Drill out the existing Rivets

Aluminum Rivets­- In most cases this will be done from the top of the snowshoes (see left photo- aluminum rivets).  These rivets should drill out fairly easy if you take it slow.  You do not want the rivets/washers on the bottom to spin while drilling.  If that happens, stop and grab ahold of the rivet on the bottom with a pair pliers or Vice Grip style pliers and hold the rivet from the bottom (see right photo) while drilling from the top.

Steel Rivets- Some models need to be drilled out from the bottom of the crampons (see photo at right- steel rivets).  Drilling steel rivets needs to be done using some WD-40 or some other type of cutting lubricant to help the drill bit to continue cutting into the rivet.  Take it slow.  If the drill spins too fast, you can burn out your drill bit very quickly and make it dull and you can melt the toe cord that you will be attaching your new bindings to.  It might help to dip your drill bit into cool water every 30 seconds or so to keep the bit cool.

Once you have drilled out the existing rivets, you should be able to easily remove the old bindings, crampons and base plates. The existing toe cords need to be in fairly good condition as they will remain on your snowshoes and you will be attaching the new bindings/crampons to these straps. Your snowshoes should now look similar to one of the examples below.

Assembling the new Bindings

You will see that there are LEFT and RIGHT bindings (L and R molded into the top of each binding near the back) and LEFT and RIGHT base plates.
Set the crampon on top of the binding harness (see picture below).

Then set the correct base plate (either left or right) on top of the crampon (see picture here).

Now take 2 of the Phillips head machine screws and put them through the 2 holes at the front of the base plates, crampons and bindings. The screws will go through all three of the layers that you have stacked up.

Now that you have this sandwich of parts (base plates, crampons and bindings) all stacked together, with the Philips head screws through the front holes, set the whole package on top of the existing toe cord and get the screws to go through the 2 holes that are already in the toe cord which is stretched from one side of the frame to the other.  Add the 2 ‘toothed’ washers with the teeth facing into the toe cord.  Add the locking nuts and tighten them.  You should have a minimum of 2-3 rows of threads showing on the machine screws after tightening them down.  Having more exposed rows of threads than that is OK.

If you have a straight toe cord, feel free to add the additional screws, nuts, and washers to the remaining 2 holes at the back end of the base plates and tighten them and you are done. If you find that this rear set of screws and nuts are touching the fabric decking of the snowshoes you will want to skip adding the screws, nuts, and washers so that your decking does not become damaged.  You could also visit your local hardware store to see if they have some ‘Chicago Screws’ that could go into the rear holes and those would not cause any damage to the decking.

If you have a toe cord that wraps around the frame and the toe cord was connected to the back end of the old bindings, then you will want to install the additional screws, nuts and washers to attach the ends of the toe cords to the new bindings.

Make sure all of the new nuts and bolts are tight.  Congratulations, you are done!  We suggest that you check this hardware from time to time to make sure that it remains tight.  We also recommend always carrying some kind of repair kit with you so that you can make a field repair if your snowshoes break while out on the trail.