Fin screw malfunction

[cheekobonavista]

Hi, I bought a new Merrick board with futures fins and noticed that the fin screw gets tight before putting enough pressure on my side fin, leaving me with a loose side fin. I'm 3 hours from the nearest surf shop and I'd like to have the board ready to go in the next few days for an upcoming swell with tight side fins. Any ideas?

[drowningbitbybit]

I've had some futures that have done that
I bit the bullet and just kept on screwing them in, and the thread of the bolt cleared the problem. The danger, obviously, is that it will break while you do it

So you either have to give it a go (maybe try a bit of WD40 too? ) or send it back to the shop. Maybe call the shop and let them know you have a problem before you try just so they can't say that you broke it by "doing it wrong" if it does snap.

[cheekobonavista]

thanks drowningbitbybit, that's good advise about calling the shop i suppose, and the wd40.

[tony g]

I would take the board back to the shop and have them fix it. If it gets stripped out you will have problems. Sometimes the set screw can get cross threaded when they first put the set screws in.

[HollyM]

Just posting this for anyone who may have the same problem in future; I had this issue and used a Stanley knife to take a couple of mil off the end of the plastic screw. Sorted. If the screw is too long, no amount of screwing is going to make it go into the fin. This was only an issue for the screw that went into the board at a point where the depth started thinning towards the tail.

[jaffa1949]

Holly it is a Futures Fin set up, therefore it is using metal grub screws. Not plastic, the thread in the fin box is likely compromised