I have a St Croix LTB 6’10” MLXF that got caught in a door on my fishing trip last weekend, and it smooshed the top guide and caused the insert to fall out. I’ve already had another issue on it, got a replacement rod and fixed up the 6’10”. I was wondering if replacing the top guide is something I can do, and how to do it without sacrificing too much in the way of performance. Thanks!

You should be able to gently heat it with a candle and remove it.  Get a replacement and install it.  Don’t use epoxy or super glue.

Call St Croix and they'll send at least the correct size and maybe adhesive.

I would contact st croix first to see if they can send you a replacement tip top first. If not they will at least provide you with the correct insert/tube size. It's not extremely difficult to replace tip top at home but just be careful not to overheat as it can damage the tip on the blank. You can always call your local tackle shops to see if they can replace it for you.

It's already been mentioned, but I'll say it again... be very careful and apply heat very slowly. It's easy to overheat the tip of a blank. 

Otherwise it should be easy, tip top adhesive is basically just high temp hot glue. 

@PBBrandon: What a coincidence. I dropped my rod and the tip top guide also popped out just yesterday. 
 

Im telling you from experience that is is not hard at all, and this will be the second time I’ll be doing this. And if I can do it, anyone can. 
 

Hope you can get the tip from St Croix. My rod is an old Cabela’s rod so I’m just going to roll with a Fuji replacement kit. 
 

Good luck on your repair!
 

 

I recently replaced one on a 7’ Abu Vendetta MH/f . Not hard at all. 
 

Lightly heat the old tip while applying pulling pressure.
Once off I scuffed sanded (red scotchbrite) the very end of the rod, applied hot wax to the inside of the replacement tip and the rod end.

placed the tip back on the rod while applying light pressure and a very small amount of heat.

Cleaned off the excess off the rod.

Done

@Motoboss  Indeed! And I was all nervous and “scared,” (of messing one of my favorite rods) at first. 😆 Easy, peasy, lemon squeezy. 

 

 

Thanks everyone! Glad to know it ain’t too hard and I can do it myself. I’ll see if I can get a tip top from st croix