Manfrotto 055 Pro Tripod Repair and Upgrade

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The new clip in-situe

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The Manfrotto manual showing the load loop / hanging ring.

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The broken component, referred to as a hanging ring.

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To access the screws which hold the main body together, we need to remove this clamp assembly — note the hole in the recess…

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You can see the screws that we need access to, and the silver-coloured spring-loaded wedge which both retains and locks the clamp assembly. Make sure the locking screw is loose enough to allow the wedge to be easily depressed into the main body.

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The clamp retaining / locking wedge / block

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By lining up one of the holes in the centre clamp, we can depress the wedge and remove the centre clamp — requires a bit of wiggling..!

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Loosening the screws on the main body, just enough to insert the (modified) D-clip.

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The D-clip I purchased has a flat cross-section (most D-clips have a circular cross-section) which is absolutely essential as it needs re-shaping to fit. 
The curve of its original shape was too steep to fit in the narrow gap provided in the tripod body, so using pliers I flattened the top.

*The British Military use Manfrotto tripods which puts them under duress not only during use, but whilst being thrown or bounced around in some form of transport.

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