So I noticed my bellcrank felt a little sloppy.

[Alan81]

So I pulled the upper chassis off, and one side was missing a teflon washer. Re-installed the screws and tightened them down. Then it occurred to me that it may be possible to over-tighten this part. Should I leave the screws slightly loose?

Future upgrade, aluminum bellcrank.

 

[Nitro Nerd]

What sort of vehicle is it? Is the slop vertical or horizontal?

 

[SchrodeMode]

What sort of vehicle is it? Is the slop vertical or horizontal?

It's a Nitro Rustler.

Replace the bushings with washers and run screws through the lower chassis, it'll take a good bit of the slop away. A better servo saver will help as well, I believe a Kimbrough 124 is the one that fits. If you go with a stronger saver though, you'll want to get a better servo, at least one with metal gears.

 

[hamz9561]

Personally I try to replace bushings with bearings and that also cleans up a lot slop.

 

[Alan81]

What sort of vehicle is it? Is the slop vertical or horizontal?

Sorry, I always seem to omit that important bit of info. Yes its a nitro rustler, and the slop is mostly vertical.

When you say replace the bushings with washers, you mean to stack a bunch to make up the thickness of the bushing?

Also, if I run a screw up from the lower chassis will I need a spacer to go between the Bellcrank and the lower chassis as well?

Current servo is a traxxas 2055. What kind of money are we talking about to go to a decent servo with metal gears? I notice the servo saver also has a bit of horizontal slop as well. Maybe something is too tight?

 

[Alexander_0_1]

I think you should get one of these, I'm sure you'll be able to modify it for nitro:

http://www.rc-monster.com/proddetai...ede/Rustler+Super+Extended+Chassis+Kit&cat=30

 

[SchrodeMode]

Sorry, I always seem to omit that important bit of info. Yes its a nitro rustler, and the slop is mostly vertical.

When you say replace the bushings with washers, you mean to stack a bunch to make up the thickness of the bushing?

Also, if I run a screw up from the lower chassis will I need a spacer to go between the Bellcrank and the lower chassis as well?

Current servo is a traxxas 2055. What kind of money are we talking about to go to a decent servo with metal gears? I notice the servo saver also has a bit of horizontal slop as well. Maybe something is too tight?

I'll have to look at it again, I can't remember exactly what I did. As far as the bearings, look at the parts breakdown and you'll see the size of the bushings for the bell cranks, just get bearings instead.

I think you should get one of these, I'm sure you'll be able to modify it for nitro:

http://www.rc-monster.com/proddetai...ede/Rustler+Super+Extended+Chassis+Kit&cat=30

Not worth the hassle, they are two completely different vehicles.

 

[Nitro Nerd]

Ah...don't know much about Ruslters. I can tell you that reducing slop can be extremely difficult. The reason is that (in my experience) it's often not bell crank that is the problem, instead it is just an effect of slop somewhere else. It could be axles, pivot balls, rod ends, outdrives, wheel hexes, servo link, yes--bell crank, spindles, carriers (assuming it' c-hub), bushings all-around, ackerman, bearings, wheels--or a combination of those.

In the end, as long as it is not affecting how it drives..slop is okay (more forgiving). I'm fighting through cleaning it up on my Losi 810....and have resorted to getting some hard-anodized pivot balls (they were expensive--but worth the try). Another thing that helps is to put some pipe thread on your screws that go through pivot balls....not too much, but enough to cut down on excessive play.

 

[Alan81]

Well I got it back together. One thing I noticed was that the shoulder screws were a little bit pitted, so I ran a piece of 330 grit paper over the pitting until it smoothed out. This helped a LOT. Then I sprayed a tiny bit of white lithium grease on the shoulder portion of the screw. I could spin it freely like a helicopter blade.

The second place that showed resistance was between the screw that holds each side of the bellcrank to the chassis, and the bushing. I sprayed a bit of grease on a teflon washer and put it inbetween there, and it improved a lot. I'll have to see how it holds up long term.

Next quest is to secure the RX It bounced off the truck today and gave me a scare (thought I was getting a new radio system lol).

 

[SchrodeMode]

Next quest is to secure the RX It bounced off the truck today and gave me a scare (thought I was getting a new radio system lol).

 

[Alan81]

Thought I had some of that laying around but I couldn't find it. Then the wife was supposed to pick some up for me while she was grocery shopping, and she didn't.

Her priorities are all messed up