Does anyone know for sure if the housing body surrounding the ball is metal or non-metal? Does clamping the ball rigid tend to spread the body jaws?
1093405
The housing is metal . Very secure no spread very stable. I use with a mark two with a batt holder ,a flash and a 70/300 lens very stable .
321212
Ball bearing lock is extremely solid.,....the spring is stiff enough to keep it in place, i have put mine through a lot never have felt it would fail on me
273606
No. clamp is hard plastic lined by rubber. You probably won't want a metal clamp anyway because that may cause damage to your frame.
1909964
There is an indent for the ball and it is made of a nice thick plastic, you wont be disappointed.
1323566
I posted a photo of my clamps, mine have, at the very least, a thick plastic shell. It is not the nice metal ones they show in the picture. I am not a fan of the plastic ones. They work well but I'm worried about durability and I feel I paid for the steel ones.
665602
The housing is basically a hard plastic but does have flex to it. My Colorado is flat across the back but I remember from installing it that I was able to bend it a bit as I stuck one end on first, then lined the other end up before sticking everything down tight. It flexed probably 4 - 6 inches as I lined things up and wasn't that hard to bend. I doubt it'd pull loose as I don't think it's stiff enough.
2209772
My son uses it with both transition balls and regular balls and hasn't had a problem!
1529283
The gray part on the opposite side of the position locks is plastic but it seems to be just there to hold the leg release button in place. The leg screw locks are metal as are all of the important load-bearing parts. The ball itself seems to be plastic, but that's kind of understandable given how these things work. The ball socket is metal, but I can't be certain about the ball safety lock; it's covered with rubber and I can't see what's under it. What I can tell you is that this tripod is very sturdy and well built. I've had a camera and lens with a combined weight of at least four pounds mounted on it and it locks down well and stays in place.
732620
It's a very hard plastic ball which is too large for your dog to bite that they play with in your yard. If they push the ball around with their teeth, as in biting at it as it rolls, it will wear their teeth down. 3 of my dogs have severely worn down teeth because of this ball. Had I known this I would have NEVER bought it. I posted pictures on one of the Varsity Ball postings.
1285325
I agree! It rattles really bad because the ball mount don't fit snugg. Really weird! Let me know if you find one!
396401
I have the metal and I like it. Green Glass Girl probably didn't read the instruction to slowly inflate the ball and let it rest. I've had NO problems with mine.
52196
It has been a while (years) since I purchased it. As I remember, there is a stem (part of the molded plastic body) that is reinforced by a metal band. The stem fits over and forced onto the motor shaft and held in place by friction.
310300
I just opened mine. Make sure the pump pin is screwed on tightly and that you stick the pin halfway into the ball. I had air escaping and my husband made those two adjustments and my ball is firm and has retained its firmness.
59172
Noiseless, but buy better screws before you put the wheels on (which you should put on first) because the ones they give you come off after a time. This is solid plastic, but unbreakable, and better than those wire steel ones, at least for me. I don't know why one customer can't fit more than thirty balls, but mine fits about 70 balls without bulging. The handle could be longer, but you're not bending over that much to pull it. I've had this over three months, and it's still going great. Wouldn't switch back to metal.
288141
Just tighten to the folding resistance you deem best. Do not crush the tubing or leave the bolt loose so it rattles. I tightened mine down so that it gives quite a bit of resistance to minimize movement from that joint during use. A little bit of all purpose grease in the joint helps too.
2221026
There are 2 rivets that attach the clamp to the ball socket. There also appears to be a very small allen screw (which I couldn't remove) that may hold the ball socket assembly together. Hope this helps.John
2221024
Unfortunately not. That's one of the things I wish too. It's riveted to the clamp. The top portion of the clamp unscrews out of the ball joint, but the bottom portion, which includes the ball, is permanently attached.