Binding mounted 1mm to the left a problem?

[Marc]

I just bought a pair of Movement Jam and a pair of Head Rock'n'Roll here in Europe. The web shop mounted all four bindings slightly off-axis. That is 1mm to the left of the longitudinal (tip/tail) center line. So the bindings are 2 mm closer to the left edge than the right edge on all skis. Will that be a problem if I want to (learn) ski according to PMTS? As I understand proper alignment is crucial. I guess it will be easier to tip the skis to the left than the right. But will there be bigger problems?

(I also have a pair of i.Supershape, and the Jams are to my wife).

Marc

[milesb]

just a guess, but I doubt you will be able to tell on such wide skis.

[Marc]

Thanks for the answer. After reading about putting as little as a few layers of duct tape on the toe bindings left or right side to experiment with the alignment I'm anxious a few mm of off-center mount might have the same effect. Maybe I can compensate with cants if I will have a problem. No snow yet here so I can't test.

[boesky]

why were they mounted that way in the first place? it sounds like the shop screwed up.

[geoffda]

Is there some reason you are considering not fixing this? Personally, I'd get it fixed. Otherwise, you'll always be wondering how much the mismount is affecting the behavior of the skis. Definitely don't change your alignment to try to compensate.

I doubt you will get a definitive answer to this kind of a question from the forum. Probably the best place to inquire would be with the manufacturer. Since they designed the ski, they will be much more likely to know what the tolerances are on the mounting points.

[Marc]

I got this answer from the shop:

So, here’s what we have done.
We’ve tried to mount the same binding on an other ski to see where the 3mm come from. When mounting it, we can see it is slightly off centered to the left, like on your skis.
We cannot avoid it, that can come from the templates we’re using, from the binding, the drilling... no mounting is perfect as we don’t use lasers but hands.
What you can try to do is slightly unscrew the binding and push it to the right while screwing it again. You may be able to get 1 to 1.5mm which would recenter it perfectly.
The bad news is that we cannot refund for this, as this is too small, and we may encounter the same problems everytime.
That shouldn’t be a problem at all for skiing.

So they can consistently repeat the failure every time... (that might honor them a ISO 9000 certification )

Good idea, I will contact Head and Movement to hear what they have to say about the tolerance. And then maybe try the skis when the first snow arrives here, before I decide if I will fix the bindings.

[jbotti]

In the grand scheme I am not sure 1-2mm on a binding mount is going to make that much difference. Having said that anyone half way decent using a jig can mount a binding in exactly the right spot every time. What binding are you using? The shop seems to indicate something about the binding that is causing this.

[geoffda]

Interesting. Sounds like the jig might be the issue?

I found a copy of the Salomon shop practices manual from a few years ago that seems to suggest a 1mm tolerance is reasonable:

http://www.scribd.com/doc/58873741/Shop ... -USA-Final

Search for %1

[HighAngles]

If the tech doing the binding mounts is using a freehand drill through a jig then being 1mm off is really easy to do. You're actually going to be more accurate using a template than a jig because the template forces you to use a more accurate drilling pount. When using a jig there's enough "play" between the drilling collar and the drill bit that if you don't have the drill perfectly level (perpendicular to the ski) you'll be off. Using a drill press is the advised way to ensure better accuracy, but I've seen plenty of shops that don't go with the press claiming a freehand drill is faster.

The old loosen the screws and shift the binding as you re-tighten them can work if you're only 1mm off.

[Marc]

According to the Salomon document (thanks for the link) this mismount is close to the acceptable tolerance of +/- 1mm off-center. So the shop is on the safe side. And as that document is valid for skis from fat to narrow, it should be OK also for me. I assume, as some of you do, that if it will have any effect it will be less on wider skis. The skis + bindings are:
Head RnR 94 + Head Mojo 12
Movement Jam (85) + Movement Freeski120
I will try the loosen screws/move/tighten screws trick. If that doesn't work I will remount them using a drill press (thanks for the tips, my plan was to buy a drilling collar). But first filling the old holes with something recommended. And maybe mount inserts instead of normal screws to be able to remove the binding and sneak an extra pair of skis into the ski parcel when flying

[HighAngles]

Being only 1mm will force you to use inserts if you want to re-drill in the same hole locations. New holes need to be at least 10mm (edge to edge) from old holes (even if they're filled). If you really want to go through putting in new holes then seriously look into Quiver Killers or Binding Freedom for inserts.