yes, it has been leveled side to side first, and then front to back....it does not cut smooth...i have checked the blades and they meet as they should....tip to tip...there is maybe 1/8" difference side to side in the center of the deck (inside). I still cannot get any more than 3.5 inches. Im wondering if i were to put an adjustment arm on the opposite side to help Raise it, and then the other side as well...mine has ONLY ONE deck adjustment arm...the LEFT side just floats....and of course i have the front deck hanger.....i am going to try to get pics as i have been asked to do...im starting to wonder if i have a bent deck shell....

I just googled and looked at a bunch of 2166's The ones I looked at all had handles in the highest positions and the decks still looked low to me. It might just be inherent of that unit.

Look at these. I dont think any one of them is higher than 3.5 inches with handle up.

The only other thing I can think of is that the roll pins holding the lift handle to the lift have worn or broken or the holes have wallowed out.

I had to make this repair once, ended up drilling new holes and using bolts/locking nuts. It worked well.

deck photos as requested:
 

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THanks for your help! I just posted these pics...idk WHY they are oriented wrong, but i just don't see anything wrong. EXCEPT notice the gauge wheel and how close it is to the front tire. Can you expound on your experience with "ROLL PINS". I don't know what those are...excuse my ignorance...im a newbie working on these machines....thank you again..OH...one more question...when i align the two blades at "three and nine o'clock...i do have just about a 1/8" difference instead of them being completely leveled with each other...i then turn them and they are perfectly even after rotation of a half revolution.

How about some pictures of the front hanger?
How about some pictures a little further back so we can see the whole thing....

In reference to the roll pins, the lift handle is pinned to the lift arm assembly (up under the seat/fender/tank) with two long roll pins. On a previous tractor I had, the holes in the lift arm assembly were wallowed out and the pins were just rattling around in there so I had to drill new holes and use bolts.

I'm pretty sure that that situation was cause by something the PO had done, because the wear didn't even make sense; it was more like mis-matched parts.

My left front gauge wheel is within an inch of my tire as well. That may be normal.

I was having some deck alignment issues as well when I picked mine up used. I found that starting with the deck off, then measuring from the ground to the bottom of the rear hangar holes to set the rear level adjustment gave me a good starting point, with the hangars all the way up. I then set the front hangar to the 5/8” starting point, per the instructions. Then I didn’t really have to tweak much at either location.

I will say to look at the teeth inside the rear wheel that the level lever engages. To get into my #6 tooth, I actually have to pull hard against the plastic housing to get it to engage. Almost like the tooth set is a hair too high. Normal pulling force and I can only hit #5. At #6 my blade height is about 4”, dropping .5” per tooth as I go down.

Thanks for all of your input, guys! I have determined that this mower just wont cut zoysia, or hybrid bermuda once it gets over 3". I have lowered the height of the mower to where the height of grass is 2.5", and it cuts MUCH better!