New Liquid Force Reinforcement Alu Block Removal

No idea what he has for equipment. I would go with a minimum of the 1/4" flat bar you have. Maybe shorten it up to just a few inches above the opening of the mast.

The flat bar is 36in long so no need to shorten it! I’m not sure what equipment he has either though. I’ll follow up.

About putting a piece of the alu block back, it would be 1/2in long piece so there would still be room for the wires in the mast!

How did you make out getting the filler out?

I did not yet! My friend tried to use a press and the steel bar started benting so that’s filler is in there for real! The alu block seems to be press fit in place so we want to try to drill some holes through it and then use the press. Hopefully, the holes in the block will help release some pressure. Otherwise, any other ideas?

Here are a few pictures of the filler you are dealing with. There is a hole 3/8" in with a pin in it that is bent over. It looks like that is the issue. I would drill down through it. You will know when you get it out as it is steel so a magnet will pick up the filings.

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I already drilled out the pin. Mine was small tho (1/16 or 1/8in dia).


Those pics were taken before I drilled it out!

I would try freezing the whole thing first, then applying heat to the mast. Hopefully since the plug is solid it won’t heat up as fast and may give you some wiggle room. Good luck with the timing! This has worked for me in the past on some really tightly pressed in suspension parts.

Also, does anyone know when LF started adding these? Do any other brands do this?

I’d say two years ago they started doing that! I’m not what other brand does this!

Cloud9 also does this in their aluminum masts

How did you get yours out?

I didn’t lmao :sweat_smile:

my wires travel up 2/3 of the mast and then pop out the side for the rest of the way, not ideal, but I wasn’t comfortable trying to get the block out. I am printing a channel for the wires and I already waterproofed their exit hole, so it’s functionally okay but aesthetically… well let’s just say I prefer to look at the other side.

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I see lol! I’ll keep trying! Hopefully, it comes out! I might try some thermal strategy combined with drilling holes and a press. Basically, I want to do every possible thing I can do at once lol. It will have to come out at some point lol.

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You can drill a hole in the middle , tape it , put a screw in through a plate , put the plate raised against each sides , use a blowtorch to heat up the thing and turn the screw ( About the same way to take ball joint on a car …)

Or heat it up and use a straight rod that will not bend on the hammer , just like you did before

@Alexandre you’ve earned yourself a cookie! Look at this beautiful sight!

The winning strategy was to heat it up with a heat gun (careful not to blister the finish), tap a 1/4-20 rod and screw it out. Big thanks to @Darby who did it for our masts!

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Money shot! How much heat did it take and how hard was it with this method? I am probably going to need to do this soon.

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I’m not sure as I didn’t do it! @Darby did it. He did mention it was a pain to pull out but doable! I’d be careful with the heat and heat it gradually. You’ll see when it starts loosen up! Watch out for blisters when heating it up, by that I mean heat it up evenly and reasonably!

Congrats. I am impressed the threads did not strip out