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Swapping shims on Bear Alaskan XT

4.8K views 13 replies 6 participants last post by  194373  
#1 ·
Just received my Alaskan XT after a 5 month long wait. In the process of getting it setup and tuned but it has excessive cam lean on the bottom cam. Only brought it to full draw a handful of time and already, the serving on the string is starting to show signs of wear. Pulled it on the draw board and the bottom draw stop hits the control cable on the way to full draw. Contacted Bear support and I'm told that if I am able to, I would have to swap some shims around to correct this issue. I have a press and should be able to get this done but I have never played with shims before and have no idea what to expect when I pull the axle out... Did some search on here and Youtube and didn't find anything for how to do this on a Bear bow.

Anyone on here that could tell me a little about it? How many shims will fall off when I pull the axle out ;)? Any tips and tricks or reference to some pictures/videos? I would just hate to end up with a mess of shims falling out and then learn the hard way that "I should've done it this way" only after the fact :D.

I know this is the best place to ask with all of the very knowledgeable archers always ready to help. I just would like to have a better idea before taking on this task.

Here are a few questions that come to mind...
  • How many shims can I expect to find (can't tell by just looking at the axle)
  • Any tip and trick to not drop them all on the floor while pulling out the axle (if that might happen)
  • By how much do you normally shim (does a little go a long way?)
  • Can you usually get it set with the existing set of shims or need to buy a kit?
-And whatever experience you would have with this that could be useful to know

Thanks ahead of time for your help with this!

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#2 ·
That shoulda never left the factory or shop like that but here we are.
You can tear it down and based on the pic put one of the shims on the left side of the cam to the right side of the cam and see if that enough to much. Possibly may have to work on the other end of it as well to get like it supposed to be
Shim kits can be had from Lancaster or dblungit on here
 
#3 ·
It looks like a thick shim on the right and a thinner shim, or maybe two on the left, hard to tell in the pic.
If it's two thinner shims and one thick shim total, I'd move one thin shim to the right side and put the other two on the left. Naturally if that's too much, put the two thin ones on the right and thick on on the left.

Being the shims are pretty thick and you're not dealing with a stack of paper thin ones, you may be able to accomplish the swap with the bow pressed, however swapping shims on a split limb bow while pressed can be difficult do to the limbs wanting to twist or just slightly misalign once the axle is removed.

If it's a bear to get realigned and reinstall the axle & shims while pressed, I find it easier and quicker to remove the string and cables from the cam, relax the bow, pull the limbs out of the pocket, swap the shims and then reassemble.

Take a video of how the cables are routed. Could be a life saver.
 
#4 ·
Swap the all the shims from the left side with all the shims from the right side. Be careful as there may be a couple of really thin shims against the cam bearings. I had 2 on each side of both cams' bearings on my Whitetail Maxx. My Alaskan XT, however, came out of the factory perfect. You should just bring the bow back to the shop where you bought it and get it exchanged. My Alaskan XT shoots perfect.

Like Double_D_ says, if you decide to swap shims yourself, take the string and cables off the bow, and then relax the whole bow. But before that, (I) wrap and tighten a paracord thingy that I made (see pictures) around the limbs above the limb pockets and through a hole in the riser to keep the limbs from popping off the rocker pivots when the limbs are totally relaxed. The quick-slide cinch doohickey slips as the limbs straighten out, but still keeping the limbs tight against the rocker pivots. I made a set for both top & bottom limbs. I have a third one for those bows with flexing cable guard limbs, so they don't pop off and lose the small rocker pivots.
 

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#5 ·
Thanks for the tips guys, really appreciated! I ordered the bow through Lancaster archery so can't really bring it back. I live in a small town and don't have a pro shop near by so I kinda have to get things done myself. I will give it a shot and see. Another question that came to mind, do you usually have to replicate the changes to the other cam in order to keep the string centered on the bow? The top has a split yoke and the lean is way less and could be removed with a couple twists. But if I swap the shims at the bottom to where the thicker one is on the left, should I do the same to the top one as well?
Thanks again!
 
