[Buck Turgidson]

Rear axle/wheel on my Scout would not slide back and forth in the swing arm oval hole. It seems to happen because of the rear caliper mount. There is a (male) cheek on the swing arm, and a female slot on the caliper mount. I imagine it was meant for sliding caliper back and forth. As it is depicted here:

If that cheek/slot joint was lubricated, it would help sliding the axle/wheel to the front, but it could also contaminate the brake pads, for the caliper is located just underneath. That is why I didn’t try to use lube there. Or should I try and do that?

I am trying to align my belt and my rear wheel, and I have seen on video (time 6:10) someone was sliding his rear axle/wheel easy to the front or to the back an inch or so (without dropping the rear caliper).

How to push wheel to the front easy?

Thanks to all who would comment, and even more to those who help in this matter.

 

[Jonscout]

Block front wheel so it doesn't roll. Take out of gear. Loosen axle nut (doesn't need to be removed). Mark adjusting bolts with a marker so you can count rotations. There should be nothing you do on the brake. Hope this helps.

 

[JoyRider]

Follow Jonscout’s directions. Ccunterclockwise (!) losen the adjusting bolts, maybe 4 or 5 full revolutions (that’s why you “mark” them with a marker or some paint to NOT lose track between how many revolutions you turned, left and right equal, 4 or 5 - doesn’t matter, just do the same number on both sides) then HIT the wheel with your hand from the side really hard and you will see the other side has moved and loosened. Hit it now from the other side. Best results when the rear wheel is off the ground but for “little adjustments” it works even with the bike on the kickstand. Hope this helps and good luck!

 

[JoyRider]

Edit: For alignment purposes, you might only need a quarter turn each to losen enough. Start with the left side and adjust belt tension, once this is set, only use the right side (!) to adjust alignment. Don’t touch left side after proper belt tension was set again.

 

[Buck Turgidson]

Thanks for the explanations. I understand the process of aligning the belt, and it was success on the old tires. I noticed belt was loose more than 12mm, so I did measure and tighten the belt to the spec and alignment was perfect, belt was riding in the middle from my first attempt.

Than I changed my tires, and I can not repeat the perfect belt alignment yet. Belt is on the outer side of the sprocket, graduation marks on the square tab both sides are close to how bike was when new, and I rode it like that for some 2-300 miles. I can see some markings on the side of the belt now, and hope I didnt damage the belt that bad.

I didnt try to hit the wheel/tire sideways, thats my bad. I was only pushing it to the front, no luck there. But I will do as you said, well, hit it sideways with the rubber mallet or heavy 3Lb drilling hammer.

 

[JoyRider]

Ok, as long as you don’t hard rub the belt on either side, you should be good and keep in mind, “perfect” is not gonna happen! Try loosening the axle and then go with tiny adjustments. Maybe 1/4 or even 1/8 of a turn on the right side. Hit the wheel from left or right - depending on whether you tighten the adjuster or losen it. Tighten the axle to again to spec torque (that usually changes your adjustments) and go for a ride. A few miles, then check and adjust again. It’s a process and a procedure - but that’s how I did it after putting the white walls on.

 

[Buck Turgidson]

Thanks. I will do my best to get this right. I understand its a process. Thats why people like chopping the firewood, one can see instant results.
Only I am doing this on my parking lot, its so complicated.

 

[JoyRider]

Aw man 🤢 good luck

 

[Buck Turgidson]

Update.
I squared wheel alignment perfect. Bike is not pulling to the right any more. That was achieved by sliding the rear wheel back and forth, and measuring the distance from the axle bolt/nut to the lower shock bolt both sides (148-150mm, depending on the belt tension).

Belt tension is to the spec, tension bolt shows 19.4mm for 12mm belt deflection.

Only belt position is to the outer side of the rear sprocket. I cant get the belt to the inside anyhow, regardless how much I tighten that right tension bolt.
Sprockets outer side feels warm to touch after a 50 miles ride, little more than inner side. I hope those markings on the belt side are within the normal wear. But I think they are recent, I dont think those wear markings were there before my attempts to align the belt/wheel.

 

[AAD]

I set my alignment based on how the bike feels as long as there are no obvious problems. My belt rides to the left side, my wife's rides to the right. No idea why but we've crossed the US twice on them and the tire life is great.