CAT2 Cam Question

[JawsDad]

Can you, or should you, use the CAT2 cams on the limbs that came on the original Slayer with original CAT cams?

I know the newer limbs are slimmer and rounded in the pocket area. But is there a problem using the older, wider and sqaured limbs with the CAT2's?

[Montalaar]

In a thread some days or even weeks ago someone had the same question. The answer was:

Yes. You have to use the newer limbs to use the newer CAT-Cams. Do not ask me why but bfisher might be able to tell it to you.

[JawsDad]

Thanks.. The limbs I have are those that were for a Slayer with CAT cams, so they are pinned on the tips.

[bfisher]

What you have to concern yoruself with is the distance between the limb forks. I never measured my 2008 limbs, but my 2005 ShadowCat has a spacing of about .800 between the limb forks. The newer limbs (2010) have a space of about .710. Therefore, the Cat2 cam must be narrower than the older Cat cam. This would lead me to believe that the newer Cat2 cam can indeed fit the older limbs. Of course you'd have to add spacers (shims, washers) to fill the gap, but this isn't much of an issue. Any good archery shop should have them in a repair kit.

As to whether the older limbs will hold up to the Cat2 cam? Only time will tell. A lot will depend on how hard you push the bow. How long the draw is set at and arrow weight, etc. It does seem Martin had an issue with the 2009 limbs.

The cam swap Simon was referring to was about putting Nitrous cams or other older cams in the 2010 limbs. From measuring I found the Nitrous will not fit. Maybe some of the other cams will, but that was not your question.

[JawsDad]

Thanks for the reply. The CAT2 cams will definitely fit. And you're right about spacers. I have not mic'd the CAT vs. the CAT2 but they seem pretty close to the same width.

I do have a wheel kit with plenty of spacers/shims to get things set. My concern at this point is getting the cams positioned correctly. There is enough room between the limb forks that I can center them, or get a pretty good amount of space either directly of the center line. Without a press being handy, this is taking a while to figure out the best way to go about it. Right now I've got the cams pretty well dead center of the fork in terms of spacers. I have equal spacers on both sides. That does put the center line of the cam track towards the outside (arrow side) of the riser. I'm thinking I might be better served moving the cam itself more towards the inside so the cam track gets more centered in the riser..

Does any of that make sense?

[bfisher]

Makes perfectly good sense to me. You can try shimming the cam to the right (RH bow). I've done this and ended up with excessive cam lean, but this was with the older pre-2010 cams.

I know what you're trying to do. You're trying to get the string centered in the limbs so it also centers with the riser. I don't think it'll work, but you can try.

I could be wrong about this, but the only real difference between the Cat and Cat2 cam is the helical groove that the cable rolls onto near the hub of the cam. This does help with alleviating cam lean. That's why the older cam won't work well with the 2010 narrow limbs.

Anyway, have fun and let us know what transpires.