Mounting D3 Bindings to Radar Universal Plate

[Ed_Obermeier]

Anyone mounted D3's, Animals, Wileys, any standard rubber bindings to the Radar floating plate?  Any problems?  Tips?  I'm sure this has been discussed here before but I didn't find anything using the search function.  TIA.

Ed

[east tx skier]

Bump for curiosity's sake.

[Steven]

Ed,

Couldn't you take one of your existing plates with the hole pattern that you want transfered and just secure it on top of the Radar plate and use a center punch to transfer the hole pattern? Just have to make sure that you have it centered (side to side) and also in the correct position (forward/aft) to optimize the slots for adjustment sake.

[Ed_Obermeier]

You would want to take the binding off its existing plate to mount it to the Radar plate.  So you'd be putting in screws from the bottom to mount it to the new plate, not bolting one plate to another.  You can't really tell where those holes are cause you can't see through the plate (obviously) and the holes for mounting any binding other than the Strada bindings to this plate don't exist, so you have to drill them.  Issues are first getting the binding in the correct location on the plate, then drilling the mounting holes to mount the binding to the plate and matching them exactly correctly so they line up with the mounting holes in the nylon horseshoe thingie around the base of the boot.  Then you have to take the foot bed off the old plate and put in on the new one once you figure out where exactly to place it.  Like my buddy who has done it says, it's doable but it's a major PITA.  I was hoping someone had done it and figured out a guided, repeatable method.

Ed

[Chuck_Dickey]

Ed, You can avoid all that, buy the new Strada Boots! Just got my new Strada's and they are SWEEEEEEET! 

 Way to go Radar! 

[Ed_Obermeier]

I'd kinda like to get a pair of Vector's (or whatever replaced the Rail bindings - similar to the D3's I'm told), I'm not too sure though about bindings that don't feel tight on your foot which is what I've gotten from what I've read about the Strada's.  Had a good ski bud try the RS1's and didn't like them, too small for me to try.  If I were to try the Strada bindings I may indeed like them, I don't know.  However I've got two perfectly good pairs of D3 Hiwraps which I absolutely love, plus enough stuff to rebuild two boots, so I hate to invest a bunch more $$$ when there is no reason to.  I'll eventually move to something Radar for bindings but for right now I'm good with what I'm riding.  Suggestion appreciated though.

Ed

 

[Chuck_Dickey]

Ed,

 It does feel a little different for the first couple sets but then you'll never look back! H2Oz will let you ride before you buy, give Tadd a call. I'll bet Horton has a pair to demo.

[D Wolters]

Ed,

You ask for it so here we go!

 Go to a local office supply and pick up a pad of isometric paper (aka Iso. Paper) and the tape used for holding down drafting paper.  

Iso paper has horizontal, vertical, 30 & 120 degree lines on it and is also used for tracing.

 Remove the D3 plate from the binding.  

Using a single sheet or starting with the pad. Place the plate on the pad, right side up. Use the iso lines to square the plate up on the paper and trace a line around the plate. Tape the plate to the paper.

 Turn the plate/paper over and use a soft leaded pencil to shadow in all of the mounting holes for the binding. (remember doing this as a kid with a piece of paper and penny)  

Remove the plate from the paper. Write the words “This side up†in the middle of your tracing. Cut all the excess paper off following the line you drew around the plate.

 This will be the template to transfer the mounting holes to the radar plate.  

Scribe a line down the middle of the radar plate. Place the template on the plate (with the right side up) and center it up using the iso lines. Not sure about fore and aft this one’s on you buddy.

 Tape the template to the plate. Place the plate on a stable flat surface. Use a center punch and hammer to mark all of the mounting holes. (Be sure to be in the center of the shadowed area’s)  

Remove the template from the plate. Use a drill press and drill all of the mounting holes. More than most likely you will also want to countersink the holes.

 Use some sandpaper to remove any spur’s left behind during drilling. Mount your binding to the plate.  

Disclaimer:

 Never tried it…but this is how I would do it.

[DW]

The above is a technically correct way to do it, using tracing paper is also an option.  The other option would be to clamp the existing plate to the Radar plate and center punch or use tooler blue to mark the necessary holes (spray paint also works).  Then drill the needed holes, countersink and attach binding.

[D Wolters]

DW,

Smart *ss!

Only kidding, good answer

[Thomas Wayne]

If you really want to do a good job of locating your holes in the new plate, forget center-punching - buy one of these instead:

http://www.garrettwade.com/product.asp?pn=66K07.04&bhcd2=1271955289

Cheap, very effective, and you'll find uses for it that you never would have considered.  I've got every size they make.

TW

[eddie_roberts_jr]

Ed,

To make things simple I'm pretty sure you could bolt your D3 front binding right up to the existing inserts of the Strada then put your back D3 binding on an H.O. plate which will bolt right on as well.

