Kraton Fix for sloppy bell crank on all 3 and 4s cars

[Stevenj76]

Decided to look at the slop in my kraton and my boys typhon today , I had a pack of schumacher shims from other rc work , the shims were 5x7 0.4 thick . I already had the bearing in my steering from the Jim’s bearing set , I put some left over bearings from an ftx outlaw in the typhon steering . These are 5x10x4 these take slop and improve the movement straight away . Once these were in I placed one 0.4 shim on top of the each bearing before I put the tower housing back on . Next I undone the next link on the bell crank where it has a steel collar going through it and placed one on the top of that . It sits virtually level with the top of the steel insert , one was a little snug on the new typhon but were smooth as butter on my kraton . This has removed every bit of slop that was there . Anyone who has looked at the slop would have seen that it’s mostly caused by a upwards movement of these parts as they are not snug enough . Pivot balls are already changed on my cars , hot racing on the typhon and the steel axial on mine . Hope this helps people .

 

[Surchaufeur]

Decided to look at the slop in my kraton and my boys typhon today , I had a pack of schumacher shims from other rc work , the shims were 5x7 0.4 thick . I already had the bearing in my steering from the Jim’s bearing set , I put some left over bearings from an ftx outlaw in the typhon steering . These are 5x10x4 these take slop and improve the movement straight away . Once these were in I placed one 0.4 shim on top of the each bearing before I put the tower housing back on . Next I undone the next link on the bell crank where it has a steel collar going through it and placed one on the top of that . It sits virtually level with the top of the steel insert , one was a little snug on the new typhon but were smooth as butter on my kraton . This has removed every bit of slop that was there . Anyone who has looked at the slop would have seen that it’s mostly caused by a upwards movement of these parts as they are not snug enough . Pivot balls are already changed on my cars , hot racing on the typhon and the steel axial on mine . Hope this helps people .

Good tip

 

[Stevenj76]

Good tip

the difference is amazing for peanuts outlay , kyosho also make a 5x7 shim pack with three different sizes

 

[Surchaufeur]

the difference is amazing for peanuts outlay , kyosho also make a 5x7 shim pack with three different sizes

GOing to do that i also get my strong servo saver monday

 

[JAM]

Good to hear. I just swapped the bushings out on the factory bell crank for bearings on my sons Senton. That and the HR pivot balls in the servo arm really made it more solid. I’ll watch to see how they do but the results were night and day over stock. On my K4s I did the same but with the HR bell crank added in there. They’ll be a good comparison to see how the factory bell crank does over the HR on the 4s.
I’m using the kimborough 124 on the K4s vs the factory servo saver on the Senton. Another item to compare.

 

[Stevenj76]

Good to hear. I just swapped the bushings out on the factory bell crank for bearings on my sons Senton. That and the HR pivot balls in the servo arm really made it more solid. I’ll watch to see how they do but the results were night and day over stock. On my K4s I did the same but with the HR bell crank added in there. They’ll be a good comparison to see how the factory bell crank does over the HR on the 4s.

Those shims are £2 over in the uk , worth a shot to compare against the hot racing bell crank

 

[Surchaufeur]

The play realky comes from the top bearings against the metal rod who goes trough them the plastic moves up and down a bit i recently changed the whole steering assembly for 5$

 

[JAM]

@Stevenj76 thats for sure. It will be nice to see if these cheaper upgrades to the factory plastic will beat out the HR stuff.

 

[Stevenj76]

The play realky comes from the top bearings against the metal rod who goes trough them the plastic moves up and down a bit i recently changed the whole steering assembly for 5$

Spot on but not quite the bearing more that there’s play in bearings full stop , with that shim on the top you will be amazed

 

[Surchaufeur]

So 5x7x04 going to order that when they call me for my turnbuckles

 

[Stevenj76]

Since my last rc I’ve been shimming all my hub bearings behind the wheel hex , bearings wear less and there’s no wheel wobble either , again kyosho do multi thickness shim packs for £ 4.95 uk .

