Specialized warranty claim

[deluz]

In an another thread I was asking about cutting 5mm off the steerer tube on my Tarmac SL8. It was not as easy as I anticipated, ended up keeping the fork in the frame and cutting with the jig Horizontally but it came out fine.
Then I went to remove the expansion plug since it needed to drop down 5mm but the wedge is stuck. I hit it pretty hard with various hammers and then decided I needed to take it to the nearby Specialized shop. They tried for several days to remove the wedge with no success and told me the fork is now unsafe to use and they are going to put in a warranty claim. I may not be able to get the same color that np arches my frame. Does anybody know how long this process takes? Luckily I still have my Mercian to ride.

[Bruce K]

You’re lucky they are trying to get you a warranty replacement

Many shops would not necessarily try given that you “worked” on it

I hope Specialized comes through for you

BK

[Jdm]

4 months ago, I had a warranty claim for just a headset and compression plug. The parts took about a month to get to my LBS after a lot of complaining by my LBS. I thought it was a ridiculous wait given my past warranty experiences with Specialized customer service.

[cmg]

Just sent in a ultegra di2 rear derailleur for a warranty claim, may get back in December. Shimano warranty is great as long as you never use it. Good luck with yours.
Have you tried putting the bolt with out the red portion and hitting it down to loosen it?

[rothwem]

The SL8 must have a different type of expansion plug than what I'm used to seeing, the one on my Crux has a flange and sits at the top of the steerer tube, making it impossible to trim the steerer without removing it first. Does the expander sit below the steerer tube top on the SL8?

[Mark McM]

Originally Posted by deluz

In an another thread I was asking about cutting 5mm off the steerer tube on my Tarmac SL8. It was not as easy as I anticipated, ended up keeping the fork in the frame and cutting with the jig Horizontally but it came out fine.
Then I went to remove the expansion plug since it needed to drop down 5mm but the wedge is stuck. I hit it pretty hard with various hammers and then decided I needed to take it to the nearby Specialized shop. They tried for several days to remove the wedge with no success and told me the fork is now unsafe to use and they are going to put in a warranty claim. I may not be able to get the same color that np arches my frame. Does anybody know how long this process takes? Luckily I still have my Mercian to ride.

I'm really confused about this whole operation. The Tarmac SL8 uses the same steerer expander plug as the Tarmac SL7 (part no. S222500002), and I've removed the Tarmac SL7 expander plug several times.

Firstly, the expander plug is quite long and the top has a lip that sits on the top of the steerer tube. The steerer tube can't be cut without removing the expander plug - or at east not without cutting through the expander as well.

Secondly, the bottom wedge has never need more than soft taps on the bolt to loosen. If the bottom wedge was that tight, you'd have to wonder if the expander wasn't overtightened (in which case there is the danger that it damaged the steerer). The other possibility is that bottom wedge was too long to begin with - the long bottom wedge typically extends down through the bearing area, and must be cut down to fit shorter steerer tubes. If this is the case, then it was a manufacturing/assembly error. The third possibility is that the bottom wedge was short enough to work properly, but when attempting to loosen it the bolt was unscrewed too far and then hit to hard, cauing the wedge to get lodged into a steerer tube - in which case it would be user error. It would have to have gotten slammed vary hard indeed to get lodged tight enough that it couldn't be pulled out (and possibly lodged so tight that it may have damaged the steerer).

[RacerJRP]

Every specialized steerer plug I've ever seen has been frozen into the steerer tube and needed significant persuasion to come out. I would never personally use one - go with any other option.

[John H.]

The SL8 uses the same plug as the "SL7 warranty plug". It has an extra long tube type piece on the bottom that may need to be cut to size depending on steerer tube length.
They call for 5nm torque, which is low depending on other plugs.
I have found the Specialized plugs to be harder to remove than say an Enve plug. There are plenty of "How to" videos on Youtube for this.

All this said, I have found Specialized to be straight forward with respect to warranty. Though this could be skewed in either direction depending on your shop, supply of the parts in question, and how your shop conveys the warranty issue.

[Mark McM]

Originally Posted by John H.

The SL8 uses the same plug as the "SL7 warranty plug". It has an extra long tube type piece on the bottom that may need to be cut to size depending on steerer tube length.
They call for 5nm torque, which is low depending on other plugs.
I have found the Specialized plugs to be harder to remove than say an Enve plug. There are plenty of "How to" videos on Youtube for this.

The difficult part in removing the Specialized expansion plug is removing the top wedge, not the bottom wedge. Since the top wedge has to be pulled upward, it can't be freed by tapping it with hammer (which would just wedge it down further). Instead, it has to be levered out upward, which is an awkward operation. Since the OP described hitting it with a hammer, they were either loosening the bottom wedge, or they were trying to remove the top wedge completely wrong.

[deluz]

Thanks for the responses. A few clarifications:

The top wedge came out pretty easily after I watched some videos on how to do it.

The long red aluminum part slid out easily so only the bottom wedge remained in the steerer tube. At that point I cut the tube to the needed length.

Then I tried to remove the lower wedge using light taps at first and it would not loosen. I believe the shop told me it could take more force to get it out so I tried gradually hitting it harder until I felt uncomfortable and then took it to the shop.

