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Sears Craftsman 917.275042 Serial 012402A00129 50" mower deck.
Here is my situation. I rebuilt the deck -spindles, pulleys and belts. I noticed that the flat idler pulley mounting bar has a little twist- bend to it causing the pulley to be cocked a little bit. Should the flat idler pulley be on the same plane with the spindle pulleys or should it be slightly cocked? Should I give the mounting bar a little lift and twist or leave well enough alone. Thanks , Matt

If you are not experiencing any belt wear or the belt jumping off I wouldn’t touch it. Why open a can of worms?

If that pulley arm can wing then it needs to be lubed with some spray grease . either lithium or motorcycle chain grease then allowed to dry off
Remove the arm the pulley is siting on and check the hole & the bush that the arm runs on

bertsmobile1 said:

If that pulley arm can wing then it needs to be lubed with some spray grease . either lithium or motorcycle chain grease then allowed to dry off
Remove the arm the pulley is siting on and check the hole & the bush that the arm runs on

Click to expand...

Yes those tend to wear a lot. I have been replacing quite a few of the pivoting idlers arms and the bushings associated with them on various mowers.

I'd rather have that as the weak link in system...what does the manufacturer say?(IPB?) Just talking/thinking out loud

thank you to all the folks onthe site some amzaing mechanics wit many years of wisdom willing to share!!
thanks everyone be well

With all belt tension off the pulley, try moving the idler pulley around to see how much play is in the pulley/mounting bracket assembly. The photo helps identify how much the pulley is out of alignment, but it doesn't readily show which component is causing it. Put hands on it to see if there is play somewhere, or if the bracket is bent.

I have a 2005 LT1000 42" deck purchased brand-new, and one of my deck pulleys has always been at a slight angle.