Swinging Dist.

[DetroitSignal]

Give me a refresher on how to cure the swinging dissy from the 3 to the 2 pin. Haven't worked on 70 or 90 type in awhile.

Thanks in advance.

[TheGMan143]

Re: Swinging Dist.

Continuous sway can be caused by a bent or bottoming-out driveshaft.

Sway when indexing can be usually be cured by adding a little tension to the lateral springs... usually a kicker spring hooked on to the lateral spring with a little tension stretched on it will do.

[Rep]

Re: Swinging Dist.

We get the bottoming out drive shaft on odd lanes a lot, I know there's quite a few we cut to compensate. Of course there's always my favorite little cheat if ya cant find it. Belt tensioner spring on the lateral drive arm, works like a charm [img]/content/btubb/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/wink.gif[/img]

[OneWorldSport]

Re: Swinging Dist.

Well you should not have a problem with the drive shaft bottoming out on the motor on an 90 or an XL. Different GB remember. I would check the rollers on the dizzy aswell. Just to isolate the problem swap the drive shaft with another lane.

Peter

[8270 pinspotter]

Re: Swinging Dist.

I always used the kicker spring trick myself. I've also found the problem can be caused by too much clutch tension. Just an idea.

[Pindecked]

Re: Swinging Dist.

Check the 2 big balls ( [img]/content/btubb/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/wink.gif[/img] BEARINGS !) ..one may have a flat spot. Also, check the weldment they slide into,may have a worn spot. I've never had to add springs,although some folks do.
I find too much tension on the clutch will also cause swaying. Disassemble clutch, CLEAN, re-assemble, & put just enough tension on the clutch to pull the 8 & 9 pin smoothly.

[ModelTech]

Re: Swinging Dist.

If all else fails...

Try jacking up (ever so slightly) one side of the backend of the machine or the other...the slightest tilt of the backend caused ours to swing like a baseball bat. Just for s-its and grins, I raised the left side a c-hair, problem gone!!

I believe Lampie turned me on to that one six months ago! Good luck! [img]/content/btubb/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/laugh.gif[/img]

Doug

[pat]

Re: Swinging Dist.

I would check the drive housing and the bearings that ride inside the drive housing.

[John_Galt]

Re: Swinging Dist.

Agreed on the driveshaft balls and housing weldment.

Also on distributor post leveling. If it's leaning, it will sway. Put a torpedo level against the side of the post to see if it's plumb.

And of course the ****** cure, the kicker spring inside the safety link spring.
Example pictured

Chaddy

[LancerLanesMech]

Re: Swinging Dist.

The spring trick works well. I would also first disconnect all the springs and drive shaft and make sure it's balanced. I prefer to start out that way.
I do have to disagree with sports central though, depending on how you do your adjustments. I was told (by Tom Niedemeyer with AMF) to make sure the bar that the distributor mounts on is mounted flush on the cross bar that it sits on. Well I did that to my 36 82-90XL's and at least half of them were bottoming out on the drive housing (bottoming really bad I might add) because of how tilted it left the distributor. The other problem was that if they go the other way, the drive shaft would come out of the housing. Tom's solution to the problem was to try to move the BE gearbox to correct it. I do not suggest this at all!!!! So we had to go back and balance them out and it made things a lot better. However, it was difficult to keep them balanced because of the way the distributor mounts compared to a 70. I was trying to shim it but then overall height in relation to the pinwheel became an issue. I'm not a big fan of the mounting design.
Also the support rollers for the pinwheel were a pain because the sticky factory coating wasn't removed from the pin they rotate on before install and about 90% of them seized up and had to be replaced. Lacquer thinner took it right off and I oiled them and no more problems there.

[Guest]

Re: Swinging Dist.

Very correct Farley. Sports is way off on that. XL's love to bottom out and sure enough can.

Most of all, check ball bearings and housing weldment for wear.

If you want an easy cheat, then as Rep said, use the belt tension spring on the lateral control arm and hook it too your dist. pin turn around rod on top. This add just the right tension in most cases. Adding springs to the rear lateral springs is not my gig. But to each his own.

[LancerLanesMech]

Re: Swinging Dist.

Yeah, I had a few distributor housings break at the welds after only 2 years of operation. Must put more stress on them being so wide. As far as the swinging distributor goes, I have found on my machines that they are more prone to do it if they aren't balanced with the springs & drive shaft off and lateral control arm out of the tube. I also go through the clutch and clean it and oil up the gear & pinion to insure smooth operation. The other thing is that on the lateral side where the cheater spring is used, the bracket with the hole in it by the rod end is usually bent from the spring pressure, thus giving you less tension, although it may be only a minor difference. I have been straightening them, but the last one i just flipped it over and didn't use a cheater spring and it runs great. Hope you find it. Now everyone go read up on my cycle problem (the one where you have to hold the cycle button down) and find me a miracle [img]/content/btubb/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/laugh.gif[/img]

[misterx]

Re: Swinging Dist.

When I took over my current center a little over a year ago I had the same problem on a few different machines. As it turned out I stopped the problem buy getting rid of the (Brand X) cams.

[AMFDOCTOR]

Re: Swinging Dist.

Joe:
When you put extra springs on the linear arm to increase tension you're only compensating for the original problem. In a earlier post I discussed just where the problem might be. Here goes....take your safety link apart and disconnect it from the linear arm. Take the rod end with the stud on it and check to see if it has any slop in it both up & down and in & out. I'll bet that they are worn out and have a lot of play in them. By adding more spring tension to the arm you're pulling up and trying to stop any movement, up, down or in, out, rather than pivoting around the ball. I'd be curious to hear what you might find, let me know.

AMFDOCTOR
The doctor makes house calls.