Disassembled my Farley

F

fishbone

Guest
My complaint has been the movement on my Farley was stiff, which caused 'jump' movements.
I disassembled it (no problems and simple to do) and found a lot of dried grease at the key spots which got cleaned away.
It seems the culprit is the bearings. They have produced 90% of the stiffness.
I tried flushing with lacquer thinner, Kroil and lubed with Camille oil and 3 in 1 oil. This was little help.
All is back together using bike bearing grease with ceramic stuff in it.
Without any pressure from the "loading screws", it is still too stiff because of the bearings.
Are all Farley bearing assemblies stiff? I hate to fool with them too much and loose the zero backlash.
 
I have one of the early Farleys. A couple of years ago I began having problems with sticking and such. So, after a lot of good advice I took it apart and did a good cleaning and re lubed with a recommended grease. The sticking was gone, but now no amount of adjustment would make the top stay level when movong up and down. I adjusted the best I could and learned to turn the joy stick as I moved up or down to keep things level. Finally, last fall I got a back up Farley and sent the old one in for a tune up. Turned out it needed a new bearing. It got back to me a couple of weeks ago and works perfectly. That's probably not the answer you were hoping for, but you will most likely need to do the same. They are good folks and do good work, but don't expect it to be back in a week.

Rick
 
Are your vertical pins square,keystock,? If they are replace them with 1/4" round pins. You also need to replace the tension screws.
 
The vertical pins are round and ride in a V groove. I have the tension screws backed all the way out and it still is stiff. In fact, moving the bearing around in my hands (just the shaft and bearings) takes a lot of effort.
I can see the bearings becoming loose, wobbly and sloppy, but not tight. They must be packed with some material other than balls to provide zero backlash and the stiffening that resists flushing.
I may consider returning the shaft/bearings to Farley for a fluff-up.
 
Back
Top