In this video we talk about 5/8" adjustable roller skate stoppers. How to remove them, re-install them, adjust them, and some safety tips.
Hi, this is Lisa from RollerGirl.ca and today I'm here to talk to you about 5/8" adjustable
stoppers.
I'm going to show you how to remove them, reinstall them, adjust them.
I am also going to show you some things that can go wrong and how to avoid these issues.
Let's get started.
5/8" adjustable stoppers look like this.
They have a metal stem um attached to the stopper.
If your stoppers look like this, then you have 5/8" adjustable stoppers, and this video is for
you.
However, if your stoppers don't look like that, they look like this, no metal stem and a hole in
the middle, then you have 5/16" stoppers, and this video is not for you.
Zoe made a video on 5/16" stoppers.
Link is in the description.
There are two different types of stopper assemblies for this style of stopper.
There is the Allen key assembly like on these skates here, where the stopper is secured with a
stopper screw directly on the plates.
You will normally see this on higher end skates and on aluminum plates.
The other type of stopper assembly is a hardware assembly where you have a nut and a washer.
These are located directly on the stopper and you'll see these on plastic plates for the most
part.
The Allen key stopper assembly is really easy to use.
With this type of assembly, you rarely have any problems.
They're really easy to change your stoppers, adjust your height, position your stoppers, and you
rarely have problems with your stoppers falling off.
With this type of assembly, in order to remove or adjust your stoppers, you need a 5mm Allen
key.
Usually, if your skates are vintage or European, you might need a slightly different size.
5mm standard.
You take your tool, you insert it into the stopper screw, and you turn counterclockwise.
It can take a little bit of force at first because you should be tightening the screw down quite
tight.
So there we are.
Loosen off that screw just a little bit.
The screw does not need to come all the way out.
Once it is loose, then you can turn the stopper counterclockwise again to adjust it lower or to
simply remove it.
And there you go.
Stoppers removed.
To reinstall your stoppers, take your stopper and carefully thread it into the plate.
It's really important that you do not cross thread your stoppers when you're installing them
like this.
If you cross thread them, you can damage the plates and you may never be able to wear stoppers
again.
So, the trick is you want to thread it in gently by hand.
And if you feel any resistance, back off and try again.
If you're struggling, you can add a little bit of grease to the stem of the stopper.
It can help it thread more smoothly into the plate.
You get to choose how high or how low you want your stoppers.
So, once you have adjusted them to the position where you want them, you're going to take that 5
mm Allen key back into the stopper screw, turning clockwise and tighten it down.
Like I said before, you may need to use a little bit of force in order to tighten it to the
point where your stoppers do not move.
See, that's not tight enough.
And there you go.
There are a couple of things you want to avoid when you are installing and adjusting your
stoppers.
The first one is is you want to make sure that your stoppers are installed deep enough into your
plates.
You need to have about a half an inch of stopper stem inside the plate.
If you have less than a half inch inside the plate, there just isn't enough threads on the
stopper to secure it into the plate and it can, under impact, fall out and take the threads with
it.
This can destroy your plates.
So, make sure that your stoppers are in your plate at least 1/2" inch.
On the other hand, you can actually install your stoppers too deeply into the plate.
If you just install them all the way in, it can press up on the boot and cause almost a hole in
the bottom of your boot, damaging your boots.
So, when you tighten your stoppers in, if you want them all the way in, thread them in untill
you can feel them touch the boot and then pull back a couple of threads and you are ready to go.
Another thing that can go wrong is that you can strip the stopper screw.
This usually happens because you're using the wrong size tool.
So, make sure you are using the correct tool for your plates.
Um, and just with time and wear and tear, you will find that your tool can become rounded off
and the um, stopper screw can become rounded off as well.
And if you do see that your stopper screw starts to become rounded off, just replace it.
They're very affordable.
If you don't, if it becomes rounded off, it becomes very, very difficult to remove your stoppers
at that point because you cannot loosen them anymore.
So, like I said, be very careful with your stopper screws.
Replace them if they show damage.
Be careful with your tool and replace it if it shows damage.
Um, yeah!
With a hardware assembly, you will most likely need a 15/16" flat wrench to remove or adjust your
stoppers.
This is the Y3 tool from PowerDyne, and this is a tool we like a lot at the shop.
You take your tool um and loosen the locking nut on the stopper.
It should take a bit of force to do this because you need to really tighten this down to prevent
your stoppers from falling off.
So, quite a bit of force.
And once the locking nut is loose, as you can see, it moves freely.
Then you can remove or adjust the height of your stoppers.
Be careful if you remove your stopper that you do not lose the washer that comes with the
hardware.
It is necessary and if you don't use it, your stoppers will fall off.
Carefully reinstall the stopper, being careful not to cross thread while you're doing this.
Once you get to the stopper to your desired height, you're going to tighten it back down using
the 15/16" tool.
This time, you're going to turn clockwise.
And as I mentioned before, you really need to tighten this down if you don't want your stoppers
to fall off.
For the purpose of the video, I'm doing it flat.
But this is not how I normally do it.
This is how I normally tighten down a stopper.
Put the skate in front of you.
Use the tool and drop your body weight into that stopper.
This will allow you to tighten it as tight as it needs to be.
A lot of people with the hardware assembly have issues with their stoppers falling off.
And I wanted to address the common reasons why your stoppers fall off with this type of
assembly.
The first one is is you don't have all your hardware.
you have lost your washer.
So, check and see first that you have both the locking nut and the washer.
The second thing is you're simply not tightening your stoppers enough.
As I showed before, it isn't just a gentle tighten of the stopper.
You need to use your body weight to really, really lock down that locking nut.
Another thing that's a really common problem is that people are installing their toe protectors
between the hardware and the plates.
I will show you quickly what the correct way of doing this is.
The stopper goes through the hole in the toe protector first and then the hardware is
installed.
This way the leather of the toe protector does not pinch between the hardware and the plate.
And this way you can tighten down your hardware as tight as it needs to go.
The last couple of reasons why your stoppers might be falling out have to do with the insert.
This is the insert.
It is on a plastic plate anyway.
It is the little aluminum insert in the plate that you thread your stoppers into.
And there can be problems with that insert.
If you have installed your stoppers too shallowly into the plate, they can fall out and damage
the threads in this insert.
If the threads in the insert are damaged, your stoppers are never going to stay in again.
So have a look at your insert and make sure that it's not broken or have any chunks taking out
of it or that the threads are still in good condition.
The other insert problem that you can have is a slipping insert.
So that is when the insert moves up and down inside the plate.
To check for that, carefully thread your stopper in and push up and down.
This plate does not have a slipping insert.
And you can see that it is not moving at all.
On some plates when you do this, when you push down, the insert will slip down and you'll be
able to pull it up and down.
If that's happening, that is the reason why your stoppers are not staying in.
I hope this video was helpful.
If you have any questions or suggestions for future videos, leave them in the comments.
Like and subscribe.
Happy skating!