Boom Arm Assembly Question

[jbasen]

I bought a boom arm as part of the May/June special on vacuums and accessories.  I'm just starting to assemble it and have run into a minor problem.  There are 2 cross members with square holes in their ends for attaching the cross members to the support tubes.  Unfortunately, the square holes are slightly too small for the square section of the carriage bolts.  Without the square portion of the carriage bolt fitting into this square hole in the cross member the carriage bolt is too short to extend properly through the support tube and the plastic know won't properly screw onto  the carriage bolt. 

I see 2 ideas for fixing this

1) Spend a lot of time with a very small file enlarging the hole

2) Use a hammer and force the carriage bolt into the hole in the cross member

Opinions?  Other ideas?  Is this a common problem? 

Thanks in advance for the help

 

[Wooden Skye]

I would think your best bet is to file to make fit instead of the brute force method.

 

[nclemmons]

Could those be the anti-tip arms that come with the boom arm?  If so, I don't even have them installed - they get in the way for me and as long as the Boom arm is angled forward over the vac, I have not had any issues with tipping.

Several others here on the FOG have also chosen not to use them.

Might simplify your issue.

 

[jbasen]

Thanks.  Turns out the fix was easier than I thought.  The issue wasn't with the size of the holes but simply that paint had pooled in the holes and made them too small for the carriage bolts to fit.  So, I didn't have to file metal, only paint

Thanks again

 

[copcarcollector]

I had a similar problem with excess paint, but mine was on the top end where the last tubes fit together. I had to file down some of the excess paint to get the tubes to interlock with each other. Hope that you enjoy your new boom arm!

 

[jbasen]

I had a similar problem with excess paint, but mine was on the top end where the last tubes fit together. I had to file down some of the excess paint to get the tubes to interlock with each other. Hope that you enjoy your new boom arm!

Thanks [member=18038]copcarcollector[/member]

I'll watch out for that

 

[QuailRider43]

Honestly, those anti-tip bars and cross members are best just removed.  They make the whole setup awkward to move around, and keep interfering with the wheels or getting caught on things.  I'd only consider using them if I planned to keep the CT stationary.

 

[jbasen]

Honestly, those anti-tip bars and cross members are best just removed.  They make the whole setup awkward to move around, and keep interfering with the wheels or getting caught on things.  I'd only consider using them if I planned to keep the CT stationary.

Thanks.  I came to the same conclusion and left them off.