Working on a rear tire change, need some quick help

[IdahoMtnSpyder]

Took it for a short ride and checked it again, belt had shifted slightly to the middle. I'll put it on the jack again tomorrow and tweak it a bit more, but I think its pretty much done.

If it's somewhat in the middle of the sprocket, or a bit closer to the flange than the outside, I wouldn't fuss with it any more. I'm inclined to view the BRP spec of 1 - 3 mm as more guideline than strict requirement. Mostly they want to make clear, "Keep the belt away from the flange and all of it on the sprocket!" As long as the belt is between the outside edge and the flange you're OK.

 

[Roadster Renovations]

Wheel is aligned! It took about another hour and a half of going back and forth but I finally have it done. One of the things I took note of this time is the outline of the plastic cap on the swing arm vs. where the center of the axle was. On the sprocket side, you could tell that the axle was well back of where it had been previously. To correct that, I loosened both sides by several turns and then used a wooden drift with a hammer to tap the axle forward on that side till it met resistance and then rinse and repeat till I had it roughly centered. I then tweaked the sprocket side adjuster by about a quarter turn to put some tension on the belt and then put a like amount on the other side as well.

I had ordered the Kriket belt tension gauge and it came in today. I checked the tension and it was too tight, about 200. So I backed each adjuster off a quarter turn on each side and used the drift again to move the axle forward. Finally I got the belt tension to about 160 or about a 90 degree turn in the middle with some resistance. Tightened the axle and torqued it to about 90 ft lbs. Took it for a short ride and checked it again, belt had shifted slightly to the middle. I'll put it on the jack again tomorrow and tweak it a bit more, but I think its pretty much done.

Lessons learned: Stop when you are tired or things dont seem to be going right. A day or two in-between did a lot to refocus and see the problems from a different perspective. Second: Nothing is easy the first time. Were I to do this job over, I could probably do it in a couple of hours instead of a couple of days. But you just dont know, what you dont know and as much as you can watch videos and read online, many times it comes to trial and error. :hun:

Good job. I also tap the right side as you did to seat it also. Those of us that do our own work have that first time adjusting the belt alignment and tension. It is certainly a learning curve. One thing you didn't say was whether the tension you got was off the ground or wheel on the ground. We set the tension at about 90 off the ground. That usually gives me 180 on the ground. Actually I use two different krickets; the black/white - lower tension and the green/silver one - higher tension. Sounds like where it is at if on the ground is pretty close!!
I also view the BRP guideline of 1-3mm as a suggestion also. Our RT is about 5mm of the flange for the last year and has done fine.

 

[Eviltwin]

Tension was off the ground. I was following a video of one guy that did the alignment with the engine running jacked up. He set his to about 160-170 with it up in the air. If that is not the correct setting, let me know. The belt was running about 1-2 mm off the inside edge, but after I took it around the block it looked like it had moved in to touching the inner side. So I'll probably jack it up again tomorrow and tweak the settings a bit to move it back out. I do need to get my hands on a service manual. I don't plan on taking this back to the dealer unless I have no other choice, I like to do my own work if possible.

 

[Roadster Renovations]

Tension was off the ground. I was following a video of one guy that did the alignment with the engine running jacked up. He set his to about 160-170 with it up in the air. If that is not the correct setting, let me know. The belt was running about 1-2 mm off the inside edge, but after I took it around the block it looked like it had moved in to touching the inner side. So I'll probably jack it up again tomorrow and tweak the settings a bit to move it back out. I do need to get my hands on a service manual. I don't plan on taking this back to the dealer unless I have no other choice, I like to do my own work if possible.

