26er not flat - how long should the front leg be?


 
Z

ZoranM

New member
I scored a 26" Weber kettle on CL for $250.

When I went to pick it up, the original owner had it on their front lawn which was on an incline so I didn't pay attention to the grill not being level when on level ground. Now that I have it home on flat ground I see the grill is not level. The front is higher than the back significantly so, as if the front leg is too long.

The previous owner was burning all their food, got turned off on charcoal. I figured they didn't know how to manage the heat so perhaps didn't assemble it properly either, but it's rather hard to assemble it incorrectly.

The front leg measures 22.25" in length. Is that right?
 
Mine's high in the front too, haven't measured the legs to see if that's the reason.
It also wobbles, mostly front to back, and when the front handle is pressed down it's less noticeable.
 
I just measured mine that came off my 26 before adding the Ranch Kettle frame. Without the cap the leg is exactly 22"s. Mine like Bob's was elevated in the front (by 5 degrees) and wobbled front to back as well. Kind of looked like a black R2D2 with the raised front....well before the RK frame addition. Now she sets level and no wobble.
 
Is it maybe missing the axle & wheels on the hind pair of legs?
If there are taller rubber caps on the legs - maybe they're covering-up the axle holes.
(the wheels and axles would normally raise the rear legs by about 2 inches)

AFAIK - The "axle" is actually a part of the wire shelf that braces the bottom of each of the legs.

Hopefully, this helps to solve the mystery
 
Thanks for the tips and URL to the older thread.

In my case, nothing is bent, not even the spot welded tabs under the bowl where the legs go. Axle is in place too. It does wobbly slightly left/right when shaken with the front handle - I figured it would with only 3 legs.

My other grill is a performer so I don't have experience with the 3 legged kettles.

I'll try contacting Weber, see what they say.
 
ZoranM said:
Thanks for the tips and URL to the older thread.

In my case, nothing is bent, not even the spot welded tabs under the bowl where the legs go. Axle is in place too.

I'll try contacting Weber, see what they say.
Click to expand...

Of course the flanges are bent. It is just not east to cannot detect with the naked eye that the two rear leg flanges are off by a few degrees. Here is proof: It doesn't sit flat. It sits tilted back. It is not possible that the front leg grew. I assume you have checked to see that the front leg is fully seated into the front leg flange. Look REALLY REALLY CLOSE at the tabs that hold the flanges to the bowl. I'd bet a cube of kingsford that each of the two rear ones has a tab that is starting to de-laminate from the bowl.



Let us know what Weber says.
 
My 26.75 OTG had a lot of wobble front to back. Although all of the sockets looked fine, one day the front socket popped right off. The spot welds looked very weak. I called Weber and they sent me a new bowl right away. The wobble problem was gone. It still leans back a little bit when the lid is in the bail. I believe that this is due to the full weight of the lid being on one side of the kettle.
 
Mine started tilting towards the back. It happened so gradually that I didn't realize that it was ever level. When I realized what was going on, I called Weber. They stood behind it and sent me a replacement bowl. I'm more careful with rolling it around now.
 
John and Darren,
Were the new bowls the same as the old, or the newer design?
I'm pretty sure there were some changes made, but not sure what they are.
 
As far as I can recall, they were the same. I have the old bowl. I will try to remember to compare them this evening and confirm.
 
I checked again. They look the same to me. I didn't take measurements or anything like that. I just took a cusory look. I'm assuming that if they were different, it would be obvious enough.
 
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