Chassis on Boots

[All Torhs Team 0]

Basically this is a rant, but also want to make sure I’ve got all my facts straight. My friend is starting up roller hockey so I said he could have my old Mission 7500 boots. Boots are in great condition but the chassis was snapped. He already had wheels too. All I told him he needed to do was go into our LHS and ask him to put a chassis on. Well I took him there to get it done, we were going to buy a chassis , ask him to put it on then rotate the wheels ourself. Well our LHS owner tells us it is not POSSIBLE to put on a chassis on this skate. He didn’t say he didn’t know how, he said it couldn’t be done. I asked him why and he said you cant put Chassis’s on boots after a chassis already broke on it. I asked him why he carried chassis then and all he said is “if someone needs oneâ€.

I thought I knew a lot about roller hockey skates and stuff but this was news to me.

Conclusion: My LHS owner is a dick.

[ash_96 0]

It depends how the chassis breaks. But 9 times out of 10 it will be fine. as long as the boot is intact and in good condition it will be fine to put another chassis on.

[sdcopp 1]

not to mention the owner's a moron. There is no reason you can't remove the old chassis and put a new one on unless the sole of the boot was damaged/destroyed in the process of the chassis snapping. I'd either talk to him again and insist that he remove the rivets, toss the old chassis and mount a new one like normal. If he refuses, I'd find a different LHS, or do the mounting yourself.

[All Torhs Team 0]

not to mention the owner's a moron. There is no reason you can't remove the old chassis and put a new one on unless the sole of the boot was damaged/destroyed in the process of the chassis snapping. I'd either talk to him again and insist that he remove the rivets, toss the old chassis and mount a new one like normal. If he refuses, I'd find a different LHS, or do the mounting yourself.

No, the boot is in Perfect condition besides what I did to it from normal play. The broken chassis had no effect on it what so ever. The rivets wer'nt even pulled out. The lower part of the chassis broke. So Im 99.9% sure that I'm right. Maybe after school I can get a picture of the chassis up and show you what exactly it is.

Also, I cant really insist that he removes the rivets and toss the old chassis. When we went in, I think he knew he was wrong he just wanted a sale. He kept trying to get us to try on these other skates and look at newer models. And also, I cant really go to another LHS. He owns like 4 and they are the only ones around me, spread around the state.

[sdcopp 1]

not to mention the owner's a moron. There is no reason you can't remove the old chassis and put a new one on unless the sole of the boot was damaged/destroyed in the process of the chassis snapping. I'd either talk to him again and insist that he remove the rivets, toss the old chassis and mount a new one like normal. If he refuses, I'd find a different LHS, or do the mounting yourself.

No, the boot is in Perfect condition besides what I did to it from normal play. The broken chassis had no effect on it what so ever. The rivets wer'nt even pulled out. The lower part of the chassis broke. So Im 99.9% sure that I'm right. Maybe after school I can get a picture of the chassis up and show you what exactly it is.

Also, I cant really insist that he removes the rivets and toss the old chassis. When we went in, I think he knew he was wrong he just wanted a sale. He kept trying to get us to try on these other skates and look at newer models. And also, I cant really go to another LHS. He owns like 4 and they are the only ones around me, spread around the state.

You know what amazes me though, is owners of shops like that tend to give in when they know they can't make a sale and that they're wrong. The other thing here is, he can't be in all of his shops at once, can he? I actually deal with a shop owner here like that, and if he's working at his north store, I go talk to his shop manager at the south store who seems to have a much better grip on things and works for the customer better.

I think what a lot of people forget is: he is not paying you, you are giving money to him and as such he needs to be willing in the end to give you what you want if it is within the normal realm of services offered. He should be working for you since you help pay his bills. If he is not willing to service you as a customer, he does not deserve your business.

[riotgear 4]

i'd say mount a sprung chassis on the boot then take it back into the store and he will be amazed at the new product you have that he has never seen before. then he will ask all kinds of questions about how you came about the sprung chassis and how you mounted it. then he will continue to speak of your success and end up leading himself into admitting that he's a freakin' moron who knows nothing of skates.

