Originally Posted by
dddd
When replacing pullies, it's important that the overall width of each assembled pulley be very close to the same, since the mounting plates are effectively flat.
Someone put the wrong bushing in one of the OP's pulleys, but a suitably-thin washer (of slightly smaller OD) added to the end of the bushing might correct that at lowest cost.
Having both pulley bolts good and tight is a matter of safety in my experience.
"Someone put the wrong bushing in one of the OP's pulleys"
I'd check that carefully. Also, how tight is tight? Pulley screws are 6mm or 7mm diameter and don't require a lot of torque.
I'm assuming it's the bottom pulley that is tight. I'd carefully inspect all the screw holes in the cage to make sure there are no dings or burrs.
I've seen where a plastic pulley body gets clamped between the cage plates.
I'm still leaning towards a short bushing or the wrong pulley dust shields. It only takes one thick one to apply excess force.
I remove, inspect, clean and grease the pulleys every time I install or work on a RD so I've seen some tight pulleys from time to time. I pack the pulleys with Phil grease before reassembly. It lasts for a few months of use plus keeps grit and water out.
As mentioned above, the top pulleys on most indexing derailleurs have some side to side float. It aids in shifting because the float allows the chain to self center on the sprockets.
One other thing that I thought of, don't torque down one pulley then other. That can make the cage plates to be out of alignment. Tighten one screw lightly then the other before torquing them down.
verktyg
