Rear Wheel Alignment

[dman4]

Brent,
I have been involved in 3 tranny rebuilds and all have required rear wheel alignment. The rear wheel is alined to the swing arm and if the belt does not track in the middle of the pulley... the tranny needs to move. That is with all bearings and bushings being good. Good luck and hope you get it aligned.

 

[Th3InfamousI]

I was freaking out - the quote Mike has was no longer there.

Thanks for tips on spacers. I did the right side one correct - must've done the brake side wrong.

Eric - how thick is the shim ? I figure I would need at least 1/8" or 1/4". And I presume it would come with a right side spacer that is shorter by the same distance, right ?

It's hard to imagine that something else is so out of whack that I'd need to move the left adjuster that much differently than the right to achieve a straight tire. But even though I did the same # of turns on both sides, it seems to have shifted from angled toward the left at the front of the tire and riding the outside of the rear pulley, to the opposite now - belt is on the inside of rear pulley and tire angled to the right up front.

The problem is the belt is riding on the left edge of the front pulley. When I loosed the wheel and pushed the belt over on the front pulley by hand, there was tons of clearance from the tire. But when the tightened belt runs it moves the front left and hits the tire.

Today I'll move the left adjuster enough to pull that belt over and see how far it has to go.

Rick - that was the coolest and nicest way you could comment on how many times it's taken me so far........and of course it was worse than I posted. I wanted to save some face and spare y'all the pain of reading about my pain.

.062" is most common size.

If you need something bigger and when you readjust and still don't get it, some of the guys above have mentioned it could be the trans out of alignment.

You didn't happen to check the 6 bolts when you did the shocks? There's been a few folks on here that found some were missing, overtime they must have rattled out.

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[Brent Herridge]

Finally got it back together. I'll write-up a How-To since I made every mistake possible.

Shannon called just as I was wrapping up. Big Mike called too, but I missed him yesterday.

For adjustment, I adjusted the right side adjuster for the correct belt tension. I then made the left side the same. Lots of belt rubbing, so I tightened the left side an additional 1 1/2 turns. I measured it after that:

View attachment 69193


They're pretty close. The right side axle end is not the same diameter as the bolt on the left. When I measure the gap and then add 1/2 the axle width, that puts it about 2 mm off.........about 1/10" ? How bad would that be ?

Tthat was enough to move the belt off the tire, but still tracking along the inside edge of the rear pulley.

Now, after a 15 mile test ride that seemed to go well, there is even more space between tire and belt, and the pulley is tracking back toward the outside of the rear pulley. Just eye-balling it, seems to be more centered without bearing down on that outside edge though, which is good news.



I don't think 15 miles is a fair test, but there was zero black dust. Next weekend should be nice, so I hope to get DynaBeads installed up front and have a good report next week.

From what I could tell the rear tire was smooth, so looks like the DynaBeads worked there. I'm sure counting on them in the front tire......

Thanks again for everyone's help.View attachment 69192View attachment 69193View attachment 69192View attachment 69193

 

[Jersey Big Mike]

Ok, now I see what your issue was.
According to the manual, you measure from the center of the pivot bolt on swingarm to the center of the axle bolt with a funny belt rod.
I use a harley one that isn't really shaped right but gets me real close.

Anyone have a line on the proper Big Dog tool for rear wheel alignment? Eric, Shannon ?

 

[Jersey Big Mike]

Ok, now I see what your issue was.
According to the manual, you measure from the center of the pivot bolt on swingarm to the center of the axle bolt with a funny belt rod.
I use a harley one that isn't really shaped right but gets me real close.

Anyone have a line on the proper Big Dog tool for rear wheel alignment? Eric, Shannon ?

Check chapter 6 of the manual again Brent -- you were using the RIGID frame alignment method, not the swingarm method.
Never mind -- Big Dog one isn't funky like the harley version. Time to make one I think.

 

[pknowles]

Ok, now I see what your issue was.
According to the manual, you measure from the center of the pivot bolt on swingarm to the center of the axle bolt with a funny belt rod.
I use a harley one that isn't really shaped right but gets me real close.

