Repairing a C-stand

Kamil Iwanowicz · October 11, 2018

See what you mean, will give it a go!

Ed Conley · October 12, 2018

Check Avenger as well.

I just looked at one of our Avenger Low rolling stands and it utilizes the same style compression system.

https://www.manfrottospares.com/ra01015-brake-shoe-x-bushing-set--set-of-5-/

RA01015. Brake Shoe X Bushing Set ( Set Of 5 )

Ed Conley · October 12, 2018

Same factory in China probably makes the KUPO, Avenger and the No Name e-bay ones.

Kamil Iwanowicz · October 12, 2018

This is it :O. Thank you so much guys, saved my ass!

JD Hartman · October 13, 2018

Same factory in China probably makes the KUPO, Avenger and the No Name e-bay ones.

All Manfrotto/Avenger stands and grip gear used to be manufactured in a single town in Italy. Sadly the bean counters won out and now it's all far east import.

John Jennings · June 17, 2024

On 5/20/2018 at 9:29 PM, Jon Wolding said:

I was trying to fix a broken 40" Matthews c-stand (spring-loaded model, legs were frozen up) and I, too, had a problem getting the lock nut off the bottom, so I searched for an answer and came up with this thread.

Although all of these ideas are decent and probably work just fine, I have a stupid simple solution for removing the lock nut:

1. Remove the telescoping sections from the main tube.

2. Get a 3/4" (I think this is the standard nut size for Matthews c-stands) deepish socket and an impact driver (I used a basic 18V Makita, nothing fancy).

3. Pour a few handfuls of copper BBs (or lead shot or maybe small sinkers) into the main tube.

4. Keep the stand vertical and remove the lock nut with the impact driver.

5. Try not to get excited and dump your BBs all over the floor when the nut spins right off.

6. Tilt the stand and pour the BBs into the container they came in (I had a carton) or whatever.

Just reverse these steps to put it back together.
And when the nut is back on, you might have to bang on the tube with a mallet to shake the BBs out... otherwise you'll have a very annoying c-stand maraca. ;)

I can say this worked surprisingly well! Just disassembled some old c-stands yesterday and the bb's held the bolt head in place and Loosened the bottom nut without any issue.

For any people in the future wondering, this is a very cheap and effective technique. And the bb's can be saved for future use!