1/4" Pivot Shoe

A handy person from NJ says:
Hello, are you able to help identify correct pivot shoes for these windows? They appear to only have a 1/4" diameter which seems thinner than what is available on your website.
Thumbnail of the uploaded file named IMG_1051.jpg
Profile picture of Bob
Bob from SWISCO responded:

Thanks for posting. It's tough to say without seeing the pivot shoe removed from the window for a better look. We'll have a better shot of visual identification that way. In addition, measurements are usually not that accurate without removing the pivot shoe first. If you can tell us the width and thickness of the shoe after we have removed it, we should be able to narrow this down. See the video below that explains how to remove and replace pivot shoes like this.

A handy person from NJ says:
Hello, measurements of the pivot shoe are 10mm deep X 24mm wide and about 52mm tall. Height got a little deformed while removing from the window but +/- 1mm. Tom mentioned I might need new pivot pins since they might be older larger style ones? I attached some photos of those. The pins are 54mmX5mmx8mm.
Thumbnail of the uploaded file named IMG_1079(1).jpg
Thumbnail of the uploaded file named IMG_1077(1).jpg
Profile picture of Tom
Tom from SWISCO responded:

Hey there, Bob's not here today but I'll do my best to assist you.

Seeing the pivot bar here is a very helpful clue. This is our 26-424, which is a very specific and uncommon style used in only a certain variety of windows.

Working backwards from that, though, we start running into problems. The 26-424 is only designed to work on a specific pivot shoe style which you do not appear to have. For reference, this pivot bar is only meant to be used on shoes like our 15-218, 15-220, or 15-213.

That's definitely not what I'm looking at in your photo, so this is a road block. What's funny is that your dimensions match these three shoes. 3/8" thick x 15/16" wide isn't exactly the same as these parts but it's on par. They'd be worth considering if it weren't for the fact that they were so different, other than size. In other words, while these shoes may fit in your track and accommodate your pivot bar, they will NOT connect to your spiral balance. They just lack the proper components.

I'm thinking that yours may be a unique case. To cut to the chase, I can tell you beyond any doubt that we don't sell a pivot shoe like yours. We have nothing in your size and we have nothing in this style that would work with your pivot bar.

But that doesn't mean we can't help. 

I still want to try to get something working in this window, but it would require replacing both the pivot shoe AND pivot bar. I do this all the time in situations like this and as long as you find something reasonably close it should be okay. Only one pivot bar hole needs to match up to a replacement for it to install; in a worst case scenario, you may need to drill a new hole.

Let me know if that plan interests you and we can work from there. If so, I would like you to triple check those pivot shoe dimensions you provided. Please make sure to remove your pivot shoe from the window before you measure to ensure accuracy; you won't get accurate measurements as long as this is still installed. 3/8" thick x 15/16" wide isn't impossible to match for other styles but it will be difficult, so I want to be 100% sure of what I'm dealing with.

I can't guarantee that I'll find you a substitute this way, but I'll do my best!

A handy person from NJ says:
Hi Tom, I think we spoke on chat the other day. I plan on replacing the balances as well with the 30" s900 3/8". Does that mean one of the 15-218, 15-220, or 15-213 would work?
Profile picture of Tom
Tom from SWISCO responded:

No, the Series 900 is unfortunately not compatible with any of these shoes. The way it attaches is just too different.

If you're using a Series 900, and if the old shoe is 3/8" thick, then you could potentially use the 15-212. This is 3/8" x 15/16". The catch is that you will definitely need a new pivot bar, like I mentioned before. Something like our 26-040 or 26-068 may work, but the concern here is hole placement. If these holes don't align with at least one of your originals, then you would have to drill a new one.

A handy person from NJ says:
Hmmm so I was originally looking at the s900 since that is what the old balancers appear to be, but if I am replacing the shoes, does it make more sense to just use a different series balancer and reuse these pins? I haven't priced through everything yet but maybe that is the easiest solution.

I think that would mean using the 15-218 pivot shoes and then the appropriate 30"x3/8" spiral balancer?

It looks like all options would be close price wise. I'm doing 20 windows so at 2 of each part per window it will add up but nothing looks drastically different yet.

Which path would you suggest?
Profile picture of Tom
Tom from SWISCO responded:

That is definitely one way to do it, but the problem there is that we don't sell any balance that's compatible with the 15-218, 15-220, or 15-213 whatsoever. These are meant to attach to a "bare" spring that just pins to the jamb liner; in such applications, the jamb liner itself is the balance, which means if you want to go that route you'd have to replace the jamb liners entirely.

I apologize for giving you a false impression, but I don't think the the 15-218, 15-220, and 15-213 are worth considering in any way whatsoever for this project. I only mentioned them to begin with as examples of what your pivot bar style usually goes with. They were never a realistic replacement option.

Based on your available options, adapting one of our pivot bars to work with a new style pivot shoe is the easiest solution ahead of you, in my opinion.

How to Remove a Pivot Shoe (Cutout Method)
How to Remove a Pivot Shoe (Cutout Method)
VIDEO
WATCH >
How to remove window pivot shoes
How to remove window pivot shoes
VIDEO
WATCH >
Anatomy of a tilt window
Anatomy of a tilt window
VIDEO
WATCH >
Removing Rusted Pivot Bars
Removing Rusted Pivot Bars
VIDEO
WATCH >
Reply to Thread
Use this form to ask a follow-up question or to share your experience regarding this subject.
(your email address will be kept private and is only used to inform you when a response has been made)
Current wait time is 3-4 business days
We promise that one of our experts will personally get back to you as soon as they are able. Thank you very much for your patience and understanding. If your inquiry is time-sensitive, please feel free to reach us at (888) 991-1929 or at help@swisco.com.