Following on from a recent blog when I described the upgrade aluminium steering rack. I orderd two from Spec R, one for my car and one for my son's. I duely fitted them after removing the plastic kit version. I added 2 x 0.3mm shims to prevent any binding and to remove any possible slop.
When assembled, they immediately felt smoother and more free. At the track, our small technical track became more technical with the addition of a chicane at each end of the track. I must admit to struggling with chicanes, having difficulty finding the right balance between turn in and rotation, with just enough of both to prevent oversteer. The new aluminium steering rack felt smooth and I was able to navigate both chicanes easily, the new steering unit must take some credit for this. One thing to watch out for is to ensure the fixing screws are tight enough as the posts are metal, I almost made this mistake !
At the same time I replaced the ballcups on both cars with Tamiya ones which turned into a huge job due to a part falling out of the battery box on my digital calipers, rendering them useless. This meant that all 12 turnbuckles had to be re-built manually and adjusted while in place. The new ballcups were a much better fit than the kits ones and don't have any "give". The kit ones on my son's car had started to pop off, indicating that they were wearing and needed replacing.
These have proved to be worthwhile upgrades along with the aluminium servo mount which I had added recently.
