Interesting. I hadn't tried that, a couple of the other fixes I've seen and tried:

- Make sure the legs aren't twisted. I noticed that my legs would 'bind up' a bit, a lift on the front of my cabinet would free up the legs, and the next few shots were able to go up the ramp without much of a problem. Odd, but I saw this on RGP and think that my legs may just be twisted, in turn adding a little twist to the cab.

- The gate out of the shooter lane. I noticed the ball on my game would get slowed down at this point every so often. I never really figured out a great solution for this one, I did loosen the strength of the spring, which seems to help a little.

- The rubber along the right side of the PF. I used a shorter rubber (i think 3.5") than what was originally there. Before the rubber could catch the ball, or at least slow it up. Often it would send the ball into the inside of the ramp entrance, causing it to rattle and lose a lot of speed.

This is a really fickle thing to adjust.. I've battled it multiple times. I'll try loosening the screws on the ramp itself to see what happens. It's working as well as it's ever worked with the fixes above. It's such a huge part of the game, it's really important to have it working properly.

I've also put a tighter rubber along that right wall, that seems to help. Still, yes, every now and then it just gets hung up somehow..

Have you tried a tighter rubber along the right side? I can't recall off hand, but if that was 4", I think I replaced it with 3.5" and that helped a lot.

A few other things to check that I didn't see you mention..

- Check the level at the top, middle, and bottom of the PF. Sometimes it can be level at the bottom, but actually be twisted in the cabinet enough to throw the ball off line.

- Check the gate at the exit of the shooter lane. If it's getting hung up there, you may be able to adjust or even use some silicone grease (conservatively) to help it open easier.

- Check the ramp entry flap. If that's raised or has an inconsistent pitch, that may be causing a hop that would give you inconsistent results.

Good luck! I found that the best thing to do was to take off the upper PF and play around with it. Pay attention to how the ball moves, adjust where the shooter is hitting the ball to give it a consistent path. It doesn't necessarily need to be dead on, so try playing with that too. You just want to make it a repeatable shot.

You might want to check to make sure the cabinet itself is level. Playfields can twist slightly when the cab is off kilter. It will show level in the center of the playfield, but the corners might be off a bit. I'm not sure if that's your issue, but it's worth a check before drilling.

Maybe try offsetting the shooter a bit. Moving it to the inside might allow it to catch the outside of the ramp cleaner.

Yeah, there are just a ton of variables that can throw this shot off. It took a ton of tinkering to get mine right. If you think you've done everything, I would try different positions of the shooter on the ball. Spins and subtle angles can make a difference. I don't think that center ball is the answer on every machine. Play around with your machine's pitch too.

Another thought - check the shooter rod itself. Try swapping out with a different rod if you have one. I've seen about a million people lift games or move them by using that as a handle. This is one of those skillshots that's potentially sensitive to something like that.

Check the first page for suggestions. Inconsistency coming out of the lane I would check your shooter, the sleeve, the rod itself, the spring.. and then the gate. Put a small dap of silicone on the gate to allow it to exit with less effort and influence. You can also make some slight bends to that gate to make sure it comes out cleanly.

After that, I put a longer rubber along the right side - I think it has 2 rubbers from factory.

Here's a thought.. has anyone just removed the gate to the shooter lane? I wonder how often the ball would find its way down there.