So 5x7x04 going to order that when they call me for my turnbuckles

Yes by Schumacher , called speed shim pack 0.4 thick

 

[Surchaufeur]

Decided to look at the slop in my kraton and my boys typhon today , I had a pack of schumacher shims from other rc work , the shims were 5x7 0.4 thick . I already had the bearing in my steering from the Jim’s bearing set , I put some left over bearings from an ftx outlaw in the typhon steering . These are 5x10x4 these take slop and improve the movement straight away . Once these were in I placed one 0.4 shim on top of the each bearing before I put the tower housing back on . Next I undone the next link on the bell crank where it has a steel collar going through it and placed one on the top of that . It sits virtually level with the top of the steel insert , one was a little snug on the new typhon but were smooth as butter on my kraton . This has removed every bit of slop that was there . Anyone who has looked at the slop would have seen that it’s mostly caused by a upwards movement of these parts as they are not snug enough . Pivot balls are already changed on my cars , hot racing on the typhon and the steel axial on mine . Hope this helps people .

I did what you told me to do going to see tomorrow when i put everything back togueter

 

[Surchaufeur]

No more play on where i have put the shims on but my steering servo is a bit sloppy when standing still don't know what budget servo to get

 

[senor_arrma]

I'm trying to follow where you put these shims? Got a photo? Or can you mark a drawing?

 

[Stevenj76]

You might need to fit a thinner shim on the joint that’s external on the chasis pictured o.4 works on the other perfect .

 

[Surchaufeur]

??

 

[Nicholas yambao]

Decided to look at the slop in my kraton and my boys typhon today , I had a pack of schumacher shims from other rc work , the shims were 5x7 0.4 thick . I already had the bearing in my steering from the Jim’s bearing set , I put some left over bearings from an ftx outlaw in the typhon steering . These are 5x10x4 these take slop and improve the movement straight away . Once these were in I placed one 0.4 shim on top of the each bearing before I put the tower housing back on . Next I undone the next link on the bell crank where it has a steel collar going through it and placed one on the top of that . It sits virtually level with the top of the steel insert , one was a little snug on the new typhon but were smooth as butter on my kraton . This has removed every bit of slop that was there . Anyone who has looked at the slop would have seen that it’s mostly caused by a upwards movement of these parts as they are not snug enough . Pivot balls are already changed on my cars , hot racing on the typhon and the steel axial on mine . Hope this helps people .

Locknuts and shims do wonders.

 

[GRC]

Thanks for this tip! I already had every other steering slop "fix" installed. Servo, servo saver, pivot balls, aluminum bellcrank. None of them made much of a difference. (I should point out I replaced the servo, saver and pivot balls when my Granite was still fairly new, so they were not worn down yet.) This tip works. Now I'm consistently able to hit my ramp with much more speed.

 

[GRC]

Update: I think shimming the tower housing increases the chance of cracking the chassis. By losing that slop, more impact energy is sent into the chassis. I cracked one around the tower housing post, then I noticed a small crack in the same place in the replacement chassis. Both cracks were definitely from bad nose landings, but I've had months of nose landings and never cracked a chassis. These two cracks happened shortly after shimming the tower housings. I removed the tower housing shims and so far the small crack has not gotten any worse.

Good news is I've kept the shims in the steering assembly and they seem to make most of the difference in the improved steering.

Also I didn't mention in my last post, the servo HORN from the Hot Racing Servo saver (ATF8SH02) is one of the only other upgrades that made a noticeable difference in reducing steering slop. (I am not using the Hot Racing servo saver itself.) Even with Hot Racing pivot balls, the stock plastic servo horn gets worn down quickly and introduces tons of slop. The Hot Racing servo horn has no slop and has resisted wear very well.

 

[VonJarga]

I've got the HR bell crank installed on my OC4s and there is definitely STILL a small amount of upwards movement at the link on the bell crank where it has a steel collar going through it. I wonder if those shims would work on the HR bell crank too? Im going to order and find out. x

When you shim the hub bearings behind the wheel hex, are you using the same size shims as the steering slop? Shumaker 5x7x04?