Some guys swear by running it up in the air to adjust. I have never had any luck at that. If it is the video I am thinking off, it is several years old (british accent) and they have dropped the tension down several times since that was done. Since you don't have the lower tension kricket you will probably have to guess on the up in the air reading. If it was 160-170 in the air that will give you a 250+ on the ground, which is too tight. The only way I have done the adjustment is to make 1/8" turns then ryde around the block. Don't know if anyone has ever told you yet. but to check or adjust tracking always stop when going forward. The belt goes nuts on alignment when you back up and you cannot base anything on that. I'll get you a link for the up in the air kricket.
https://www.amazon.com/Gates-91107-...11324881&sr=8-1&keywords=kricket+belt+tension

Here is a video page I have done a few things. Go to the bottom right hand side, then one up. This is just using the higher tension while on the ground, but you may gleem a couple of things from it.
https://www.roadsterrenovations.info/how-to-videos

 

[trikermutha]

Manual also recommends checking the tension with the rear wheel spoke in line with the swing arm and off the ground. But I use a tension meter.
1/16 turns on the adjusters at a time is all that's needed to do fine tuning.

Then tightened and recheck tracking forward direction.

There is also a check for both pulleys but most just go by the rear gap.

 

[Eviltwin]

Some guys swear by running it up in the air to adjust. I have never had any luck at that. If it is the video I am thinking off, it is several years old (british accent) and they have dropped the tension down several times since that was done. Since you don't have the lower tension kricket you will probably have to guess on the up in the air reading. If it was 160-170 in the air that will give you a 250+ on the ground, which is too tight. The only way I have done the adjustment is to make 1/8" turns then ryde around the block. Don't know if anyone has ever told you yet. but to check or adjust tracking always stop when going forward. The belt goes nuts on alignment when you back up and you cannot base anything on that. I'll get you a link for the up in the air kricket.
https://www.amazon.com/Gates-91107-...11324881&sr=8-1&keywords=kricket+belt+tension

Here is a video page I have done a few things. Go to the bottom right hand side, then one up. This is just using the higher tension while on the ground, but you may gleem a couple of things from it.
https://www.roadsterrenovations.info/how-to-videos

I appreciate the help. Wish I had seen that page of videos earlier. I'll go through the video before I work on it again today or over the weekend.

Bob

 

[Eviltwin]

Jacked it up again when I got home. Adjusted the axle after loosening it, had it running at about 2-3mm off the inside edge of the sprocket. Checked tension when it was on the ground, 210 so I thought that was good. Tightened up the axle, torqued it to 90 ft lbs again. Ran the bike about 3/4 of a mile around the neighborhood and stopped it without going into reverse. Belt still looked fine for alignment. Decided to take it out for a run on the highway. Got it up to 65 or so, eventually pulled off and checked the belt again after about 5 miles, belt was running up against the inside again. Drove home and still at that point. Parked it back in the garage. Will look at it tomorrow or the next day, didn't want to mess around when it had a hot muffler. Nothing is simple I guess...:banghead:

 

[BLUEKNIGHT911]

BELT WANDER

Jacked it up again when I got home. Adjusted the axle after loosening it, had it running at about 2-3mm off the inside edge of the sprocket. Checked tension when it was on the ground, 210 so I thought that was good. Tightened up the axle, torqued it to 90 ft lbs again. Ran the bike about 3/4 of a mile around the neighborhood and stopped it without going into reverse. Belt still looked fine for alignment. Decided to take it out for a run on the highway. Got it up to 65 or so, eventually pulled off and checked the belt again after about 5 miles, belt was running up against the inside again. Drove home and still at that point. Parked it back in the garage. Will look at it tomorrow or the next day, didn't want to mess around when it had a hot muffler. Nothing is simple I guess...:banghead:

IMHO ... all the belts on the Spyders wander a small amount . I've seen video's of the belt and rear sprocket while it was being driven .... it/they wander ...it's just a fact of Spyder belts .... I check mine frequently and every time I've looked at it ...it has moved from the previous check ....Our belt is very, very, long ... to think it doesn't or shouldn't move is wishing for something that isn't possible. There are some things I'm really Anal about ( tire psi :roflblack: ), but belt movement is just a fact that we have to re-concile............... Mike :thumbup:

 

[Roadster Renovations]

It's maddening!! I know!! You have got it close. Just a little nudge should do it.

