The How To contains a thread on how to overhaul your tensioner wheel bearing and one showing how to fit a Free Spirits Tensioner, however the Free Spirits Tensioner itself can suffer from wear resulting in uneven belt support. You can see if yours is worn by attempting to move the fork from side to side. If you attempt to move the tensioner wheel from side to side, you may pick up worn wheel bearings as well as a worn pivot bearing. It is important that you don't just tighten the pivot shaft screws up as this just results in excessive wear on the thrust faces of the fork which may temporarily address rotational movement but not radial.
Edd commissioned a kit to overhaul these:
1. Remove the tensioner from the bike
2. Remove the tensioner wheel
3. Using a pair of allen keys, remove the pivot screws either side of the pivot shaft..
You may be lucky to have unmolested non-security countersunk screws, however Free Spirits have applied a countersink to the socket head
The way around this is to find a 1/4" bit the correct size allen bit and press the screw (in the fork) against the bit in a vice, then use a 1/4" open ended spanner to unscrew the screw, opening the vice a little to allow movement. Free Spirits have also used security screws...
...with a pin in the middle of the socket in the screw head, you will need a security bit to remove these.
4. ...and the rose joint screw
5. Remove the right hand fork
6. Then the left fork and pivot shaft
7. Knock the roll pin through and extract the bush from the centre section using the special bush removal tool
or carefully selected 1/4" drive sockets
8. Check out the shaft and bush, all the worn ones I have seen have suffered from corrosion which has accelerated wear.
The kit contains a new bush and shaft, with a grease port, new screws and a new roll pin...
9. Clean the centre section and prepare the new bush on the bush installation tool before pressing it home
[Picture to follow]10. Tap in the new roll pin
[Picture to follow]
11. Reassemble however apply loctite screwlock to the inner pivot shaft screw...
...and position the hole to face upwards. Liberally apply grease to the inside of the bush.
Grease can be applied using the extended grease nipple after removing the outer (or right hand) pivot shaft screw.
well done Nick
