Steering play fix?

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate
links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
Ok, so I made some progress with the slop on my granite and for pretty much free.

First, make sure your steering post fins are tightly screwed to the flat bar peice with the ball studs on it. Use a drop of CA on the threads to keep them from loosening up which otherwise happens on mine every 10 packs or so.

Then I made a new pin for the side without the servo saver that clamps the fin like the servo saver side does. This eliminates the slop between the pin and the fin. I cut the head off a bolt of the proper length that had a thread OD of 3mm. I ground the threads down at the top and bottom to 2mm OD so they engaged the holes properly. I used a flat nut on the bottom that was ground down to fit the bottom of the fin and, once in position on the pin, crushed slightly in a vise to make sure it stayed put. At this point it is basically identical to the servo saver side pin but with threads all the way down. Then I threaded a locknut on the top, upside down, and tightened it all the way down to firmly clamp the fin.

I also jammed some small shims, little peices of a zip tie, into the holes on the underside of the servo cover until all the up and down play in the pins was gone.

These three mods took away at least 75% of my slop. Not perfect by any means, but definitely close enough to make me happy.

Here is a pic of the pin, the nut shown by it is not the locknut style I ended up using.

View attachment 801

I'm very interested in doing this to my granite. Tower has not had the mounting post for a while now and my granite is collecting dust.
Do you have pics of what locknut style you did use?
Thanks in advance.
 
I'm very interested in doing this to my granite. Tower has not had the mounting post for a while now and my granite is collecting dust.
Do you have pics of what locknut style you did use?
Thanks in advance.


Like this one. Make sure to thread it on backwards so the side with plastic is towards the fin. It engages it much better this way. I also did not use the plastic bushings that normally go in that fin.

41OFyizJDyL._SX342_.jpg
 
Also, this home made pin can work on both sides. I actually made it initially for the servo saver side when I broke mine and replacements were not available. It is steel too so much stronger than the stock one.
 
Also, this home made pin can work on both sides. I actually made it initially for the servo saver side when I broke mine and replacements were not available. It is steel too so much stronger than the stock one.

Thank you!
I've been beating my head against the wall trying to come up with something.
 
Great idea with the solder. I might use that to smooth my threads where they are ground down so they don't end up eating into the plastic. Glad it worked for you; bash on brother!

I'm just glad I don't have to wait on Tower to get the part in stock ! Now I need to order those 4x7x2.5mm bearings.
 
Ok, so I made some progress with the slop on my granite and for pretty much free.

First, make sure your steering post fins are tightly screwed to the flat bar peice with the ball studs on it. Use a drop of CA on the threads to keep them from loosening up which otherwise happens on mine every 10 packs or so.

Then I made a new pin for the side without the servo saver that clamps the fin like the servo saver side does. This eliminates the slop between the pin and the fin. I cut the head off a bolt of the proper length that had a thread OD of 3mm. I ground the threads down at the top and bottom to 2mm OD so they engaged the holes properly. I used a flat nut on the bottom that was ground down to fit the bottom of the fin and, once in position on the pin, crushed slightly in a vise to make sure it stayed put. At this point it is basically identical to the servo saver side pin but with threads all the way down. Then I threaded a locknut on the top, upside down, and tightened it all the way down to firmly clamp the fin.

I also jammed some small shims, little peices of a zip tie, into the holes on the underside of the servo cover until all the up and down play in the pins was gone.

These three mods took away at least 75% of my slop. Not perfect by any means, but definitely close enough to make me happy.

Here is a pic of the pin, the nut shown by it is not the locknut style I ended up using.

View attachment 801

Now that's one hell of a solution! I have a new servo from springrc SM-S4482M . It will be here on Thursday or Friday. I will tear down the steering assembly and hopefully correct as much of the slop as possible. The most annoying part is the wheel wobble in reverse. I hope that with the stronger metal gear servo and shims and bearings and links will finally end my frustration. I think I will most likely fuse the two halfs of the servo saver as a last resort. Anyhow thank you for posting this! !
 
You can use a dremel to cut the head off or any other saw capable of cutting metal. Then I chucked it up in a drill and spun it against a hand file to shrink the ends down to the proper OD.
 
Hi

You can also use the drill and the dermal together. I made new pins for my steering by using the drill as a lath and the dermal with a thick grinding wheel to act as the cutter to cut and shape the pin to the way I want it too look. It is a whole lot easier then using hand files.
 
Doing it that way will certainly take off material faster but that is not always a good thing. If the goal is reducing slop you should try to keep your tolerances as small as possible.
 
I made another set of these DIY pins because the last of my (6!) stock ones broke. I actually went to the hardware store this time and it turns out 8-32 is the best size for this. Super beefy compared to stock and a perfect fit. The first pic shows the hardware I used (they were out of the locknuts in stainless) and how I chuck them up in my drill to machine them down. Lock two nuts together with the right amount sticking out and then turn it against something abrasive with the drill. Once that is right, turn the two nuts down to the correct OD in the same manner and then grind your flats. Repeat for the other end of the pin. The last pic shows how the bottom nuts I made were too small in OD and too thick but they still worked fine like this. Test the assembly when done without the servo attached to make sure it swings free. I had to clearance under my servo cover on the servo saver side a bit.

image.jpeg
image.jpeg
image.jpeg
 
Last edited:
I have but for now this works great, was only a couple bucks and is in stock at literally any hardware store. With these pins now on both sides the slop is totally gone except for what is happening at the hub carrier. Not sure if these parts will ever break but if they do I will likely go your route unless there are finally aftermarket options available. For now I am a happy camper and see no reason to change a thing.
 
Old Thread: Hello . There have been no replies in this thread for 90 days.
Content in this thread may no longer be relevant.
Perhaps it would be better to start a new thread instead.
Back
Top