Mentolio
Active Member
Hi all,
So can we agree that the steering on these Mega 4x4s is kinda sloppy? I don't notice it much in grass or off-road, but when I throw the street tires on it I spend more time re-trimming the steering than enjoying the run (at least until the lil bugger thermals!). So today I decided to pull it apart and see what I could do with it. I had seen someone suggest that Fast Eddy "may" be coming out with a bearing kit to replace the plastic bushings on both steering arms, so I started looking there. There was also significant slop from the servo saver.
My Granite 4x4 is only a week old, so I wondered: "how loose can these bushings be." I was surprised to find that they were EXTREMELY SLOPPY! I was blown away at how much side to side "wobble" I could get out of the steering arm shaft, EVEN WHILE IT WAS CAPTURED BY BOTH BUSHINGS. The slop I experienced I expect from a car that has some miles on it (like a year or more of hard miles). "Ok, no biggie...I've got a collection of older bearings to try." I thought to myself. The steering shaft is a 5mm shaft, and the bushings looked like 10mm OD bearings, so I tried them first. The bearings were loose in the steering arms, so that was a no go. Unfortunately, I didn't have any other bearings that were just a smidge larger in OD...but I did have some of those bronze (?) bushings that Duratrax started shipping Evaders with (instead of including bearings...thanks Duratrax). Anyway I remembered they were always a tight fit in the plastic gears and wheels they arrived in, so I tried them. The bushings fit snug in the steering arms (not as tight as I would have liked, but I think they'll be fine), but they were almost 2mm too tall.
So I grabbed something flat, taped some sandpaper to it, and went to work. I got all four bushings worked down to 4mm, give or take. I cleaned them up, greased them up, and shoved them in. The slop I initially had was now gone!
https://photos.app.goo.gl/Z7JNQ32EXep9Mex8A
I was pretty stoked to try things out, but still had to address the sloppy servo saver. I had a spare Traxxas servo saver, and so thought I might try that out. Once I exposed the stocker, I noted that while they appeared to be of similar construction, the Traxxas unit was shorter (not as long at the horn). Big deal? Maybe not, but I thought that little bit of loss in length would negatively effect max steering angle (AKA: make my truck steer like a....um....truck instead of a sports car). I popped both SSs apart, and found that the Traxxas unit had a longer spring in it (I cannot say wether the rate is stiffer or not. If anything the Arrma spring seemed stiffer). Feeling adventurous, I swapped the springs out (after a lot of cussin' and fightin' with it!). With the truck up on a block (weight off the wheels), there is still some sloppiness in the steering, but I felt it was much improved over stock, so I put on the Banditos and headed out to my street for a test.
Results: DEFINITELY IMPROVED! The steering trim is now "set it and forget it." In spite of still having a bit of steering "wiggle" on the bench, the truck now tracks straight on pavement. I got through about ten minutes of run time, including small jumps (lawn edge, low curbs, and my apron) and high speed runs up and down the street (hi-speed being relative...it is still brushed). Once he's set on course, he holds true. So if the steering on your Mega 4x4 is as bad as mine was and is driving you nuts, you may want to try this fix. I hope it works for you as well as it worked for me!
So can we agree that the steering on these Mega 4x4s is kinda sloppy? I don't notice it much in grass or off-road, but when I throw the street tires on it I spend more time re-trimming the steering than enjoying the run (at least until the lil bugger thermals!). So today I decided to pull it apart and see what I could do with it. I had seen someone suggest that Fast Eddy "may" be coming out with a bearing kit to replace the plastic bushings on both steering arms, so I started looking there. There was also significant slop from the servo saver.
My Granite 4x4 is only a week old, so I wondered: "how loose can these bushings be." I was surprised to find that they were EXTREMELY SLOPPY! I was blown away at how much side to side "wobble" I could get out of the steering arm shaft, EVEN WHILE IT WAS CAPTURED BY BOTH BUSHINGS. The slop I experienced I expect from a car that has some miles on it (like a year or more of hard miles). "Ok, no biggie...I've got a collection of older bearings to try." I thought to myself. The steering shaft is a 5mm shaft, and the bushings looked like 10mm OD bearings, so I tried them first. The bearings were loose in the steering arms, so that was a no go. Unfortunately, I didn't have any other bearings that were just a smidge larger in OD...but I did have some of those bronze (?) bushings that Duratrax started shipping Evaders with (instead of including bearings...thanks Duratrax). Anyway I remembered they were always a tight fit in the plastic gears and wheels they arrived in, so I tried them. The bushings fit snug in the steering arms (not as tight as I would have liked, but I think they'll be fine), but they were almost 2mm too tall.
So I grabbed something flat, taped some sandpaper to it, and went to work. I got all four bushings worked down to 4mm, give or take. I cleaned them up, greased them up, and shoved them in. The slop I initially had was now gone!
https://photos.app.goo.gl/Z7JNQ32EXep9Mex8A
I was pretty stoked to try things out, but still had to address the sloppy servo saver. I had a spare Traxxas servo saver, and so thought I might try that out. Once I exposed the stocker, I noted that while they appeared to be of similar construction, the Traxxas unit was shorter (not as long at the horn). Big deal? Maybe not, but I thought that little bit of loss in length would negatively effect max steering angle (AKA: make my truck steer like a....um....truck instead of a sports car). I popped both SSs apart, and found that the Traxxas unit had a longer spring in it (I cannot say wether the rate is stiffer or not. If anything the Arrma spring seemed stiffer). Feeling adventurous, I swapped the springs out (after a lot of cussin' and fightin' with it!). With the truck up on a block (weight off the wheels), there is still some sloppiness in the steering, but I felt it was much improved over stock, so I put on the Banditos and headed out to my street for a test.
Results: DEFINITELY IMPROVED! The steering trim is now "set it and forget it." In spite of still having a bit of steering "wiggle" on the bench, the truck now tracks straight on pavement. I got through about ten minutes of run time, including small jumps (lawn edge, low curbs, and my apron) and high speed runs up and down the street (hi-speed being relative...it is still brushed). Once he's set on course, he holds true. So if the steering on your Mega 4x4 is as bad as mine was and is driving you nuts, you may want to try this fix. I hope it works for you as well as it worked for me!