Importance of tub drain shoe and flange/rubber gasket being absolutely level to each other

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Sokolq55

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My PVC drain shoe sits about 1/8” out of level with respect to the bottom of a new cast iron tub drain opening. Consequently, in order for the rubber gasket to properly seal all the way around, I have to over tighten the flange which results in a slight bulging of the gasket on one side while the other side is just right. No leaks at this point.

Should I be worried enough about this in long term to the point of pulling tub back out, cutting and recementing the shoe? The only way I can think of getting it to be absolutely perfectly level is to fist install the flange/gasket/shoe to the tub and only then build out the rest of the drain trap/overflow/etc from there.

On a separate note, are some of these gaskets better then others? I mean I have one that looks rubber but they all kind of look and feel the same. What should I be looking for specifically?

Thanks
 

Breplum

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It must be truly in parallel.
You might have room for an 1-1/2" no hub coupling, which when properly torqued can help bridge that angle.
We often used no hub couplings for overflows and drain tailpiece, so will work if room on the shoe arm.
Stick with the gasket that came with the unit.
 

Tuttles Revenge

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A no hub coupling can be within 5° angle according to one manufactures literature.

And I will second that the shoe/rubber gasket need to set flat against the tub. Those threads are getting too much torque applied to them at that point.
 

Sokolq55

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Thanks all! I ended up cutting off the whole assembly between the trap and the wye going to main waste line and now unto reassembling everything with shoe/overflow attached to tub first…

I’ll just now have an extra coupler between the trap and the wye - that shouldn’t be an issue, right?
 
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