I Solved NordicTrack Treadmill Belt Slipping to One Side & Off Center Issue

If you are an owner of a NordicTrack Treadmill, after a period of time, your treadmill’s belt might keep slipping to one side.

In this case, the belt will cause friction to the side cover and the belt might be damaged easily or even not able to move.

In my case, I did not pay enough attention early, my treadmill belt was slightly damaged, curling up on the sides and eventually folded up.

Here is what I did to fix this NordicTrack treadmill belt off center problem.

NordicTrack treadmill belt off center and slipping to one side

As you can see from the image below, my treadmill belt was slid to the left side, causing friction with the left panel when the belt is moving.

There is a mark where the belt should not exceed to ensure the belt is centered.

Normally you will also hear some weird noises, although not beeping sound, if the belt keeps causing friction to the side panel.

Sometimes, it might even heat up the belt and cause unsteady speed issue on the treadmill.

How about the right side?

Here is the condition of the right side, it left a big gap between the treadmill belt and the right panel.

In this case, my treadmill belt was clearly off-centered, and I listed down the reasons for this issue and took the steps below to fix this problem.

Belt tension needs to be adjusted

In my experience, the belt tends to slide to the side with LESS TENSION because it has more room for the belt to move and slide.

You will notice this if you run the belt at low speed.

The side with HIGHER TENSION normally will have a gap between the belt and left/right panel.

To fix this, simply adjust the tension of the belt.

For example, in my case, the belt slid to the left side, means the left side had less tension.

I can either do the following to make the belt center again

• Increase the tension at the left side
• Decrease the tension at the right side

When the belt tension at the left is increased, it will slightly slide back to the center.

Similarly, when the tension at the right side is decreased, it has more room for the belt to slide towards the center.

I would say this based on my personal experience, rotating the tension screw clockwise will increase the tension while rotating it anti-clockwise will decrease the tension of the belt.

Here is a table summarizes what you should do based on your condition.

How to adjust NordicTrack belt tension

I am now showing how I did this with a better explanation.

First you would need a HEX key as shown in the image below

There are two small pin holes at the left bottom and right bottom of your treadmill respectively.

Insert it properly and you can adjust the HEX screw inside.

Do not forget to adjust for the left side too if you need to do this.

I understand not everyone will face a similar situation as in my case, where the screw is extremely tight and very difficult to be adjusted.

I tried to use a plier to hold the HEX key to rotate the screw inside.

And I am able to rotate it clockwise with this method.

When I wanted to rotate it anti-clockwise to reduce the belt tension, it was just too tight to do that.

In this case, I used a rubber hammer to knock the HEX key.

Knock it bit by bit, I was able to rotate it anti-clockwise and release the tension.

Note: I think my case is rare, most treadmill tension screw should be able to be adjusted easily with a HEX key.

Here is what the belt looks like after it is being adjusted back to the center again, VOILA!

Still CAN’T adjust the tension screw?

If you are still not able to adjust the tension screw due to certain reason, I would recommend you to go steps further.

You can remove the side cover of the treadmill.

There are screws holding the side panels tight at the bottom of the treadmill.

You can fold the treadmill, and remove the screws as shown in the image below:

Read:

• What to do you can’t unfold the NordicTrack treadmill smoothly 
• Troubleshooting NordicTrack treadmill main and incline motor problems
• How to solve NordicTrack treadmill keep stopping suddenly issue

After the side panels are removed, it should look something like this

You can now move to the back side of the treadmill, and the tension screws are no longer being covered.

You should be able to see the screw clearly and adjust it easily.

Tips:

• It would be easy to adjust the screw if you hold the long part of the HEX key, and the shorter part is inserted to the HEX screw (I did the opposite way BTW as shown in the image above)
• You can use a plier or rubber hammer to rotate it easily in case it is too tight

Belt Worn Out After Constant Friction

As I mentioned before, I did not take immediate action to fix this issue.

My belt was constantly in friction with the left panel and it shows signs of damage, fray, debris and worn out.

This will eventually create more belt-related problem like slow down or stop when someone step on it.

Or I could feel that the belt is slipping a bit, stop for a while and continue.

To fix this issue, I simply removed the fray by using fire to burn it out.

It looks better now!

The image below shows the difference between BEFORE and AFTER the belt fray removal process.

Conclusion

If you are facing the NordicTrack treadmill belt off center issue, I hope you find this article useful.

Do not hesitate to try adjusting the tension of the belt and most likely it will fix this issue.