The recommended torque on this expansion plug is 9 NM which what I used to install it with a torque wrench.

It seems this design is prone to this problem as I have read about other people having the same problem. I will be asking Specialized if there is an alternative expansion plug that I can use. The Crux and Aethos use a different one which I have read that some people prefer.

[Mark McM]

Originally Posted by deluz

Thanks for the responses. A few clarifications:

The top wedge came out pretty easily after I watched some videos on how to do it.

The long red aluminum part slid out easily so only the bottom wedge remained in the steerer tube. At that point I cut the tube to the needed length.

Then I tried to remove the lower wedge using light taps at first and it would not loosen. I believe the shop told me it could take more force to get it out so I tried gradually hitting it harder until I felt uncomfortable and then took it to the shop.

The recommended torque on this expansion plug is 9 NM which what I used to install it with a torque wrench.

It seems this design is prone to this problem as I have read about other people having the same problem. I will be asking Specialized if there is an alternative expansion plug that I can use. The Crux and Aethos use a different one which I have read that some people prefer.

I think I'm getting a clearer picture.

The torque for the original (pre-recall) expansion plug was 9Nm, but the torque for the new, longer expansion plug is only 5Nm. The origanal expansion plug was black, but the newer expansion plug is red. It sounds like the new expansion plug was installed using the instruction for the old expansion plug.

The instructions for the new expansion plug can be found here:

https://www.scribd.com/document/6164...LACEMENT-GUIDE

The newer plug has an extension on the lower wedge, which is supposed to extend down the steerer, and through where the bearing and compression ring are. But there are some obstructions inside the steerer below this area, so for shorter steerers the lower wedge has to be shortened, to prevent getting jammed in the steerer. The instructions above show how to size and cut the lower wedge. If the lower wedge needs to be shortened but it is not, forcing the expander plug into the steerer may cause the lower wedge to get jammed and stuck in the steerer.

My Tarmac SL7 is a size 54 with the steerer only long enough for 15mm of spacers. So I had to shorten the lower wedge, according to the instructions above. When the cut and shortened expander plug is installed, the lower wedge slides easily down the steerer without having to force it. To remove the expander plug, I loosen the expander bolt a few turns and give it a tap with a mallet to free the lower wedge. As soon as the lower wedge is free, it can can easily slide up and down by wiggling the bolt up and down, and when the bolt is removed, the lower wedge is free to slide around in the steerer. After I remove the top wedge and red main body of the expander, I turn the fork upside down and the lower wedge falls out.

I suspect in your case, the lower wedge was too long and needed to be shortened. By any chance, did you have to use force to drive the expander into place when it was first installed?

[deluz]

Is there anywhere I can find the document that you referenced on Scribd?
I could not find it anywhere including Specialized web site.
I have a 54cm frame with 35mm of spacers plus I cut the fork an extra 5mm long. I am not sure if the black extension needed to be cut or not.
These instructions were not included with my frameset.
The plug did just drop in and I did not have to force it.
I suspect what might have happened is the when I tried to remove it by hitting it downward may have forced it into a part of tube that was narrower.
Looking at the manual I received with the frameset it does say to torque it to 9Nm but there was a single loose sheet that is an addendum that says to torque it to 5nM and that there are two sections in the manual that are affected by this change.
I found an online manual and it has been to updated to the 5nM spec.
As I was building the bike I was closely following the manual and did not notice or forgot about the loose addendum sheet.
I pinged the shop today about the warranty claim and I got no response so I think this is going to take a while. I had only ridden the bike 3 times after months of acquiring parts and building it.

[DRietz]

Originally Posted by Jdm

4 months ago, I had a warranty claim for just a headset and compression plug. The parts took about a month to get to my LBS after a lot of complaining by my LBS. I thought it was a ridiculous wait given my past warranty experiences with Specialized customer service.

Originally Posted by deluz

-snip-
I pinged the shop today about the warranty claim and I got no response so I think this is going to take a while. I had only ridden the bike 3 times after months of acquiring parts and building it.

Specialized warranty processing was up to a "4 week" (in actuality, more in the 6-8 week range for some of my customers) lead time this summer - staffing issues, QC issues biting them in the ass...I'm not really sure.

But, as of late, they're back down to within a week or so getting back to shops, and warranty parts from SLC typically reach me in the bay around a week after that.

[Hank Scorpio]

Probably a dumb question but is the lower part low enough that you leave it in place and use a shorter plug assembly? I know this doesn’t address the possible damage done to the steerer by hammering the old plug down. Second option and mainly because I have never worked with this plug is the stuck portion threaded in any way? If so it might be possible to get a longer bolt and Rube Goldberg it to a slide hammer? Also doesn’t address the possible damage to the steerer.

[catchourbreath]

Warranty turn around has a lot to do with a shop's relationship with the mfg and their willingness to push for resolution. Often it's best to go to a factory owned store for quick and possibly advantageous results since they usually have a more direct pipeline to warranty ppl. I've had to follow up and push more times than I can count.
Side note getting the upper wedge out is easy with a bearing extractor set, using the slide hammer I think screwed in was the easiest way. It was a while ago so maybe I'm forgetting but it was a PITA. I also thought the red expanders were only needed for the recall batch and the extended plugs weren't needed for later bikes since they supposedly stiffened the steerer.