Volkl P40 F1 EnergYrail Binding Question

A snowHead

I recently bought some Volkl P40 F1 EnergYrails. Someone on another forum told me that I didn't need any special bindings so I bought Salomon 914s. Now the ski shop is telling me that ONLY Marker bindings will mount on the EnergYrails. Is this true? Has anyone on this forum ever mounted a different binding on these things? These are different from the red Volkl P40s. These are the black and green ones with the integral lifter rail (EnergYrail).

Thanks

A snowHead

topgun260, Do you actually have the plate that mounts on the rail on these skis? If you do, then you may well ignore the below instructions. It sounds, however, as if the shop you're working with is only seeing the rails and not the plate?

You're in Montana, I see (your Epicski profile didn't say). If your local shop cannot supply the replacement bits (mine called Volkl USA, Volkl USA laughed themselves silly), call Jeff at Proctor Jones www.proctorjones.com. Be sure to order both 2 new replacement plates and 2 new replacement pins.

(The pins are actually harder to find than the plates these days. They are NOT the 2001+ dark-metal anodized ones, those are smaller, these are bright Al and longer and thicker.)

You will also need 2 small Allen (hex) wrenches, metric sized- 3mm and about a ton of silicone lubricant. The plates are actually rather difficult to get into proper position without significant encouragement. I used a square-head hammer that just barely fit between the rails and, after dousing the rails with silicone, I rested the hammer on the plate and tapped the back side of the hammer with a soft-faced mallet.

Threading the pins through (be very careful and methodical here):
If you look at the side of the rail, there are 3 places where the rail and the plate are pierced for the pin to thread through. These are marked with tiny arrows on the topsheet of the ski. You will want to use the rearmost of these- the front two make for a very, very specialist sort of ski and the pins do not take kindly to being repositioned.
Be very careful and methodical here.
The reason you need to be careful is that the female side of the new pins is -not- actually threaded. The male bolt you will use actually cuts new threads in the soft aluminium of the female side. The alloy is very, very soft, and will deform if you make any of these mistakes:
- MISTAKE 1: Try to align the plate with the hole on the rail by forcing the pin through. Throw the pin away- it is now oval in section.
- MISTAKE 2: The pin is not all the way through both holes in the rails when you start threading the male section on. This will appear to work at first. Then it leads to the first 2-3 mm of the female side of the pin getting very chewed up and distorted until it cracks off. Eventually the male side of the pin shears off too (very embarassing in gates, let me tell you!)
- MISTAKE 3: Misaligned female side of the pin when you start. Related to #2
- MISTAKE 4: Overtorqued. I will explain how to counter this.

You'll need 2 tools you haven't used yet- one an Allen wrench (key) that will actually fit -WITHIN- the female side of the pin. The other is one that will match the outside diameter of the pin, so that you can precisely align the plate to the rail before you insert the pin.
Use the larger tool (Mine was a long-shaft Allen key, 5 or 6mm across) and gently tap the rails using the hammer method described above. Make sure the larger tool slides in easily, through both rail and plate, and from either side of the ski, before you even attempt to put the female side of the pin in. (I used a center punch, gently tapped in with the soft-faced mallet, to do the final alignment on both sides of the ski.)
Gently, gently, press the female side of the pin through the first set of holes. Use the smaller tool (the one that fits within the barrel of the pin) and reach around from the other side to guide the pin through the second set of holes. If you encounter more pressure than you can put on with just your thumb, back off and realign the plate to the rail.
Only when the female side of the pin sits flush with the mounting hole on it's side, can you insert the male side of the pin from the opposite side. Before you do, put a drop of thread locker (Loctite blue) only on the top third of the male side of the pin. Using your 2 (3mm) Allen wrenches/keys, hold the female side from moving as you form the threads by rotating the male side. Both sides should be flush with the plate when you are finished.
I am trying to emphasise the point that you only want to do this once with each pin, no repositioning or rethreading.

Mount any binding you want to the plates when you're done.

Hope that helps, hope that your local ski shop knows all of that so you don't have to.

There is also the alternative of removing the RAILS entirely. For another post, methinks.

PJ

Edited for proper wrench sizing.

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

Comprex
Thanks for the info. The skis are brand new. The plates are on the rails I think. The plate is basically green with black down the middle right? I do appreciate the info though because I have heard that I do want the pins in the rear hole. My problem is now that at least two ski shops here, (Kalispell) don't have a clue about these skis. I just got off the phone with one guy who was telling me that if I mounted the 914's on these boards that I would just rip them off of the plate as there wasn't enough meat for the screws to hold. Another shop, who is the local retailer for Volkl, is saying the same thing. So I'll just keep looking for someone who has a clue I guess.
Thanks for the help.

You need to Login to know who's really who.

The plate is more than adequate for anything you care to mount to it, it is actually thicker than the torsion box on a foam core ski. I've had Salomon 997, Marker MRR and now 1400 EPS on mine.

There was a similar plate on the Europe-only Volkl F5 carver, if your shop knows about that one; there were a few places in Sun Valley and the like that stocked that one.

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

Thanks for the info everyone. I finally found a shop that has someone that knows about this ski.

Help!!

Volkl P40 F1 EnergYrail Binding Question

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