away. Unfortunately, the next morning before skiing on them I hand flexed the "left" ski and the creak was back. I left them at home and took another pair that out that day. Next, I tried some Muc-Off wet bike chain lube around the base the of the toe piece, it took the longest to work it's way to get the creak to disappear, however I skied the afternoon and both ski were quiet. My STH2's are the MNC version as well, I don't know if it has anything to do with the "dual transfer" switch, it doesn't feel broken, so who knows. I bought the skis and bindings from Ptex 1, he said he's reach out to Salomon but I haven't heard back yet.

[tenB]

Are your binding screws torqued correctly? It almost sounds like they each need snugged up a bit. There shouldn’t be any rubbing between the base of the toe piece and the ski. The fact that graphite and silicone temporally fixed the problem might indicate you need tighter screws.

[kootenayskier]

I’ve never had squeaking with numerous pairs of STH2 WTRs, so the dual transfer switch mechanism on the MNC version seems worthy of investigation. FWIW the notoriously squeaky Warden 11 heel piece issue on my wife’s skis was easily addressed by lubing the heel track with clear bike grease.

[Dr.Evil]

Are your binding screws torqued correctly? It almost sounds like they each need snugged up a bit. There shouldn’t be any rubbing between the base of the toe piece and the ski. The fact that graphite and silicone temporally fixed the problem might indicate you need tighter screws.

I had the binding professionally installed, the binding were flush (i.e. no gaps), after the bindings started squeaking I took them back to the shop and they verified the screws were tight and ended up remounting/re-gluing the "left" ski in the same holes. That fixed the squeak for 1/2 a run. After that, I thought for sure it must be an issue with the core of the ski and tried the graphite as a last ditch effort, I was pleasantly surprised when it worked. I'll report back if I hear back from Ptex1/Salomon.

[1000-oaks]

I'd also grease the heels just to rule them out.

Slide the heel piece off the plastic baseplate, then remove screws and baseplate components. Smear a super thin film of plastic-safe binding grease on underside of baseplate and loosely reattach to ski using rear two screws (add a drop of Gorilla Glue to screw threads). Grease the sides of the two front screw spacers and reinstall in slots. Smear grease on underside of metal plate (Salomon should really mention this in the installation instructions) and reinstall, then torque all screws. Grease underside of each heel piece and brake where they touch baseplate, and wipe a bit of grease on areas of plastic plate where it touches heel piece and brake.

No idea why binding manufacturers don't lube the heel piece to track interface anymore, there's minor yet continuous movement between those pieces.