Kiteforum.com

Swivel bearing on my slingshot comp stick is rusted and seizing. Looking at it, it seems it's a cheapo steel bearing. Am I missing something here, should it not be stainless if it's for use in (salt) water?

There's stainless, and then there's stainless, and then there's China...

Yeah, thats what it feels like. Must have been a great idea in the board room. Do slingshot designers not kitesurf anymore ?

We have a 2012 bar and the bearing is failing. We just got a 2nd hand 2011 bar and the bearing is siezed and rust stained. Is it possible to open the swivel and change the bearing? Thanks.

Do you mean the center line swivel? That sucks. I suspect those are supposed to be sealed bearings, maybe you had a faulty part.

I've been using them for a few years now, and while not perfect, nothing has seized up on me. But then again, I rinse my bars with fresh water after most sessions. I also spray that center line swivel with a dri lube (like McLube) on occasion.

If there is a way to self service that, it'd be great.

If not, you can buy a new one but they are pricey (here). Call up Slingshot. If you bought it within a year they may give you a free warranty replacement on that part or a better price. I've always found them very responsive when I call with a question.

The bearings used to rust for some people on the old CL setup, and they sold the bearings here. But that's a different part. Salt water is going to rust stainless steel also if left on it for a long time. It takes a much longer time than regular steel, but it eventually happens.

Good luck and let us know what you find out.

Mine works exactly how i expected it to work after a few sessions.I loop the kite one way most of the time,clockwise. I then take a quick break,lay back,grab center lines,see if i can unwind it before kite wanders down,then up and away, oh well.Low expectations, no disappointment

I was researching ceramic bearings the other day. any chance the ceramic bearings can be put in for is the plastic moulded around the existing bearing? Ceramic is expensive, but should last forever!

osealy wrote:We have a 2012 bar and the bearing is failing. We just got a 2nd hand 2011 bar and the bearing is siezed and rust stained. Is it possible to open the swivel and change the bearing? Thanks.

Don't think so. Looks like two halves of swivel are machined together. BTW Check the price of a replacement. Then finish the sentence, I love Slingshot because.........

I don't like the 2012 SS swivel, and there must be better designs out there.
It seems to be the only bad component of the kite.

1. It's bulky size and heavy weight are prone to start a tangle, if you slack your lines.

2. On my 3 kites, the bearing is frozen with salt and sand every time.

3. My bearings have rust dripping out from the China stainless.

4. The bad swivel adds a lot of issues, and doesn't function as intended.

5. I'd like to modify my bar and get rid of it, but that would be an issue at resale time.

6. The Naish swivel is very very similar, how well does it work?

Conclusion: I would prefer simple and lightweight mouse ears or a chicken loop swivel.

windyway wrote:I don't like the 2012 SS swivel, and there must be better designs out there.
It seems to be the only bad component of the kite.

1. It's bulky size and heavy weight are prone to start a tangle, if you slack your lines.

2. On my 3 kites, the bearing is frozen with salt and sand every time.

3. My bearings have rust dripping out from the China stainless.

4. The bad swivel adds a lot of issues, and doesn't function as intended.

5. I'd like to modify my bar and get rid of it, but that would be an issue at resale time.

6. The Naish swivel is very very similar, how well does it work?

Conclusion: I would prefer simple and lightweight mouse ears or a chicken loop swivel.

This is an old thread, but I wanted to see if anyone has come up with alternatives to either swap the swivel out for something else or keep it working as designed.

None of my swivels are rusted as windyway mentions above. As stated earlier in this thread, I rinse it with fresh water after each day of use and spray some McLube in there. On the beach they spin fine with very little resistance. When flying, one bar never unwinds and my other bar does half the time.

The more I ride in the ocean, the more annoying it has become. I tend to downloop in one direction more often than another, based on conditions. Here's the slap in the face that used to kill me until I figured out what caused it...

...I keep a real time (distracting) tally of my center lines after each transition to see if there is a twist. If I get a twist I make sure to throw in some downloops in the other direction so I can unwind them. I will occasionally do a transition, and then look up and find 4+ twists in the center lines when I had 0 the last tack!! Fuuuuuuck! Took me a while to realize that on most of my tacks instead of the front lines twisting, I build up twists below the swivel, in my chicken loop line. I wasn't looking there. And then, after I'd get 4 or so twists below the swivel there would be enough tension to unwind all at once and transfer the 4 twists above the swivel in my center lines. FML!!!

Anyway, I love everything else about the kites and bar but this has become quite a distraction on ocean downwinders when I otherwise just want to enjoy my sesh. Someone must have found a workaround! Anyone? There are too many clever folks out there who must be experiencing the same thing. I'd happily pull the swivel out entirely if there was a way to make sure the center line safety still worked and I could unwind the lines manually.

It isn't an issue in flat water as I can usually relax, lay back, depower the kite so that the swivel is in reach, and unwind by hand. However, on a sketchy ocean day there is less opportunity to do that without going back in to the beach which is a pain.
Thanks for any tips.