Topic: Rotating bushings

[Old Meister]

So I bought this brown marble coin-op that had quite a bit of use or little care during that use. I kept noticing black goo gobs on the field while playing and lubing the rods still left a raspy feel. So I took the bushings apart and discovered a mess. Caked black tarry, gritty crap in the bushings. So today I cleaned them but thought it made sense to rotate the bushings. I rotated the far side goalie bushings to the nearside 3 man and the near side goalie to the farside  3 man. I then did the same with the 2 and 5 man bars. It definitely made a difference as well as the thorough cleaning. I have new bushings coming but maybe wouldn't have had I thought of this first. Oh well, I don't mind the rebuild but it was a good thing to do while I'm waiting on the new.

[rradjabi]

I want to do the same with my table. I lubricate the rods, but they still feel gritty as they slide through.

I tried punching out my roll-pins but they were very hard to get out. How hard do you need to hammer those roll pins in order to push them out? Is there a good technique for this?

[papafoos]

Put your bearing wrench under the bar next to the man you're trying to remove.  (but NOT the metal one)  It should be a near fit.  This keeps the bar from flexing when you hit the roll pin.  It wouldn't hurt to put a rag or something on the surface under the pin to keep it from nicking the surface if it pops out.

[rradjabi]

what do you mean by "NOT the metal one"? Can you please clarify?

[Old Meister]

The bearing wrench for these tables is made of hard plastic, it fits the "nut" on the outside bushing. The inside bushing is actually two pieces that come out and apart after unscrewing the outside bushing. You don't have to pull men or handles to do this. I really don't know a lot about these tables but I did hear that to remove the pins you should first support the rod near the pin so as not to damage the bushing nearest that pin and that it is best to first cover that area with a towel to protect the surface and keep it clean. The bearing wrench is just the right width to fit under the rod and support it.

[papafoos]

what do you mean by "NOT the metal one"? Can you please clarify?

The old bearing wrench was made of metal and was intended for the round outside bearings.  This is only on the older equipment.  The new bearing wrench is made of plastic and is used on the six -sided bearings.  You probably don't have the metal one as the old round bearings are at least 15 years old, making the metal wrench obsolete.  If you bought the table used and don't have the new bearing wrench, you should invest in one.

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[bbtuna]

bushing are very important

[This Week In Foosball]

You don't have to remove the men to change out the bearings. They will come off without taking any pins out.

Changing them from one rod to another isn't necessary. The best thing to do is take them off, clean them (409 will do) and when you replace them, put what was the top half of the bearing on the bottom. Most the friction from the rods is on the bottom half of the two bearing pieces, so the bottom one will wear faster than the top one. By switching them around, not only will you have bearings that feel almost new, but you'll increase their life as well.

One note: You'll find that the 3 man and 5 man rod bearings wear out the fastest, so if you needed, you could switch them out with the goalie rod bearings. As the goalie rod bearings don't recieve as much friction, they don't wear out as fast and tend to be the best set on the table.

So if you simply swap the bearings around ( top half to bottom half ), you'll get lots more play out of them before you actually have to replace them.

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Happy Foosing!

[Old Meister]

That makes me think that I didn't waste money on those new bushings as I didn't buy a full set. Now I can replace the bottom half on all the rods and be good.

[rradjabi]

So how can I remove the bearings to clean them? I just need that wrench and then they can be pulled out w/o removing the men or handles?

[papafoos]

It sounds like you don't have a bearing wrench, so in an emergency, you could use some channel locks.  Use a rag against the bearing so the channel locks don't mar the bearing.  You can make a wrench out of a block of wood by tracing the outline of the outside bearing and cutting a matching hole.  Go ahead and invest in a bearing wrench.  It's so much easier.

Loosen the outside of the bearing.  The two inside pieces will come out once you loosen the outside enough.  You don't have to clean the outside one because it only secures the two inside pieces in place.  Clean them (if you don't replace them) and reinsert into the outside bearing.  Don't over tighten.  They only need to be snug enough to keep them from loosening during play.  Don't use WD-40.  It gums up too quickly.  If you don't have the silicone liquid, use a food grade silicone spray.

You can buy the wrench and silicone on this site.  Maybe Jim will give me a commission.

[rradjabi]

thanks papafoos

I can't believe I thought it was necessary to remove the men. I've been wanting to clean the bearings for a long time. I'm excited for this.

[papafoos]

If you don't have a pin punch, I'd recommend getting one of those also.

I'm also assuming we're talking Tornado here.