Kraton Kraton steering completely locked up

[justpassedu]

I have been in the Rc game for years and never in my life had as many problems with a rtr out of the box as I am having with the Kraton. It is really upsetting that I cannot run a brand new truck and it's been sitting for 2 weeks now. I love the design , I am not knocking that all but arrma should be ashamed of themselves in the way this truck was assembled. Anyway I have torn the entire truck down today. My steering will not turn from left to right for the life of me and I cannot figure it out. Right now I have servo out of the truck and the top plate for the servo saver assembly off. I am trying to just turn arms from left to right and they will not budge one bit. They are locked in place and I don't know what is causing this , from the looks of it I cannot see anything out of place , I am messing with the servo saver spring and nothing . I really hate to have to send this back to arrma and wait another few weeks but I am stumped completely as I sit here and just look at everything .

 

[justpassedu]

 

[chalmene]

Have you checked the red nuts that retain your steering balls? If those are too tight, there is a lot of resistance in the steering. But as for being completely "locked up", I'm not sure. Going to look over mine and see what I can think of..


Also, sorry for your bad luck, I'm guessing the guy who assembled yours had a bad day. I had no issues at all with mine.

 

[justpassedu]

Thanks man yes I just checked those , I think they are the culprit but when I loosen them the arms do move but they seem to loose like they will fall out when driving. They are very stiff also with just tightening them a drop so I get some steering . This is really weird to me . Will they back out when driving bc in order to get some steering I have to back them out allot and I feel it is to much ?

 

[Dreadstar]

Try disassembling the entire steering rack and rebuild it using blue threadlock,as it's possible that this one might have been built using the nasty red threadlock. If that's the case,then it would explain why there's no movement in your steering.

 

[justpassedu]

Try disassembling the entire steering rack and rebuild it using blue threadlock,as it's possible that this one might have been built using the nasty red threadlock. If that's the case,then it would explain why there's no movement in your steering.

That was the 1st thing I tried a few days ago , it seems to be the red nuts for the pillow balls are the culprit . Don't know why I need to set them so loose to get steering . When I did that I actually saw no thread lock on anything . I used some blue on the metal to metal parts .

 

[chalmene]

Great man, glad you found the issue! Yes, just have to find the sweet spot with tightening those nuts. I tighten them down just enough to where the ball doesn't wobble in any direction, then no more tightening. Its ok to keep them a little loose, I just check them every other run as they can loosen up a tad more. you can even access them with the wheels on.

 

[justpassedu]

Great man, glad you found the issue! Yes, just have to find the sweet spot with tightening those nuts. I tighten them down just enough to where the ball doesn't wobble in any direction, then no more tightening. Its ok to keep them a little loose, I just check them every other run as they can loosen up a tad more. you can even access them with the wheels on.

I'm gonna try getting it together and see what happens I just hope that is the issue and nothing else. As for the servo saver spring , how tight should that be ?

 

[chalmene]

Also, if just one of those nuts is too tight, it will cause a lot of resistance. So back them all out a bit and do one at a time. Pull on the steering block each time and just tighten them till the ball doesn't move laterally inside the steering block. Check for binding after adjusting each nut.

I'm gonna try getting it together and see what happens I just hope that is the issue and nothing else. As for the servo saver spring , how tight should that be ?

I have not adjusted mine from stock, but there is about 9mm of spring visible from what I can measure. I have had no issues with the way it is, steering is a bit loose but fine for now. Hope this helps.

 

[justpassedu]

Also, if just one of those nuts is too tight, it will cause a lot of resistance. So back them all out a bit and do one at a time. Pull on the steering block each time and just tighten them till the ball doesn't move laterally inside the steering block. Check for binding after adjusting each nut.



I have not adjusted mine from stock, but there is about 9mm of spring visible from what I can measure. I have had no issues with the way it is, steering is a bit loose but fine for now. Hope this helps.

Thank you I greatly appreciate the help. It was a little thing I just couldn't figure out. I never thought to myself it would be those red hexes. Appreciate it. As for the servo saver I already started messing with it and now forgot where it should be , it's a pain to adjust bc you have to remove a bunch of parts to get to it.

 

[chalmene]

Thank you I greatly appreciate the help. It was a little thing I just couldn't figure out. I never thought to myself it would be those red hexes. Appreciate it. As for the servo saver I already started messing with it and now forgot where it should be , it's a pain to adjust bc you have to remove a bunch of parts to get to it.

Glad to help. I imagine you won't have to worry about the servo saver much. I would just set it how mine came, the section where the spring is visible is 9mm, so tighten it till you get that measurement. Only worry is if it is way too tight you could possibly damage the servo. I've never stripped a metal geared servo but I guess it is possible.