:)

[Joker518 0]

It can be difficult to remove and mount inline frames on boots more so than ice hockey holders. OK, maybe "difficult" isn't the word... Maybe "annoying"? If the dude is lazy, this could be the case but I don't know why any LHS would pass on that business, I mean thats the sort of stuff they're supposed to base their business around... Its something the huge warehouse sporting goods store don't offer. Not to mention the big markup on skate work like that.

My guess? They may not have an inline skate die-set for the shop riveter and are not willing to do the extra labor involved in getting the job done. Telling you guys "it can't be done" is just too funny. I'd shop there again but be extremely wary of having them service my skates in the future...

[Datsyukiandeek 0]

No need to host a pic, I garuntee your chassis broke in the same fashion as my last two pairs of HE5500s

[eaglehockey33 0]

how does someone do the mounting themselves

[sdcopp 1]

how does someone do the mounting themselves

without a riveting press, you have to use some alternative hardware. Other than that it's drilling out the old rivets, measuring a pair of frames a few times for accuracy, drilling the new holes where needed and securing to the boot. It's really not hard, just a bit of time and patience to line it up right and do the work.

[eaglehockey33 0]

one you drill the holes, what would you use to secure it in

[iceburg19 1]

you could use t-nuts and machine thread screws(round head)sort of like what graf uses for their holders.

[Rick 0]

Guys,

I've been mounting my own frames using the T-Nut and 6/32 or 8/32 bolt method and I really like the results. I have gone to using the black socket head bolts with a thin washer and a small lock washer and I think they look really good.

I just line up the chassis and mark the locations for the holes and then drill the holes in the sole of the boot. The key is to take your time and not rush it. After I drill the holes I place the T-Nuts into the two rear holes at the heel of the boot and then place the chassis against the bottom of the boot. I put the two rear bolts up through the rear holes in the chassis and tighten them down but not real tight yet. Then I put two of the T-Nuts into the front holes and repeat the process. That lines everything up so then you can add the additional T-Nuts and bolts and then tighten like you would tighten lug nuts on a car wheel, tighten a little and move to the next and tighted a little and so on. Then tighten everything down tight and as you do it seats the T-Nuts in the boot. I have found that if you tighten one side down tight and then tighten the other side you run the risk of pulling (tilting) the chassis one way or the other a little bit but if you take your time it works really well.

This application looks really clean if you do it right and for me it beats driving an hour and paying $40 dollars to have them riveted. It is also neat that you can take the chassis off if you like (in about five minutes) and try something else.

In case you are wondering how these skates hold up let me say I am 6'01 and 240 pounds and I have not had any problems at all. The T-Nuts pull down just as flat as a rivet on the inside of the boot so you don't notice a bump or anything and the bolts are solid. As for weight they probably weigh a little more but I honestly don't notice it at all.

I have a bunch of skates, mostly older and I have done three pair for me and one pair for my son with great results.

Also, I buy 3/4 inch long bolts and those work well at the heel but I have to cut a small amount off of the length of the bolt for the front mounting plate at the toe. I use cut off pliers that you just screw the bolt into and then clip it off at the desired length.

Good Luck and give it a try.....

Rick Henry

[sdcopp 1]

can you post pics of all the hardware you use Rick? I thought T-nuts came threaded and you could simply use machine round screws in them. I am going to mount my Sprungs soon and haven't done a mounting in about 8 yrs using the super long snap off bolts and washers with lock nuts, so I'm curious how you're utilizing the T-nuts if it's essentially the same thing.

[DangleSpud 0]

can you post pics of all the hardware you use Rick? I thought T-nuts came threaded and you could simply use machine round screws in them. I am going to mount my Sprungs soon and haven't done a mounting in about 8 yrs using the super long snap off bolts and washers with lock nuts, so I'm curious how you're utilizing the T-nuts if it's essentially the same thing.

