nippinout
10-20-2005, 11:08 PM
I got my ULE body and really had no appropriate tools to get the twist lock assembly out of my rail.
I've read on the forums that some people used a hammer and just hit it out caveman style. Other people recommended an arbor press. No one really said anything in detail, so I thought I would document what I did. Sorry about not having pictures.
I lacked an arbor press and didn't want to use ye olde sledge. I shoved my rail into a vise with a heavy floor mat to protect the precious rail and starting turning. I didn't bother to protect the twist lock assembly because I was going to trash it afterwards.
Just make sure everything is flat and parallel. If the twist lock assembly gets mangled, it may flare out andnot push through the rail. (I had a valve pin on my Spyder flare out, and just turned the flare down. By turning it down, I mean I used some pliers and a Dremel. If your twist lock assembly flares, just hit it with a Dremel.) After a few tries, the assembly broke free.
I used this setup until the assembly hit the other end of the vise. I then shoved two dowel rods as a spacer between the rail and the vise, with one dowel on each side of the assembly (on the top side of the rail), and finished pushing the twist lock out.
The rail came out without a scratch.
On a paranoid note, it took a bunch of tries to even get the twist lock moving at all. I took it out of the vise multiple times and laid it upsidedown on a piece of glass to make sure everything was still straight and flat.
I've read on the forums that some people used a hammer and just hit it out caveman style. Other people recommended an arbor press. No one really said anything in detail, so I thought I would document what I did. Sorry about not having pictures.
I lacked an arbor press and didn't want to use ye olde sledge. I shoved my rail into a vise with a heavy floor mat to protect the precious rail and starting turning. I didn't bother to protect the twist lock assembly because I was going to trash it afterwards.
Just make sure everything is flat and parallel. If the twist lock assembly gets mangled, it may flare out andnot push through the rail. (I had a valve pin on my Spyder flare out, and just turned the flare down. By turning it down, I mean I used some pliers and a Dremel. If your twist lock assembly flares, just hit it with a Dremel.) After a few tries, the assembly broke free.
I used this setup until the assembly hit the other end of the vise. I then shoved two dowel rods as a spacer between the rail and the vise, with one dowel on each side of the assembly (on the top side of the rail), and finished pushing the twist lock out.
The rail came out without a scratch.
On a paranoid note, it took a bunch of tries to even get the twist lock moving at all. I took it out of the vise multiple times and laid it upsidedown on a piece of glass to make sure everything was still straight and flat.