I have a Wing Thunderbird AMF 54" that came with a 49" endless loop string with no twists in it. The current brace height is 9". I'm thinking it could be the factory sting. Is this the normal brace for these? Thanks

You want closer to 8 to 8 1/4 for that bow, in my opinion of course...8 1/2" would be as high as I went. But shoot it at 9" and see what if feels like to you. Brace is a variable anyhoo. :)

Yes but might be ok at lower, too like 8-8 1/2”.

Thanks guys. I'll give it a try as is and then I'll get a normal 50" string to find the sweet spot.

I built a 50” string for mine with a brace of 8 1/4-8 1/2”. Perfect. Awesome bow by the way

old wing catalogs at vintagearchery have recommended brace heights listed.. just have to find it

40 lb 54” Thunderbird endless loop Dacron string 50” brace height 7.75”.

I looked at the old vintage catalogs as suggested. Only year I found suggested brace height was 1975 = 7 1/4" to 8 1/4". Thanks

So the correct string length for a 52” bow would be….. ??

There were two versions of the Short Thunderbird. The early ones were all 52" or 62". Then in the mid 1970's AMF decided to change the length on them to 54" and 64". Not many made at these lengths.

The OP is talking about a 54" Thunderbird which would use a 50" B- 50 string to get proper brace.

The earlier 52" Thunderbird(way more common) would need a 48" B-50 string. Brace heights about the same for either bow.

Thank you, sir!

My first bow was a 62", 45@28 Wing "Thunderbird" purchased in 1970. Smooth as silk. It was also a great looking bow. Used a B- 50 string, not fast-flite combatable. Unfortunately it delaminated around 1975/76. Great bow design. Way ahead of its time. Bob Lee was one of the best. His son, Rob, still runs the family business, today.

I purchased the OP's bow recently. The brace is 7.5" currently and shooting good. Very nice bow! 54" @ 40x# is just about perfect for me to shoot a lot of arrows. The string nocks are cut a bit uneven, not sure if it was on purpose or not. String runs to the left side looking at the bow from the belly. Maybe that does something similar to making the cut in the riser deeper, I don't know? Shoots nice but I am a tad concerned it might jump out of the groove if I torque the bow or something weird. Any thougts on that? Seems like an easy fix to get the string to run a bit straighter would be to deepen the groove a bit on the other side? It does appear more shallow to me.

Get rid of those felt buttons, first. Next there might be a twist in the lower section of the recurve.

Center the string on the lower part of the limbs, then see if it’s still out of line.

Oh, first get that brace height up to 8”.

I started with a high brace, bow was loud and seemed preloaded to me. String was worse. Seems much better here IMO. The felt is there for backup. The string does not touch there at brace whatsoever. But I will remove them just because you said so. Can you explain your reason for that so I can understand? Also curious why you think 1/4" high is better than 1/4 lower than the middle. Just want to learn where you are coming from because what I am getting from shooting the bow and using it is not lining up.

If those pads don’t touch the string at brace you can leave them. But that is extra weight placed on the limbs where there shouldn’t be.

That bow should be way guieter the higher one goes with brace. You said 7.5 I said at least 8”. The height the brace the less string on limbs. If there is a twist lower brace makes for more string on limbs make twists look worse.

What type of string material is that string made from, b50 or fastflite?

It’s very hard for me to see what is going on from your pictures. Take one from one end to another looking at the string lining up the string in the center of limbs.

I’ve never see a bow string up that bad from factory yet the string stays on.

If those pads don’t touch the string at brace you can leave them. But that is extra weight placed on the limbs where there shouldn’t be.

That bow should be way guieter the higher one goes with brace. You said 7.5 I said at least 8”. The height the brace the less string on limbs. If there is a twist lower brace makes for more string on limbs make twists look worse.

What type of string material is that string made from, b50 or fastflite?

It’s very hard for me to see what is going on from your pictures. Take one from one end to another looking at the string lining up the string in the center of limbs.

I’ve never see a bow string up that bad from factory yet the string stays on.

I'll try to get some more pics later. Puffs on the string is going to make it hard to see down the string. String is Stilldub B50 I think. Bow lies flat on the table with the string off with no apparent twist for what its worth. Only looks twisted with the string on. Still think the nock grooves at the tips are uneven, especially on top. Not really a big deal, like I said earlier it shoots great!

Very difficult to see twists without a string and being braced.

Don’t take the picture just above the string. Take it from one end looking at the string centered on limbs and handle yet we need to see as much of the limb ends as possible. At least 3/4 of the bow all of top limb, handle and as much of bottom limb. Probably need to place the handle in some sort of old bow so you can align everything up in the camera.

From the pictures you have taken so far can’t see anything wrong with string grooves but then the string is there.

It'll probably be easier with a proper length string, the one that's on there doesn't look to be either in good shape or just poorly made.

I have a few RWH's and a Chaparral and all of them like the 8.25- 8.5" but I've heard they run 8"-9" range pretty easy. Some a little higher, some a tad lower.

The limbs likely need tweaked a bit to align them, but that string is too long as you can see where it is hitting on the shot then sliding into the groove. The string grooves are probaby okay with a proper string. It may shoot well at 7.5, but needs to be tad higher, just enough that there is a little bit of the groove showing below the string when braced.

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