Here Are 2 pics of the same hardware he is talking about. I mounted thee some time ago when the h505 chassis first came out. Fairly easy, just buy a buch of different length bolts to make sure they don't stick up, and return the rest to the hardware store. Typically I use an 1" to pull the tnuts into the boot, then, once they are all seated, I use the proper lengths, Usually around 1/4" to 5/8" in the heel.

[sdcopp 1]

Hmmm, I probably will go with the screws then as the hex head bolts stick out quite a bit more. Thanks for the pics though as it shows me what I need to know. As I said last hardware I used were the super long bolts with lock nuts on the outside that tended to tear out eventually because of their shape and size.

[Sprungster 5]

Hmmm, I probably will go with the screws then as the hex head bolts stick out quite a bit more. Thanks for the pics though as it shows me what I need to know. As I said last hardware I used were the super long bolts with lock nuts on the outside that tended to tear out eventually because of their shape and size.

Go for the phillips round-head screws so you can use a screwdriver.

If you can find them, you want to use good steel T nuts. Most of what you find at the big places like Home Depot are made of pot metal and they corrode to a mess (like the picture) from all the sweat. The pot metal ones will also strip very easily.

And as you'll notice, the T nuts have three long prongs that are meant to dig into the material they're used on. They have to be broken off with wire cutters or needle nosed pliers.

After I've marked the mount holes through the frame and checked the alignment a bunch of times, I use a 3/32 drill with a starter point to drill pilot holes first then use the bit that's a little bigger than the T nuts. The pilot hole is helpful because you can nail each exact spot. And a lot of times the new holes are near enough an old one that the larger drill bit will just crawl into the old hole.

The last trick is finding the screw length that is long enough but not so long they stick into your foot. Most new roller and ice boots use 3/8" in front and 5/8" in back. If the screw lengths are limited, you can cut them down with a Dremel or get the small washers that they'll also have to put under the screw heads to keep them from going in so far.

I've used as many as three when I was in a hurry and didn't want to cut all the screws down.

If it's an ice boot with limited contact area in front, you can level any low spot holes with two part epoxy so the frame will mount flat and tight.

Be patient and methodical and it'll all come out fine.

[iceburg19 1]

keith, i used the same method.8-32 t-nuts and round head machine screws with some blue lock tight. worked out great.finally i mount my own frames.

[sdcopp 1]

next question then is, why break off the prongs? I would think they would help seat the T-Nut instead of letting it spin and causing some headache. I finally got my ice boots today, but the heel area is pretty narrow to work with so I "puttied" the existing holes with 2 part epoxy and will mount them in the morning. I couldn't find phillips head machine screws in the lengths needed and don't have access to a dremel to cut down the ones I could find so I went with button head screws with a hex wrench instead of the flat head screws that were also available.

[DangleSpud 0]

If you have sheet metal shears or the likes of, you can cut a tad off the Tnuts and that will give you a little extra room (you can see in the pics I posted earlier) The benifit of the hex is that if the allen head gets stripped, you can grab them with some pliers.

[iceburg19 1]

yeah the hex heads should work good,i also put alittle blue lock tight on each screw so they dont vibrate out in time.on the heel of your skate,you might have to go in on an angle just to stay away from the side wall of the skate.but once that t-nut and screw grab it goes in fine,just make sure to get the threads lined up right dont strip or force it.as for the prongs yeah they grab for grip but some of the shorter screws dont grab the t-nuts so you want to get the t-nut tight to the sole of the boot.

[Rick 0]

Guys,

I'm glad someone was able to post some pics of the mounting method, I was out of town and didn't post the last couple of evenings but those pics are just like I do it. I like the hex heads but I have used both the round head phillips and the hex head bolts. Also I don't clip the little prongs from the T-Nuts but I have seen the T-Nuts that don't have the prongs at the hardware store also. I never really thought about the prongs causing a problem but I guess time will tell.

Good Luck

Rick Henry