Brake control arm is touching my tire

[Crab_Cake]

So I took apart my bike, painted, and did a bunch of mods during the summer. One thing that I screwed up on was my brake control arm. (At least I think thats what its called)

It is the rod that keeps the rear drum brake from moving.

Here it is.

Here is the line where it ate out my tire.

Here is where the arm mounts to the brake. I have thrown some washers in there to try and push it out but that shouldn't be necessary.

Anyways any thoughts on this would be appreciated. I put a new chain and 32 tooth sprocket along with new rear suspension. I will be taking the wheel off again soon to put my old 34t sprocket back on. I like the originals acceleration.

 

[xjwmx]

I think my arm has a caved in place (from the factory I think) that lets it avoid the tire. I don't see it on yours. Or it might be there but on the wrong side?

 

[Crab_Cake]

Mine has the little bend in it but it is still touching. I can't imagine that I left out a spacer or put one on the wrong side of the wheel.

My rear tire is at 35psi BTW.

 

[pumps]

I had mine off when I did the swing are bush/needle bearing conversion . When I put it on I got it on backwards. I think that is called the tension bar. If you look at the parts breakdown, the rear appears to be straight at the back but has a bend in the front. The bend offsets the bar to the outside as it goes to the rear. Maybe this is the cause? Mine is a 77 so yours may be different. Bike looks great by the way. I like all the white touches.

 

[OldXSive]

On my '79 there was a specific front & rear and specific inside an outside to the brake torque arm. Sorry, been awhile since I took it on & off so I can't recall the exact orientation.

 

[jayel]

make sure it's not mounted to the wrong side of the front anchor point and if that tire is over a 120 that will be a problem

 

[pyroman]

C, is Your rear wheel cocked in the swing arm? Just looked at the Torque Arm on My 79 (Street Tracker) it is offset on both ends, and with proper chain tension,(wheel is square to the chassis) I have about 1/4 inch clearance between the arm, and the tire. I have no spacer between the TA, and the backing plate, it is flush. Did You go to a different tire?

 

[Crab_Cake]

The tire is the same one that I had on the bike before I took it apart. Is there a way to check for wheel alignment?

 

[MrBillohnooo]

I have a 130/90/18 on the rear of my 77 standard, and it clears by about 3/16"...There are marks on the swingarm and chain adjusters... should be in the same place on both sides.

 

[XSLeo]

I can't see very well in your pic, but I think you may have it on inside out. On the ones I have the ends are off set so that it you hold it by the ends and look at it most of the tube is to one side of the ends. This offset needs to be toward the out side. The front end offset a bit more.
On the swingarm end the strut goes into a bracket that has two sides, the strut goes in between the two sides.

 

[Crab_Cake]

I can't see very well in your pic, but I think you may have it on inside out. On the ones I have the ends are off set so that it you hold it by the ends and look at it most of the tube is to one side of the ends. This offset needs to be toward the out side. The front end offset a bit more.
On the swingarm end the strut goes into a bracket that has two sides, the strut goes in between the two sides.

Well I am going to go back to my stock sprocket so that will give me a good opportunity to figure it out. Thanks for the help!

 

[littlebill31]

Question as well. My torque arm on my "new to me" bike is bolted to the swingarm correctly, but the PO said he took it off to put a new tire on and lost the bolt that attaches it to the brake plate and also damaged the acuator as well. So, I bought a bolt and when I went to line the arm up to the plate, it is about 1-2 inches too long! It wouldn't fit anyway 'cuz I have a 5.00-16 tire on it.
Any ideas? Do I need to have the torque arm on it?

 

[Newagerocker]

Just rotate the hub until the holes align. A 5.00X16 (130/90X16) tire is stock size on a Special. My Avon 5.00X16 fit fine on my '83XS650SK. Think about it, yes you need the torque arm!

 

[littlebill31]

Thanks. I thought I needed it. But that tire is extremely close to the swing arm. I mean almost touching. There is no way that arm is going to fit. I tried every which way. Something is amiss.

 

[littlebill31]

Hmmm. You can see in one pictue that the tire is almost touching the swing arm. (I'm not a photographer). Other picture shows the bar quite aways away from the plate. The arrow points to the tire touching the bar. The 2 circles are where they are supposed to meet. I can move the bar away to clear the tire. Could I use a large spacer? Everything is straight. I don't know.

 

[littlebill31]

Pic of where wheel is adjusted too. Is it too close? Sorry for all the questions, but this thing is bugging me!

 

[XSLeo]

Your axle is through the wrong way. If you look at the swing arm next to the axle you see marks. These marks are to get the wheel straight in the swing arm.
On the axle adjusters there is a mark straight up over the center of the axle. They should line up the same number of marks back from all the way forward. Now comes the part about the axle in backwards. One of the adjusters is only marked at the top, the other is marked top and bottom. With the axle in backwards you can't see the mark on one side. Where the axle goes through the adjusters, on the bolt head end the holes in the adjuster are the same size. the nut end adjuster the holes are different sizes. The inner hole is large eough to fit the smooth part of the bolt. The outer hole is smaller, it fits the threaded part of the bolt.
Once you get that right it will be easier to align the wheel in the swing arm.
On the bent actuator arm you can try straightening it or replace it.
In your pic the tire is almost touching the swing arm. How much space is between the tire and swing arm on the other side?
It looks like the wheel is all the way back. If you have the drive chain on this would indicate the chain is too long or extremly worn.
If too long cut off a link or two, if worn replace the chain and sprockets.
To hook the strut to the brake plate do as newagerocker said, rotate the brake plate. you may have to loosen the axle to do that.
If your PM bent the actuator arm, then he probably bent the strut too. once you get the wheel in straight and hook the strut up, you may find you need the bend the strut a bit to clear the tire.
Leo

 

[littlebill31]

Ahhh. Thanks a lot! The tire is actually perfectly centered in the swing arm. Both sides have equal distance between the tire and arm. I thought the wheel looked wrong. If the wheel is adjusted any further forward, however, it is going to be against the swingarm completely. Sandwiched where the swing arm tapers inward towards the pivot. Thanks

 

[littlebill31]

I see it now. Wow, my first PO nightmare! I see how to fix it and how the brake plate rotates, but that torque arm. My tire is a Coker 5.00-16, and it's tight. Think I'm going to get a new tire. This one is brand new though, but not worth the hasle to me.

 

[littlebill31]

...and a new chain.