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Schwinn Builtin Kickstand Troubleshooting

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ricobike

Wore out three sets of tires already!
Today's task was to figure out why the builtin kickstand on my Schwinn Collegiate rider was wobbly and not holding the bike up very well. This bike had seen a lot of use in it's day so I figured that the spring on the kickstand was worn out. Since I don't normally work on Lightweights, I didn't have a replacement kickstand in the stash, so I proceeded to disassemble it to replace the spring with one from a donor kickstand. The Schwinn service manual (Vol 2) has a pretty good section on how to remove the spring. Here's a link to rustjunkies thread to the kickstand section:

http://thecabe.com/forum/threads/schwinn-service-manual-volume-2.81579/page-3#post-508130

I replaced the spring, and it still had the same problem. Kickstand would wobble up and down when in either the up or down position. Looking closer at it, I could see that the pin that holds the spring in place was worn and not engaging the cam correctly. I replaced that pin with the pin from my donor kickstand and voila, problem was solved. I have a few bikes with similar problems so I'm pretty sure it's a common problem, but I couldn't find anything about it in searching around. Hence this thread. Hopefully it will help anyone having the same issues.
 
Good info.Sometimes the cam gets loose in the tube.Schwinn had a kit to fix that problem.
 
It was more prevalent in the mid to late 70's from what I've seen.had several newer Schwinns with the repair kit installed.
 
More info on the repair kit (for a different problem than the worn pin) here: http://thecabe.com/forum/threads/schwinn-kickstand-repair-kit-what-are-these-for.104884/#post-684131

In most cases when the pin is worn it is only worn on the side facing the cam, so removing, rotating 180 degrees and reinstalling the pin will generally fix the problem without needing a new pin. The pin is a 3/16" diameter by 3/4" long steel dowel. There is a guy on eBay selling them individually: http://www.ebay.com/itm/SCHWINN-KIC...ORNET-LOT-216-/262851219121?campid=5335809022

However you can get several of them for a lot less knowing the dimensions: http://www.ebay.com/itm/METAL-DOWEL-PIN-3-16-X-3-4-PACK-OF-10-/161241567755?campid=5335809022
 
The pin is not a tight fit in most cases and would spin around with use and end up stuck on the worn out area in short order, replace the pin. You can get those pins in hardware stores, they need to be cut to length which would necessitate either grinding or a dremel or similar cut off wheel. They are hardened.
 
Thanks for the ebay link Metacortex. The kickstand is still a tiny bit wobbly so I think that my donor pin has also seen some wear. I looked around my parts boxes for something that would fit tightly that I could cut to length and came up empty, so I just ordered some of the dowels from ebay from your second link. I'm cheap, but for $5 for 10, the simplicity is worth it :).
 
Here is a pic of one I recently changed with a new one. I was a little surprised that it helped but the kickstand still had play in it. The sprag must be worn too.

027.JPG
 
Here is a pic of one I recently changed with a new one. I was a little surprised that it helped but the kickstand still had play in it. The sprag must be worn too.

I *think* you mean the cam. The sprag is the actual kickstand part (usually including the spring, collars and pin). For some reason many people have those terms confused.

2e6fo5c.jpg
 
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