Arched back

[Kira-sama]

My WM 156L has an extremely tight back joint also. If your doll has the same tightness as mine, then you will need to push VERY hard haha.

seems to be the same on mine.

I don't think I dare to push much harder. Feels like I may end up with a broken spine.

When I did it, I had to push VERY, VERY hard. The more you bend the joint though, the looser it will become. So, if you want this to be fixed, then you will either have to bend the joint over and over again, or perform surgery on your doll to get to the joints and loosen them up.

[ColColt]

Joints shouldn't be THAT stiff.

[Kira-sama]

Joints shouldn't be THAT stiff.

Manufacturers need to use torque wrenches with torque specifications that fit every range from slightly tight to extremely tight.

[ColColt]

I'd like to see them try and arch the backs on some of these girls.

[adelea]

I wish my 168E had a back arch like that Looks aside, it's great for sliding your arm under her from the side.

I can set it up like that, but it flattens out too easily!

[Liz_xxx]

Talk to your vendor, at least that way if you break her they already know you have been struggling and looking for help here on tdf

[ColColt]

My first girl, a WM140A, had the back arch already set for me from the box.

[MoviePilot]

I experienced exactly the same situation some weeks ago. Rock solid back joint.
After trying to "bear hug" my doll - which didn't make the joint rotate even a single notch - I finally did the following:

(Sounds harsh like hell but worked out in the end.)

If you want to arch back - lay the doll on the belly, put your knee approx. between hip and waist and pull the neck joint where it begins at the shoulder. Basically like you wanna "strangle" her. If you pull the neck joint at a higher position, it will just rotate the neck instead of the back joint

If you want to arch forward - lay the doll on the back, put your knee approx. at the belly button and again pull the neck joint where it begins at the shoulder

And yeah, it really takes lots of force.

[curiousswede]

Hm, "hugging" her from behind (having your arms around her belly right below her breasts) while she sits on the bed to push the arched back forward could be the safest bet.

That way you are applying more of your body spread out on her back while still applying tons of force.

This way at least you won't risk causing any penetration in the TPE as the pressure is distributed much more while still being the same.

When you finally move her back a bit forward you should hear a "creaking" sound. Then it should be easier from there.

If I remember correctly, the spine joint seems to be the most stiff one on many WM Dolls?

[MoviePilot]

Hm, "hugging" her from behind (having your arms around her belly right below her breasts) while she sits on the bed to push the arched back forward could be the safest bet.

Exactly this is the "Bear hug" I was mentioning - didn't work out at all for me, the joint was just too stiff.

[doctor-sensei]

I just got my first WM doll in Nov 2019, and had the very same issues. The legs, arm and neck joints were perfect; one of the hip joints was so tight it felt like it was putting too much stress on the hip welds; and the shrugging shoulders and back joints were frozen to the point where it felt like a weld might break before it moved.

I came up with a solution that worked pretty well: I oiled the joints!

I bought an industrial syringe set from Amazon (less than $10-- lots of choices available-- I got the 4" needle, but 2" would be plenty, unless you have a thicc monster doll).

Put an inch of mineral oil in in the barrel, feel around with your finger like a doctor and locate the joint, then stick the needle in at the joint. move the needle around while depressing the plunger to get the oil around all sides of the joint-- you can feel the needle scraping over the steel. It takes a lot of pressure on the plunger, some areas more than others. Pull the needle out and massage the oil in, placing pressure with your finger over the hole-- careful: sometimes pressurized oil can squirt back out a foot or two!

I administered this treatment a couple times, and in a few days, the hip joint and the back and the shoulder joints all loosened up real nice! The hip used to creak when moved and now it's quiet.

Though unfortunately the side-to-side and twisting back joints are still completely frozen-- hoping they will loosen some day.

And don't worry, the needle holes are so small, they are completely invisible.

Syringe.jpg (72.05 KiB) Viewed 2066 times

20ml Industrial Syringe with Luer Lock Needles. Says "Discard after use", but with mineral oil, they are reusable.

(PS- there are so many sharing, creative, experienced doll owners here that I imagine this possibly has been done before, but I haven't seen it, so apologies if I'm taking credit for someone else's ideas!)

[ColColt]

I've used a syringe similar to that one to pump up a slightly deflated boob but just air...no mineral oil. I think that's a great idea if you fee confident in what you're doing...something the factory could do to elude customers from having to do the same.

[BWheeler1]

I had my 140 for three years before I knew she even had a back joint, that's how stiff hers was. Finally I read in another thread here that given when she was built, she should have one. So I felt around and sure enough, there was a joint. It didn't want to move, it had been set in one position for three years. I laid her down on the bed, put my knee over her legs, and pulled up from her neck while pushing down right on the joint. It was hard, but it broke free and has been able to move ever since. But I cannot stress this enough... feel around and find exactly where the joint is. Because otherwise, you'll try to bend where there isn't a joint and it isn't going to move. The back joints were also stiff on my 156 and 157 when I got them. But on all three dolls I mentioned, the joint was easier to move after breaking it free for the first time. Once you pop it, you'll be fine.

I didn't mention my Piper doll because none of her joints were insanely tight like WMs are. Every joint was just right from the time I took her out of the box.

The syringe idea sounds like it would help also. Even if it doesn't work right away, after the oil has time to work its way in, it should break free after a little while. But pay attention to the way Doc made the words "mineral oil" bold. Don't use any other kind of oil because it will damage the TPE. It might also help to find a picture of the skeletons and joints (there are a few on here) to help you figure out exactly where to put the needle and where to spread the oil, like right where the joints move.

[Mcupplease]

Did you try laying her across your knee while you are sitting with the doll face down and bounce your knee, and the weight of the doll itself can get that joint moving especially if you push with your hands above and below

[CMiles76]

I found this link on YouTube discussing this exact topic. Hope this visual helps. He really should consider cleaning up his background however.

https://youtu.be/j1Kp6ihqccA