Switchback rods for a 27 shell?

[phoenix]

"Were the bindings new?"

Yeah, got them at the end of last season, skied them maybe six times so far. I am considering the possibility that the springs are sort of settling in or something, but yeterday's results were kind of discouraging. Still loosening and going off center after just an hour of easy touring, after getting them centered with plenty of tension at the start. Time for another call to Voile I guess. Surprised I got zero responses to the issue on the other site, figured there's lots of folks who've sked the same combination. I suppose people wrote it off as a dumb question, but in round 40 years of using, and 20+ working on cable bindings, haven't run into this particular issue.

[lowangle al]

The last time it happened to me I thought that maybe my boot was contacting the barrel causing it to turn when I lifted my heel. I think you will get it resolved. It's a great binding.

[phoenix]

Great minds think alike, Al! I had something similar with my old BD 03's, but they didn't go as far out as the SB's. I could try the fix I used on the BD's, I just took a thin strip of duct tabe and wrapped the end of the cartridge to the cable to keep it in place. I'd rather not do that yet with these, in case ther is in fact a deeper issue, and the tape confuses it.

[lowangle al]

Thanks Phoenix, it's always nice to be recognized for my great mind.

[DG99]

I was fiddling with mine and noticed the turning is fairly stiff. I think they have some thick pasty grease on the threads in there….or something. Makes sense if they were loose and easy turning, the repetitive motion would tend to loosen them more and more like any nut and bolt system subjected to movement or vibration.

[phoenix]

Yup. I talked with the folks at Voile again yesterday and we agreed the issue is my boot sole length (305mm) is at the very lowest limit for fit with the standard's. I asked whether that would put me at the very upper end of the shorts, but he (John?) said the shorts go up to 320mm sole length, which would be fine. He had a pair on the way to me that afternoon. Those folks are quite a pleasure to deal with.

[DG99]

That sounds perplexing. The rods are bottoming out? And so you can’t get the heel throw tight enough?

Over the years I have had different length rods, the wrong ones either bottom out ( too long) or the threads stick out (too short).

[phoenix]

I get good tension on the heel throws initially, but they loosen, and move off center as they do. Looks fine initially, but doesn't allow proper spring actvity in the cartridge.

[fisheater]

Good luck with the shorter rods Phoenix, let us know how it goes.

[Lhartley]

Ran into similar problem today, so piggybacking here.

Bought hardwires off marketplace to swap NNN off my guides. The barrels on the hardwires are too short for my t4 but ok for my alico arctic. Assuming a fix for this is to swap out the hardwires out of my switchbacks with the longer rods when needed. Am I assuming right? Are there differences between hardwire and switchback cartridges? They don't say on the website.

Also, I'm having troubles pulling the heel assemblies off either of these bindings easily when mounted. I've heard others talk about pulling their hardwires off and throwing them in their bags and I do this effortlessly with 3 piece cables, what am I missing here?

Everything seems possible as I've switched everything by unthreading the barrels. Just wondering what sorcery in takes to remove the whole assembly without unthreading barrels. Ignore heal placement on the hardwire setup, the skis came with the bindings and go in dumpster or resold