 

[cognaccruiser]

Jacked it up again when I got home. Adjusted the axle after loosening it, had it running at about 2-3mm off the inside edge of the sprocket. Checked tension when it was on the ground, 210 so I thought that was good. Tightened up the axle, torqued it to 90 ft lbs again. Ran the bike about 3/4 of a mile around the neighborhood and stopped it without going into reverse. Belt still looked fine for alignment. Decided to take it out for a run on the highway. Got it up to 65 or so, eventually pulled off and checked the belt again after about 5 miles, belt was running up against the inside again. Drove home and still at that point. Parked it back in the garage. Will look at it tomorrow or the next day, didn't want to mess around when it had a hot muffler. Nothing is simple I guess...:banghead:

Just so you don't feel alone and frustrated. You're not alone. I've done mine twice for rear tire replacement. It's all pretty easy until it comes to the adjustment. The last time I did it, it took me a few days with a little time in between for ME to cool down, not the muffler. You've heard of the definition of insanity, doing the same thing over and over again hoping for a different result. That was me. Then I decided to try some different approaches.

You have received some really good advice already. What seemed to work for me was once I had the tension where I wanted it, I stopped worrying about that to focus on the alignment adjustment, ie: the right side.
As described by idahomtnspyder (his is an RTs or Ltd), I cut a wedge. Someone else posted about using a wooden wedge on the general discussion section today also. I also did not loosen the axel nut all the way but rather just until it touched the cotter pin. Yes, at that point I was leaving the cotter pin in the axel rod. That is enough to let the adjuster bolts to do their thing.
I made very small adjustment by moving the adjuster bolt one flat of the six sided bolt at a time. Easy to remember how much you have moved it. It is extremely easy to go too far one way or the other for you final adjustment. After making the turn of the adjuster bolt, I tapped the blocks forward as I believe you are doing already. Then I wedged the wooden wedge between the swing arm and the tire side wall to prevent the thing from moving. I tightened the nut a bit but actually lowered the spyder so that the tire was on the ground and tapped the blocks again before I did my final torque. Eventually I got it to where I was happy with it. I also never ran the spyder but just made sure I did at least 10 forward rotations and 10 rearward rotations after everything was tight. You mentioned torqueing to 90 ft lbs. Mine is a 2014 RTs so it may be different from yours but I torqued to something like 160. You may want to verify the torque specs for your year.
Mine was frustrating because I would get it where I wanted it and ride it for 5 or 6 miles with no movement but after about another 5 - 10 miles it would move. I realized the thing was tight and where I wanted it but not really snugged up on the adjusters.
Keep the faith and let us know. The satisfaction of getting it done will be worth it.

Gary

 

[Eviltwin]

Follow up: finally done

Just following up on this thread. Last week, I loosened the nuts on the rear axle and aligned the belt again. Adjusted it farther to the outside of the sprocket than the previous times keeping in mind that it tended to wander inward. Ran the bike with the tire off the ground and verified the tracking. Took it out several times and the belt is now about a mm off the inner flange, but staying consistently there. Happy with how it is tracking now. Can't say I notice that much difference between the old and new tires, but I'm probably a very conservative driver. Running about 26 in the rear and 18 in the fronts which are still the original Kendas.

 

[Roadster Renovations]

Just following up on this thread. Last week, I loosened the nuts on the rear axle and aligned the belt again. Adjusted it farther to the outside of the sprocket than the previous times keeping in mind that it tended to wander inward. Ran the bike with the tire off the ground and verified the tracking. Took it out several times and the belt is now about a mm off the inner flange, but staying consistently there. Happy with how it is tracking now. Can't say I notice that much difference between the old and new tires, but I'm probably a very conservative driver. Running about 26 in the rear and 18 in the fronts which are still the original Kendas.

Awesome!! Boy, what a learning curve! We try to explain how that is done, but unless you have went through it, you really can't relate.