To reduce ball cup play, take a plastic bag (e.g. what r/c parts come in), place one layer over the ball stud and snap on the ball cup. Remove the left over plastic bag. If really loose, two layers might help. :nod:

That's mint. What about axle play. O-ring?

Your car's going to drive stiff like Frankenstein.. ;)

Getting back to a mini. Bought Howard Cano's ride [pink body]. Great deal and hoping it handles well in our asphalt track. No aluminum in this ride but he said it dominated the Hobbyplex series. Hoping for some mini fun soon.

You can place an o-ring on the ball stud, before popping the cup on. Adds a bit of friction, but will take out play.

Or you can just leave it all as is as tightening it all up makes NO difference at all, and quite often makes the car a pig....

Yes, I've never done it on a Mini, but on 1/12 it's quite effective.

I hear shims come in the air-style too. These are very good to use too around the hingepins.

So true, but I will admit to using plumbers teflon tape under the ball cups. Works well and that does help some cars, but oddly, not others.

It will be interesting to hear what changes you find necessary to adapt the car to your track and driving style! (Hint: the real speed secret is to use a Hello Kitty driver figure-- on the right side, of course.)

Tamiya never had good ball cups/balljoints.

Until the TRF 418, that is.

For the 418 they finally took the trouble (could speculate because factory drivers had a hard time tuning the car) to come up with something that is (in true Tamiya style), one of the best combos on the market. Smooth like butter, absolutely play free, reliable and long lasting.

In true Tamiya style again, they cost the earth.

I use these:

http://demonpowerproducts.co.uk/imag...ya%2053601.jpg

and these:

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-bPuZqEnyu-...40)%2B(10).jpg

This combo makes aftermarket parts pointless.

Before these, I used RPM cups and Yokomo balljoints, or Yokomo cups and balljoints.

I drill the cups to allow a 2.5mm hex through. If I really need to pop the cup off, I use a hex driver under the cup and propped against something that gives leverage to push the cup off.

Not sure what you mean by axle balls? Joke?

The point of shimming and eliminating play is to make the car smooth and setup test outcomes reliable, which guarantees reliability of car reactions as well as quick diagnosis when something is wrong.

Making things tight would be counterproductive.

My own cars develop play in time, but this play is developed by the forces exerted in driving and as it turns out, wear developed play does not affect handling. I put it to all parts wearing "the same way". Until it becomes too much, and then it does start to affect handling. Time for a rebuild, then.

I like the ball and cup TOP Racing uses on their kits. Basically the first thing I noticed on my SabreFD Mini was virtually no play. Does that directly translate to good? I'm not sure on the m-chassis. Plus, the way they have the ball diff oriented in the instructions manual, the screw kept loosening. :rolleyes: I switched it around yesterday after trying their oil diff. (oil diff leaked from the axle cup, will need to try Kyosho o-rings :rolleyes:)

I left my Tamiya's the way they are, with play. I feel that the metal steering linkage hopup does make a noticeable difference though on my M05.

Which is worse though????? A little bit of friction or a little bit of play???? I don't notice enough play in the Tamiya ball cups to make me want to put an o-ring over the ball.

I stopped using the teflon tape on the steering cause it did not make enough of a difference for me to put up with the hassle. If it doesn't chop your lap times, why do it?????

It comes down to how cheap you are and how often you're willing to replace the ball cups. I'm "thrifty" and "value my time" so this is a good solution for me. :lol: Plus, servos these days are so fast and powerful, that tiny bit of friction isn't much of an issue.

Okay, minor disagreement here. No biggie. It's good that we can disagree in a discussion. At least with a sane person, I can do this w/out being told I'm lacking in manners, egocentric, and consider this thread mine. I even had a couple of people call me a bully among other things.

I've always considered R/C Tech a place to exchange ideas and opinions. I'll admit to posting more than average cause I have a lot of ideas, learn much from my racing buddies, many opinions (some good, some not so good), and a desire to share what I know or have learned from others. A couple or more people have claimed I dominate this thread with my postings. But if you look at when these people joined and the # of posts they've racked up, you'll get a true assessment of that claim.

I appreciate the ability to disagree. You're wrong of course, but it's no biggie.