FKS Brake Bending - Alternative Method

Yeah, I was so close to buying those 155's off of ebay. I dont think that you can bend them like that, because it seems they dont want to bend into angles, more into a curve. You could try, Im not sure if it will work or not...

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Most pairs I've seen are bent like that.

ive bent quite a few pairs of fks brakes in my day...its an easy enough process.

to mount, wrap an elastic band around the brakes tightly, and make sure that the elastic is over the plate in the back.  once theyre mounted up, take off the elastics.  theyll be sitting on the top sheet of the ski at this point.

grab one of the many broken ski poles youve undoubtedly accumulated through the years and stick the end of the brake into the open end of the broken pole.  then, use ya muscles to bend 'er out, almost all the way.  do this to the other side too, unless youre into one brake like i got on a few pairs.

once theyre sticking out of the sides like a flying v from mighty ducks, stick something between them and the sidewall.  most recently, i used a folded up paper plate, but some kind of cloth tends to work better.  once you got it in there pretty good, use that ski pole again, put the brake like halfway into the pole, and bend.  the sidewall of the ski will act like the lever to bend the brake, which is why youll want to have something in there so you dont mess up the edge or sidewall.  bend until the brakes fall vertical again, and viola!  your brakes will look just like the ones that come with the wide brake fks', and you wont have to spend an arm and a leg buying them.

enjoy!

Thats a good method, but alot of shops wont mount skis if the brakes wont fit over the ski. They will only do it if the brakes are wide enough from the get-go.

do you click in your boots when you do this and crank up the DIN? cause i think i've heard that with this method. i finally decided to bend my brakes so they fit my skis.

i also heard that there's a risk in messing up the springs or something with this way? true?

Not the springs, but when you bend your brakes the way he laid out you can tweak the plastic part that holds the two brake arms together. When that plastic part gets tweaked, you're fucked. I bent my brakes the way he posted, and ended up with problems all season. Halfway down the hill I would look down and see one brake arm sticking straight out ot the side. I would have to take the heelpiece completely apart, put it back together, heli coil my holes, and put it back on. I got good at it. Basically what I am trying to say is, if you're going to bend your brakes, do it the right way and take the heel apart. It's honestly not that difficult. Just be patient.

http://www.tetongravity.com/forums/showthread.php?t=24647

if you really yank on the thing, you can break the spring that makes the brakes go down, but ive never done it.  just be somewhat-but-not-that gentle with it and youll have no problems.

theres no reason for you to have to be clicked in before you crank the din.  but be warned...if the bindings arent new, the heel din can be extremely stubborn.  an electric drill will be your best friend here.

yea you can tweak/break the components inside the ski.   its risky.

http://www.tetongravity.com/forums/showthread.php?t=83419

I'm sold on this method. Pretty much the same as clamping a boot in there but using a vice so you can clamp it all harder so you don't brake anything. Took me 10 minutes max to do a pair instead of about 45 with the take apart method. So much faster, just as effective.

i wish there were still pictures for that method.

Yeah, I'll PM the guy. I was wanting to see them the other day.

yea, if you could do that.  thanks.

The guy has disabled PMs and emailing, so no way of getting in touch.

It was pretty simple though. Tighten the two back screws, remove the front two. Put a block of wood on the brake pad and clamp the whole thing TIGHT. Bend the arms straight (both at the same time recommended but I did them one at a time because of how our vice it set up). Clamp one arm with a pair of vice grips or pliers (jaw width of grips gives you the width to bend to) and bend around that - this stage is key, it localises the force when you're bending. Repeat. Done.

No i meant if you should click your boots in for the brake bending process.

ive never had to when ive bent them beasts.  just have at em!

ahh i just tried it but i'm not gonna continue it anymore. i'm too afraid i'm gonna break something. I heard a couple pops before I even got the metal to bend out and it sounded like the plastic, hope i didn't crack anything. I'm just going suck it up and chase after my skis.

this is weird cuz i barely had to bend my fks brakes for my 86mmm waisted chronic wides ....what widths is everyone having trouble with ?