Taxi Shooter Rod Sleeve -(Shooter Not Strong Enough)

[PinHead]

I am trying to get more power out of the shooter rod for my Taxi. I
can only get to 25k, if I'm lucky. I have replaced both springs and
aligned the rod to the center of the ball to no avail. Is there a
sleeve in the shooter rod? Is it 03-7357? And would this help? Also,
the tabs are broken on the front of the spinout ramp. Has anyone done
a temporary fix with the spinout ramp to strengthen it from any amount
of movement?

[Joe Grenuk]

go to any of the usual suspects, pbr, marco, but yourself a stronger
spring...they come in about 5 strengths.

joe

[Homer]

Yes there should be a sleeve in the shooter rod houseing,Pinball
resource has them.
Homer

[James]

Yep, you need the stronger spring and make sure it is set up correctly
(small spring then into assembly housing, then the long spring (made
for taxi) then the clip, then the rubber tip. Like he said, the spring
will be found at bayareaamusements.com or marcospecialties.co for
cheap. I was just playing my taxi, GREAT GAME!!!! Taxi on!

[gbi...@gmail.com]

The spinout ramp needs to be securely mounted or the swaying motion is
going to absorb a lot of the ball's inertia. You can almost feel the
machine shake when the balls spinning in a properly mounted ramp. I
no longer have my Taxi, but I think I had relocated one of the posts
to an unbroken area to beef up the mount.

-Gregg B.

[gbi...@gmail.com]

2 other things that could be a possibilty for you are shooter rod
length and playfield hangers. Some aftermarket shooter rods I've seen
are slightly shorter and could cause what you're seeing. Another
thing to check is the playfield hangers. If they get bent, the
playfield can be hanging as much as 1/2 inch or so forward would cause
the shooter spring to be ineffective.

-Gregg B.

[seymour.shabow]

Also taxi is more sensitive than most to having the wire ramp adjusted
for as smooth a transition as possible.

-scott CARGPB#29

[John Dayhuff]

I had the same problem. Turned out to be that the shooter rod needed
to be PERFECTLY aligned to the center of the ball. Now it makes
atleast 1.5 revolutions without much pulling effort on the rod.

John P. Dayhuff
Battle Creek, MI.
269-979-3836

[gbi...@gmail.com]

1.5? Mine used to go around an avaerage of 10 times. Maybe even
closer to 20 on good ones. Are you talking about cycles through the
meter or actual revolutions of the ball in the bowl?

Good tip on the wireform, too.

-Gregg B.

[PinHead]

I believe it is the original shooter rod (looks like it anyway, ha). I
already installed the new spring (10-148-2 inner red) and new 10-149
outer barrel. I will try and stabilize the ramp somehow as mentioned.
It just that the spinout ramp seems fragile after years of use. The
playfield hangers seem in the right position. I am certainly no where
near the machine shaking, when I release the ball shooter at this time.

[freeman]

I had the same concern too.

the shooter rod assembly needed to be adjusted down (loosen 3 screws)
to get the alignment of the rod tip just to the ball.

[John Dayhuff]

Sorry I'm talking cycles of the meter , not bowl revolutions. Mine
does go around about 20 times it seems in the bowl.

John P. Dayhuff
Battle Creek, MI

269-979-3836

[PinHead]

What is the spring number you are using with the ball shooter? I
discovered there is no space for a nylon shooter sleeve as well,
unless I am mistaken somehow. I have tried to center the shooter to
the ball, but no additional power is provided. I did notice the ball
rests slightly off the metal apron, maybe a 1/16". Don't know if that
is from wear or just normal placement for the ball.

[btrip]

I believe you want "the red one".

http://www.marcospecialties.com/itemdesc.asp?ic=10-148-2

[Noahpdavis]

I had the same issue - turned out it was due to the left-right
alignment of the playfield sitting in the cabinet. While kind of a
ghetto fix, I put a small shim in between the right side of the
playfield and the cabinet, and it allowed me to line the shooter rod
up correctly with the ball. The adjustable shooter rod assembly
didn't have enough wiggle room on it's own to get the lineup just
right. This could also be due to my pivot points being bent towards
the back of the playfield . . .