[Ed_Obermeier]

That's actually Plan A Eddie.  My rear D3 is on an HO plate now so unless for some reason it comes with the D3 hole pattern I'll just take them off the MPD and mount them to the Strada.  Plan B is to swap the rear plate back to a D3 plate if necessary.  Just trying to come up with some way to put them on the single floating plate if possible and should I decide to do that, which I well may.  My buddies ski coming with the D3 pattern rather than the HO pattern is what started all of this.

D Wolters - thank you for the detailed answer.  I knew there had to be a better way to do it, just needed your brain power, thank you.  Same to you DW, thank you.

Ed

[D Wolters]

Ed,

That's the reason I replied the way I did. I tried to answer your Question. DW's method makes more sense and is a lot quicker. One thing to remember is that their are multiple holes for the horseshoe in the plate. Be sure to identify what holes are used when you drill.

[D Wolters]

One other thing Ed.

I'm with you about the single plate concept. If my ski where to break in half, no matter what brand, I want both bindings attached to a single plate and hopefully avoid what happened to Jenifer.

Superman make the comment some time back and has stuck with me.

[ForrestGump]

Dave, When Marc's goode broke he was on a single G10 plate and it still folded the front binding back and destroyed his ankle. 

[D Wolters]

Well that blows........

[Roger]

I'll echo what Chuck and others have said. Try the Stradas. Yes, it will take a few sets to get comfortable with the difference in feel. However, once you get settled, you will wonder why anyone still skies on rubber bindings. I'm 3 and a half seasons on my RS-1 system now and would not consider going back to rubber. Add in the fantastic support from Eddie at Radar and I don't see how you can lose.

Vectors: 

My ski partner, a 3 time National champion, bought the Vectors at the last Nationals and she is thrilled with them. They work more like a traditional boot in that there is no seperate liner, just elastic closures similar to the RS-1/Strada system. They also come on the RS-1 plate.

BTW, I came off very tight fitting double BIO high wraps. While the RS-1s felt looser overall, the side to side (lateral) stiffness of the RS-1s is as good as any hardshell system I've tried and I found I was edging too agressively at first. For the same amount of side pressure exerted to edge the ski, I was getting much more edge in the water compared to the rubber bindings. After about 5 sets, I forgot all about that and within another few sets, tied my PB.

[D Wolters]

Ed,

Ditto what Roger said,

I went from rubber to hardshell to the RS1's. This is my third season in them and will tell you easy entry, easy exit, with all the comfort and edge control you'll need. 

[Ed_Obermeier]

Finally got to go pick up my ski today!  Reset the fin to factory numbers (it was close but needed a little tweaking) and mounted the D3's.  They mounted right up; mine came with the HO insert pattern so the bindings swaped from the MPD to the Strada no issues.  I'll be riding it for the first time tomorrow (Wednesday) evening, can't wait to get on it!

On question - how are you guys measuring DFT (yeah I know, I need to get a slot caliper...).  Heads, stem, ???  I have one hell of a time measuring DFT; I've always used the D3 (stem) method but it's so hard to get a consistant reading.  Once I get rolling I can adjust it by feel but a solid starting point would be helpful.  I ended up leaving the DFT alone as the other settings out of the box were in the ball park but it sure would be nice to get a consistant method for that setting so I know exactly what I have.  Yeah I know, buy a slot caliper...

Ed

[Jim Neely]

I had the same issues with DFT until I purchased an ezfintool. Now my DFT setting are consistent and I don't have to remove the wing to set the depth either.

ezfintool.com

[DW]

Ed, as you mentioned, one tool you should get is one of the options to basically repeatedly "jig" the ski and measure.  Actually, if you are really cheap frugal, a small T square will do the trick, just set it against the back of the ski and measure from the true very tail of the ski, the long leg on top of the fin block.  The only requirement is a flat topped fin block.  This won't give you the same measurement as the slot caliper or some of the other techniques used, but it will repeat every time.  Should be very close to the aluminum fin tools, the difference will be the effect of the parallelism of the top and bottom edges to the 90 degree leg used as the caliper stop (a very small number).  I like the concept of the EZ fin tool as it jigs the back of the ski and is a 2-1 tool, but the slot caliper eliminates having an extra tool that can get lost.

Another thing I would suggest, mark the location of the fin with a pencil on the ski, both leading and trailing edges of the fin.  Also scribe a line on the fin where it intersects the ski itself and lastly scribe the wing angle edge.  With that, you can always get the fin right back to where it was, if you mark a baseline setting that works well, or your last setting if you erase and update the marks.  Pencil is good as it stays and can be erased to remark a new position if desired.  A baseline set of marks is good as this allows you to always get back to a setting that worked or you felt comfortable with. 

[D Wolters]

Ed,

Use head to measure, one thing about the Strada the tail is squared off and not rounded. While taking the measurment only apply enough thumb pressure to allow you to slightly rock your caliber back and fourth until you feel it square up with the tail of the ski. Increase your thumb pressure(hold the caliber down in place). To me with this method I can repeat the reading several times without fail. Not sure if it's the best method but it is repeatable. Try it