Anyone have a line on the proper Big Dog tool for rear wheel alignment? Eric, Shannon ?

I made mine out of stainless rod.

 

[Lorenzo]

I work on a lot of Big dogs, Harley’s, etc for many many years and never used a rod to align a belt. You shouldn’t be having this many issues lining that back wheel up unless you have another prior problem with the bike that you have not disclosed.

 

[knothead]

Ive never used a line up tool....while i got the bike off the ground i roll the wheel, only god knows how many time forward and then backwards till i get it adjusted the way i like it....once i get it adjusted i never move the adjusters ever again even when changing a tire i leave it right where they are...the axle will come right out and go right back in without troubles

 

[Jersey Big Mike]

Ive never used a line up tool....while i got the bike off the ground i roll the wheel, only god knows how many time forward and then backwards till i get it adjusted the way i like it....once i get it adjusted i never move the adjusters ever again even when changing a tire i leave it right where they are...the axle will come right out and go right back in without troubles

I've done that in the past but I find putting the axle back in on a swingarm bike requires a bit of brute force to get the axle behind the adjuster if the belt is tensioned correctly.

 

[bdm7250]

I don't find any alignment tools are necessary, I get the axle roughly aligned equal in the slot and fine tune with adjusters to get the belt to track properly. It doesn't take long at all and not a pita either, no sense to over complicate the simple..

 

[41bigdawg]

Ive never used a line up tool....while i got the bike off the ground i roll the wheel, only god knows how many time forward and then backwards till i get it adjusted the way i like it....once i get it adjusted i never move the adjusters ever again even when changing a tire i leave it right where they are...the axle will come right out and go right back in without troubles

Ive never used one either. Axel comes out and goes back in, I never touch the adjusters on any of my bikes.

 

[Brent Herridge]

My belt is tightened to the spec - 3/8 to 5/16 - which is pretty darn tight. At BBBBQ my informal survey showed most were WAY looser. And even with the belt that tight, once I figured it out, I was able to pry the axle behind the adjusters on both sides pretty easily. Once I get this working I agree it should be the last time..........I hope.........

 

[knothead]

I've done that in the past but I find putting the axle back in on a swingarm bike requires a bit of brute force to get the axle behind the adjuster if the belt is tensioned correctly.

It can be a pain sometimes i agree...i machined me a aluminum round bar so it goes in threaded in to pry it so not to hit the adjuster threads and mess them up, if i ever had to take them out, when i sliding the axle in or tapping the axle in with a rubber mallet

 

[Th3InfamousI]

I don't find any alignment tools are necessary, I get the axle roughly aligned equal in the slot and fine tune with adjusters to get the belt to track properly. It doesn't take long at all and not a pita either, no sense to over complicate the simple..

Agreed !

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[Brent Herridge]

I intentionally put the left side adjuster 1 1/2 turns tighter than the right to get the belt off the tire. I did not remeasure after the short test ride until today. I put it 1/2 turn loosened, but the tire was hitting the belt again. I tried another 1/4, but same thing, so I ended up where it was for the test ride. I'll run through a whole tank of gas Saturday and report back if the belt dust is gone. Seems like the best measure of alignment.

 

[Brent Herridge]

Beautiful 200 mile ride today.

Everything worked great and nothing broke !!

There was a bit of dust, but a small fraction of what it used to be.

I adjusted the left side back (looser) 2 nights ago, but belt would hit the tire until I had it back to 1.5 turns tighter. It definitely moves when toad tested though.

Belt is 1/16 to 1/8 away from the tire now, do there is room to play. Belt is still riding the outside edge of rear pulley too.

I'll move it in 1/2 turn and test tomorrow.

Amazing how the dust even lands on the wheel without blowing away first.

 

[woodbutcher]

i'm sorry, but that still sounds to me like brake dust.

 

[Brent Herridge]

Wish it was. But it's only on the pulley side of the wheel.

 

[Eumel]

For my 09K9 I need a spacer under the pulley, 2mm thick stainless steel
who can me say
. diameter autside
. diameter inside
. bolt circle diameter
Man can measure bad when installed.

Thank You

Eumel