OCC Sting Ray 16" misaligned rear wheel

[MplsCoaster]

Hey Everybody,
Want to see if anybody else had this issue. Almost seems like a factory or desing goof up.
So the story goes:
Built a bike (Mag Ray) for "the Little guy" but found out Saturday that he had a 12' bike (not 16") originally
and so Mag Ray is still to big yet 3 months after this picture.

His 12 inch bike is way too small but he can go pretty fast and was jumping off curbs and yahooing (last Sat)

So volunteered to look for a 16 inch bike and found/bought this OCC Sting ray for $45 yesterday (not bad I thought)

Started going through it and the chain was loose and the rear hub/gear was making noise
When loosening the rear wheel, realized that it was out of align with the rear fender and frame centerline
Tryied to tighten the chain with the coaster arm loose(yet attached) but kept getting crooked everytime I tightened it.
So removed the coaster arm bolt and realized the arm was too far away from the bracket

So shimmed it up with a longer bolt and some washers

It lined up perfect and the noise went away
OK, I think that this is the way it came from the factory because nothing else was touched on the bike
SO this bike was dog-walking the whole time the prior kid owned it, no wonder he wanted a different bike :x :x

Has anybody else seen this? Do you think it was designed/assembled so crappy that all theses bikes are misaligned?
Thanks for looking
Steve

 

[kingfish254]

It doesn't surprise me at all that any bike would not be assembled properly at the factory or store.
$45 may have been a little high, but that one looks to be in great shape!
Whenever he outgrows it, you can use the forks on a 26" bike.

 

[gcrank1]

Doesnt surprise me at all. Its 'our' attention to detail that catches and fixes a bunch of this stuff. Maybe others with these will check theirs and chime in to see if this is characteristic. I put a set of rear axle adjuster plates on the big OCC (from a Mongoose Free Style bike), to make sure my alignment stayed when tightening all down, but no coasterbrake arm there. Im likin' them a bunch.
I know my G-son said his big OCC was miserable to pedal on anything but flat going, but I dont know how he was set up on the pedal reach to seat height, etc., and the flat dragbar stretch was maybe too crouched over too. Your little apes might be just right.

 

[MplsCoaster]

Thanks guys for the input.

It doesn't surprise me at all that any bike would not be assembled properly at the factory or store.

I've been trying to think this through after your comment. The black bolt and nut are specifically for a coaster arm attachment. I've seen them before (wide head bolt straight or phillips head and a pattern on the nut to keep it tight, like a lock washer. But it's length could never include a spacer. That says to me that it was specified incorrectly. Whether that was the engineer not thinking it through (maybe first build with fat tire) or not being maticulous enough or never seeing it assmbled/built, or knew about and blew it off. Either way, it should have gotten caught with the right amount of due dilignece on the part of the design team.

If you can't tell, I'm an engineer for a living and I get myself in trouble for screaming and hollering about being detailed and conscientious :lol:
I definitely make mistakes too (we're all human) but there is some basic (but time consuming) steps to putting out a good and safe product. These steps help catch a majority of the problems. I think some of those steps were skipped with this bike . I guess I shouldn't be surprised.
I don't think safety was compromised but I think (ride) quality was. Then you start to wonder what else they missed (so I checked throughly)
I'm open for opinions...

Doesnt surprise me at all. Its 'our' attention to detail that catches and fixes a bunch of this stuff. Maybe others with these will check theirs and chime in to see if this is characteristic.

I agree and was hoping others would check and chime in too

Steve

 

[deorman]

Should have stuck with the cheap "adjustable" wrap strap if they weren't going to set tight tolerances. :| Just get yourself a factory workstation, force it into place, and let the robot spin the fasteners. :mrgreen:

 

[pick]

Steve, I was reading your post & since my grandson has had the same bike for the last 2 years with no issues, I thought I would look @ it for the same problem. The back wheel on this one is centered perfectly & there are no washers/spacers on the brake arm. No room on the screw for washers either. Makes me wonder if the brake arm on that particular bike was bent @ some time or other. Just a thought. Just so you know, those little choppers are really pretty durable. This one is still in great shape after his riding it for the last two years & I bought it used, so who knows how many miles it has really been!

BTW: Mag Ray turned out awesome! 8)

 

[MplsCoaster]

Should have stuck with the cheap "adjustable" wrap strap if they weren't going to set tight tolerances. :| Just get yourself a factory workstation, force it into place, and let the robot spin the fasteners. :mrgreen:

Thanks for the comment Deorman. Unfortunately I've seen that type of apathy in the manufacturing process as well in design. At work, we try to take the necessary steps to ensure a good product. I'm sure for every apathetic story there is a silent majority of people doing a very good job.

Steve, I was reading your post & since my grandson has had the same bike for the last 2 years with no issues, I thought I would look @ it for the same problem. The back wheel on this one is centered perfectly & there are no washers/spacers on the brake arm. No room on the screw for washers either. Makes me wonder if the brake arm on that particular bike was bent @ some time or other. Just a thought. Just so you know, those little choppers are really pretty durable. This one is still in great shape after his riding it for the last two years & I bought it used, so who knows how many miles it has really been!

BTW: Mag Ray turned out awesome! 8)

Hey Pick. Thanks a lot for checking out your Grandson's bike, I really appreciate it. I'll check the coaster brake arm like you suggested. It's working fine now but I'm even more curious now. I relieved to hear they are solid bikes He is kinda a maniac and started out hard riding instantly, just like I did back then (I guess I do now too :lol: ). Thanks for mag ray compliment. He'll get to it soon. Really liked the sting ray that you gave to your grandson with the cool purple components too. 8)

Went through the front hub and found 3 bearing missing on one side and 2 on the other side. I know it's a "thing" people do but I couldn't get all the play out and still spin free until they were all in there (could be my aptitude too).
Also went through the Histop hub and it was a typical build and had some grease on all the bearings which is better than others I've seen.

Sorry, I shouldn't have ranted so strong until I found out for sure but I've seen that stuff before.

I heard today that he really loves the bike. His mom had said that he lives on his bike and I can remember doing the same thing.
So glad he's got a cool one to hang with.

A funny comment he made when riding by "When the dice go around (dice valve caps), I'm playing a game!" :lol: :lol:
Steve