Center drains from the crate kicker are not uncommon. Fortunately it is way up the play field so you should have time nudge and save the ball. What you are describing is not normal though. Does your plunger have an issue? A hard plunge should give a solid hit on the crate. You could also have an issue with the crate kick out. It should kick the ball out firmly so that it hits the left most pop and bounces around in the area a little bit. This can create center drains but you should have time to attempt a good save. If it's just dribbling out and down the center the coil likely needs to be replaced on the crate kick out.

I have my slings set extremely sensitive and still seldom get drains. Setting them sensitive gives me a lot of action on the boogymen mod. Mine is also set at a really high pitch (over 8.5) so that it plays really fast. Overall I think it's a harder game then people give it credit for but a decent player should be able to beat the stiff o meter fairly regularly. Even with my sling and pitch I probably beat it every 10-15 plays and have beating multiple times in one game before.

lightning flippers perhaps?

A few things to try...
- different rubber in key areas - rubber type/color and possibly thickness
- adjust various posts - a little shift to the left/right can make a big difference
- left / right leveling
- make sure you have normal size flippers - like leaffan67 mentioned

If you could post close up pictures of the playfield, we may be able to identify better.

Good Luck!

VERY strange. I've had 3 Scared Stiffs and never had this problem. (and I'm a crappy player!) There is certainly something wrong...

Use an app, and level your machine. First front to back (at 6.5 degrees, or steeper). Then side to side.

It sounds like you haven't leveled it side to side. And for front to back, never trust the bubble. I don't think I've ever set set up a machine with a centered bubble...it's way too flat...which might cause too much side to side action, which could be the cause of your sling issues.

Don't bother doing anything else till it's level in both directions (and steep enough). Then report back.

I've never seen small Bony flippers. Doubt that's your issue.

Sounds like the auto plunge is definitely a little weak or could be slightly misaligned and not getting enough power on the plunge. Mine hits the crate hard enough to bounce around a little and often hits or enters the pops. If you could post a video it would be helpful.

Man that does sound really weird. Did you try swapping a new sleeve in the plunger coil? At least see how dirty it is.

wow that sounds like the best play on the plunge get the crate and spin the spider most players just try for the spider / valid playfield on plunge

I got rid of mine because it was too easy and got boring.

Very helpful. This will surely solve OP's problems.

I agree on posting some photos-at least at the outlanes. With the adjustable posts all the way in, the game should be very forgiving on outlane drains. Maybe the adjustable posts are the wrong type or maybe the posts above the inlane dividers are missing, or maybe rubber is missing-just brainstorming.

As far as SDTM, use a small torpedo level for side to side and inclinometer for pitch. If the bubble is "in the middle", that seems very steep, since the recommended setting is to have the nose of the bubble between the first and second lines (closest to player) on a TRU PITCH level.

Good luck!

Same here. Game is beautiful, sound is awesome, way too easy. Used to get Scared Stiff multiple times every game. Once I got the spidey multi a few times it was time for something else. I do miss hearing that music.

I tried to set up mine as difficult as possible. Pitch, outlanes, wax, etc. I also got to SS too much. Maybe the Ops machine has pf where the ball really zings across it, although I thought mine was in pretty good condition.

Yep. SS was the quickest swap out in my collection.

Does the kick from the crate hit the leftmost pop and then rattle around? This is the typical behaviour in my experience. Similarly, the autoplunger should launch hard enough to rattle around up top before coming to the lower PF.

Both of those things make the return from the top of the game very inconsistent, which means it shouldn't do <i>anything</i> consistently, including going STDM.

Also, if you're getting bad returns from the frogs (leapers), have a look at them. They're almost like captive balls in how much momentum they take out of the ball, so you shouldn't get really hard returns.

Lastly, if you're getting a lot of sling-drains into the outlane, I'd have a look at the rubber and coil on the slingshots. Sorta half-lame slingshots can be very dangerous on SS, while really zippy ones tend to be not-bad.

There was a SS at One Eyed Betty's in Ferndale last time I was there about 3 months ago. Perhaps it is still there (still listed as there on the pinmap and it was last updatd 6-8-15). I cannot comment on how it was setup but I am a medicore player and I was getting very long ball times.

One eyed Betty's LOL

If that is the case, the other rubbers are probably pretty worn also. Get a kit and do the whole machine. New sling rubbers especially can make a big difference.