Salomon Z12 Ti Heel Base Plate Cracking

A snowHead

I have four pairs of skis with Salmon's Z12 Ti bindings. I have also used this binding on another pair of skis I have since sold. I am 150 lbs, and although I am not a hucker or a park guy, I am a very aggressive, expert free skier.

Several years ago, I broke both heel base plates (on separate days) on a pair of skis that had seen several seasons of hard use (no longer have these skis). I wrote it off as the bindings being beat up after so much use. Well, I just broke one on a set of bindings that were less than one year old. I inspected the other ski's base plate and it has significant cracking and is about to go as well. I inspected another pair of my skis and both base plates have the same cracking and are also about to let go.

They all crack laterally from the outside in near the brake attachment screw hole near the forward end of the plate. I believe the plates are aluminum. You can see some pictures at my TGR post on this topic: http://www.tetongravity.com/forums/showthread.php/262328-Salomon-Z12-Ti-Heel-Base-Plate-Cracking

Talking with shops and doing some Google searches I find that this is a very common problem with this binding.

First, let me say that I now know that the Z12 is obviously not the binding I should be using. It is a completely flawed design. I will never buy another one. However, none of Salomon's specifications on the binding would have told me that.

So, here I am with multiple pairs of skis with these bindings (some only a few months old). I use all of these skis and I looking for a cost effective means to solve this problem. I am trying to avoid replacing all of the bindings as the brute force solution.

I have been attempting to work this through a couple of local Salomon dealers, but they are saying the best they can do is get me another set of base plates with the same (inadequate) design. Their recommended option is to just replace all of the bindings with new, stronger bindings. That is great for them, but not very cost effective for me.

I did see one post on another forum where Salomon sent the guy a new set of stronger base plates. He said "the new mounting tracks arrived this morning and are clearly a heavier grade of steel. They are also silver in color rather than black." The post can be found at: http://snowheads.com/ski-forum/viewtopic.php?t=96706. I also posted to TGR's forum and got a reply telling me to replace them with the steel version.

I'm looking for some input from the Snowheads forum. Has anyone else heard of a definitive fix for this issue (other than replacing the bindings)? Does Salomon really make an all steel version? How do I get replacements from Salomon if my local shops seem to not know what they are doing?

Thanks!

A snowHead

The original post on here was mine. Seems to me you've already got all the info you need except Salomon's USA Technical Warranty phone number (if that's where you are - I'm guessing you're not in the UK from the content of your post). Surely your local dealer can give you that number?

When I rang Salomon on the number a helpful UK dealer gave me (it's on the thread) there was no discussion of the problem - the guy just asked for my address and said he'd send them immediately. There was also no discussion about them being an 'upgrade' either - he sent me the heavier duty ones by default so they must know the original ones are a weak point.

Given that the bindings are still indemnified and this is clearly a safety issue, if you're in the litiginous USA I would have thought you could quite easily get them to send you four new sets of steel tracks FOC. Be nice about it though, telling them you're never going to buy their product again isn't likely to make them want to help you.

Just as an aside, the steel tracks are a MUCH tighter fit with the heel piece so if you've got multiple sets of boots with different BSL's it could be tricky to adjust them. I had to put the ski in a vice and use a mallet to get the heel piece into the correct position. I only use one pair of boots though so no problem for me. Also be sure that the two rear screws are really tight - when I checked my other ski that track was also partially cracked and those screws were 1-2 turns off full tightness. The bindings were fitted by a shop so whether they had always been like that or if they had worked loose I can't say. I'm sure that the 'play' in those screws is a contributor to the track cracking though. I've threadlocked them in this time.

Help!!

Salomon Z12 Ti Heel Base Plate Cracking

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