Granite Steering Tie Rod End Snapped. Any Good Upgrade?

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RC4LIFE2700

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Arrma RC's
  1. Granite
Anyone aware of a high quality tie rod end upgrade? Would be willing to upgrade the whole rod. Also any good pivot balls? Stock ones seem like a loose fit and are sloppy.
 
Just replace with stock IMHO.
User error will break anything you put in there. Slop is not critical with these Basher rigs. They are not refined Kit built Track rigs.
You can always use strips of Teflon Tape inside the ball ends, then pop the balls back in to get rid of slop. I do that on occasion with my On Road 6s rigs. Speed running above 70+MPH, slop can be more critical. Not regular Bashing.
Why spend extra $$$ on parts that will break anyway. These are consumable parts. Drive better and they will break less. True for all of us.
Just me. 🤷‍♂️
 
I really hate it when people tell others, that a basher doesn’t need to be able to drive in a straight line. Yes parts wear out, but it’s really infuriating to have the difference between a laugh, and $30-$60 of front end damage be because the steering is so sloppy that you clipped a fence post instead of being able to steer around it..
the stock composite pivot balls west really fast... hot racing makes a pivot ball set for the stock connecting rods I believe.
I bought a complete GPM set for my granite, and one broke before they even got close to loose.... they’ve been on for about a year now I think..... maybe more.... broke the steering drag link a couple weeks ago on that side, so I’m not surprised that the tie rod end let go...
 
Traxxas 5525 tie rod ends work well for me. They have the steel pivot balls installed. The pivot balls are narrower than the stock ones, so a spacer or washers are needed to take up the slack, but they work like a charm in my rigs 👌
 
I really hate it when people tell others, that a basher doesn’t need to be able to drive in a straight line.
I agree. I have a Granite and mainly jump it off a ramp. Hitting the ramp with speed absolutely needs straight line tracking. I've tried every fix mentioned in this forum. I have the Hot Racing pivot balls, but whether they're new or completely worn down and loose makes no difference in steering precision. The Hot Racing steering bellcrank may have helped a little. I've had a stronger servo installed from Day 1, so I can't say how much of a difference it makes over stock. However even with all these commonly suggested steering slops fixes, the Granite still didn't track straight.

The tip that made the most difference was this:
https://www.arrmaforum.com/threads/fix-for-sloppy-bell-crank-on-all-3-and-4s-cars.21576/#post-410914

Another tip that no one mentions is the Hot Racing servo horn. It comes with the Hot Racing Servo.
https://www.amazon.com/Hot-Racing-A...07MFRMNW2/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_product_top?ie=UTF8
Unfortunately, you can't buy it separately. I don't even use the servo, since I've heard it has some issues. The stock plastic servo horn gets worn down extremely quickly. The Hot Racing servo horn has held up for months.

As for the slop, I still have tons of it. Most of it starts at the servo saver. From there, the steering assembly, front wheels all wiggle, it's unavoidable. But my Granite tracks straight now. I think too many tips are trying to remove the wiggle, but not actually making the car drive straighter.
 
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Getting rid of the slop in the tie rods absolutely helps keep the truck rolling straight. Once that is done though, you have to get rid of the heinous toe setting from factory. That much toe out will make the front dart...a lot. Look at how full sized vehicles are setup for toe, and camber... the laws of physics don’t change at 1/10th scale...
one other thing I think people often overlook is the steering tie rods angle from the belcrank to the arm on the spindle/hub. I have noticed that it tends to bind there, because the angle changes so much with the wheel travel. Also the steering posts on my v2 had brass bushings from factory. Putting bearings in seemed to help quite a bit as well.
 
I'd like to, but it's built exactly as wide and long as my SUV will fit. I'd
Screenshot_20210423-084112_Video Player.jpg
need a bigger car. ;)
4x8 sheets of OSB are divine!
 
Traxxas 5525 tie rod ends work well for me. They have the steel pivot balls installed. The pivot balls are narrower than the stock ones, so a spacer or washers are needed to take up the slack, but they work like a charm in my rigs 👌
Edit: Nevermind
 
Traxxas 5525 tie rod ends work well for me. They have the steel pivot balls installed. The pivot balls are narrower than the stock ones, so a spacer or washers are needed to take up the slack, but they work like a charm in my rigs 👌
Do the stock 3s pivot balls fit in the Traxxas rod ends?
 
i was wondering, does making the wobble and slop going away and making the steering system firmer start breaking other parts or kill the servo faster?
in another word, isn't this little(?!?!) play necessary?
askin because i'm really worried about how much play do the front wheels have! that's quite a lot if u ask me!
 
You won't ever get rid of all the play in the steering, but replacing the plastic steering bellcrank assembly and bushings with the Hot Racing (HR) aluminum one with ball bearings will reduce the steering play a bit. Replacing the stock plastic pivot balls with HR aluminum pivot balls will help too. I've done both on my Typhon 3S, and they have helped. There's still slop in the system, but not nearly as much as there was when it came from the factory.
i was wondering, does making the wobble and slop going away and making the steering system firmer start breaking other parts or kill the servo faster?
in another word, isn't this little(?!?!) play necessary?
askin because i'm really worried about how much play do the front wheels have! that's quite a lot if u ask me!
You are not going to break things faster by tightening up the steering. There is still enough play left after firming up the steering to help absorb impacts. Plus you still have a servo saver to absorb impacts to the servo.
 
The only other thing I have noticed, is the control arms flex a bunch…. But unles you go with alloy, that’s unavoidable, and I’d rather have the arms flex, than breaking shock mounts or cracking the chassis…🤷🏼‍♂️ It’s a give and take. Straighten out what you can, and enjoy abusing it….🤪
 
I placed an order with GPM recently, but they are saying shipping is temporarily suspended to my location for the time being. I'm all the way in Gibraltar in Europe and a nightmare to get parts in. Minimum 3 weeks. The nearest reliable hobby store is about 70 miles away and they don't deliver.
 
I really hate it when people tell others, that a basher doesn’t need to be able to drive in a straight line. Yes parts wear out, but it’s really infuriating to have the difference between a laugh, and $30-$60 of front end damage be because the steering is so sloppy that you clipped a fence post instead of being able to steer around it..
the stock composite pivot balls west really fast... hot racing makes a pivot ball set for the stock connecting rods I believe.
I bought a complete GPM set for my granite, and one broke before they even got close to loose.... they’ve been on for about a year now I think..... maybe more.... broke the steering drag link a couple weeks ago on that side, so I’m not surprised that the tie rod end let go...
Old post:


Driver error.
Some inherent slop in the steering is normal, and if your wheel alignment is correct, it will not cause bad steering , only user error will. Cant blame slop for bad driving. Will slop affect you on on a confined technical track? Yes.
But these are bashers. Find a better place to bash if you are hitting things.
 
Some inherent slop in the steering is normal, and if your wheel alignment is correct, it will not cause bad steering , only user error will. Cant blame slop for bad driving. Will slop affect you on on a confined technical track? Yes.
But these are bashers. Find a better place to bash if you are hitting things.
Try to hit a ramp at speed with an RC that doesn't track straight. You'll hit it wrong often. You'll crash and break often.
 
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