#6 ·
No, leave the top as is. My Alaskan XT top cam leans slightly as well. This is normal. After you fix your bottom cam lean, you can start yoke tuning with the top cam. Just don't impart too much cam lean in it. I hate to say it, but you may have a weak bottom left limb. Send this picture to Bear Archery and tell them you ordered this bow from Lancaster Archery, and you live in Canada. They might send you a new set of limbs, or they might ask you send the bow back to them if they cover shipping and handling under warranty.
 
#7 ·
Quick note: after your string and cables are off, start relaxing the bow by counting the number of full turns required from your bow press to take the bow out of it. This way, you can count the same number of turns to press the bow limbs back to near where they were to take the string and cables off. This way, you won't risk over-pressing your bow's limbs and cracking them.
 
#9 ·
This is common with Bear's Hybrid cam models. Unfortunately they do like to load up on little sliver spacers so be careful when removing. There may be some slight lean on your top cam at rest but will often straighten out at full draw. Another thing you can also do is buy an adjustable cable guide rod from a company like TAP that will relieve some of the pressure on the cables and cams as well. Several times I have found that after tuning and getting one of these bows in time the excessive bottom cam lean all but disappears. Every Bear with the dual hybrid cams that I have set up in the past 2 years came delivered out of time with noticeable cam lean. They really just chuck them out the door onto the truck any which way they can.
 
#10 ·
The Alaskan XT does come with an adjustable guide rod that lets you move the cables towards or away from the arrow. I've got mine rotated towards the arrow so that the cables are right at the plane of the riser at the berger hole.

And yes, they do just build and chuck them out the door, because mine came with a nice, tiny chip in the aluminum riser. I just shaved off the dangling chip and colored it in with a black Sharpie. Not a deal-breaker for me.
 
#11 ·
Hey everyone, I ended up ordering a LCA press to be able to do this work on my bow and it came In today. Removed all the cables and took the bow completely appart. Swapped the thick shim with the 2 smaller ones. It made a big difference but I still have a slight lean towards the cable guard at rest (see picture). I think I will take it appart again and add one of the smaller shims to the left with the thicker one. Should there be zero lean at rest? Or a slight lean in the other direction? Or should I leave it as is? How do you guys set this on yours?

Thanks!
 

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#14 ·
All bows are going to have some cam lean. On my Overdrive Binary Cam Bowtechs, they actually tell you to lean the cams towards the cables so that an arrow laid flat across the cams crosses he middle of the string to start the tuning process.

On my Bowtech Solution SS, my cams lean so freaking much at full draw, I'm actually afraid it will derail one day. Bowtech still has not responded to this concern after a year-and-a-half now, so I'm basically done with them. I'll stick to their best technology - the aforementioned Overdrive Binary Cam system.

When I first got my Bear Whitetail Maxx, the cams weren't shimmed correctly and the bottom cam was leaning away from the cable, so much so that the drawstop peg kept sliding past the cable making a click sound. I shimmed both top cams so that the left side shims were 7/32", with the remainder of the shims on the right side. This led to perfect centershot at 7/8" from the riser, and cams were straight at full draw.
 
#12 ·
I've never worried about slight lean at rest with a hybrid cam bow as long as they're mostly straight at full draw. See how it shoots through paper or even broadhead tunes before you spend too much time obsessing over something that may not be an issue. My Hoyt and both Bear bows have slight cam lean at rest, in fact I use cam lean to help tune the bow.
 
#13 ·
Update; got the shims swapped, tuned it all and signed up to Archers Advantage to make a set of optimally spined arrows for it. Shot it through paper and after just a few twists of the yoke got her to shoot bullet holes!

Thanks everyone for the replies and tips, always much appreciated. Now to the next step of sighting in and broadhead tune.