Can I retrofit spiked feet onto an older Gitzo?

[David R Munson]

Simply, can it be done?

I have an older Gitzo 340 that has simple rubber feet and I'm interested in the possibility of retrofitting threaded sockets into the ends of the legs so that I can use the accessory spiked feet, etc. Not quite sure where to start, though.

Has anyone here done it?

Thanks!!!

[Drew Wiley]

Gitzo once had part number for these, but I don't know if old inventory is still around somewhere. If the rubber caps are fairly thick and firm, you could simply drill thru them and
double nut&washer some stainless machine bolts sharpened to a point. I've done this in
the past.

[Louis Pacilla]

Here Ya go. This should do it.

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/326239-REG/Gitzo_G1220_129B3_G1220_129B3_1_5_Long_Spike.html

[David R Munson]

Those won't work because older Gitzos like mine simply have a hard rubber foot at the end of the leg and lack the threaded socket necessary to use the accessory spiked feet that you linked to. What I'm trying to figure out how to do is to retrofit a threaded socket into the ends of the tripod legs so that I can use the spiked feet, etc that Gitzo currently sells.

[vinny]

You could do what this guy did:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/44592521@N02/5163016701/
I'm considering it myself but will likely just tap/thread the hard plastic/rubber feet on my 1325 and screw in some spikes or use a couple long socket extensions and put nuts on the back side after removing the last leg section. I'll seal them with silicone too since I don't want water coming in.

[David R Munson]

What I might do us to pick up some spiked feet, measure the threads, and seek out some t-nuts to fit. Then I'd either modify the existing hard rubber plugs with the t-nuts or make new plugs from scratch. That's my existing plan, but I'm going to keep looking to see what other people have done. If it works well, I'll do it for my smaller Gitzo as well. I will, of course, follow up here with whatever I do.

[vinny]

the feet I found on ebay are 3/8-16, standard in usa.

[swilf]

I'll try to describe my own solution for Gitzo 1325, that should be applicable for other older models as well.

Before:
http://farm7.staticflickr.com/6217/6331533464_d1d3474c68_z.jpg

After:
http://farm7.staticflickr.com/6234/6361492475_8efd2fbdd4_z.jpg

Materials used:
Plain and cheap brass plumbing fittings, 1" to 5/8"
Microphone bushings, 5/8" to 3/8" (http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/113426-REG/Gitzo_G1145_G1145_Bushing_10mm_3_8_5_8.html)
Spikes, 3/8" (http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/556241-REG/Induro_490_303_SPFT_1_Stainless_Steel_Spiked.html)
Snow feet, 3/8" (http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/318627-REG/Giottos_FP3011_FP_3011_Snow_Shoe_with.html)

Rubber feet are removed (the hardest part), brass fittings and bushings slightly sanded to size and glued in with epoxy. Now spikes and snow feet can be used interchangeably. The design is very robust, the only disadvantage being that the fittings make tripod 1.5 cm longer and 100 g heavier.

[David R Munson]

That is an elegant solution! I'll definitely put that method down as an option.