Kronos Front wheels not straight

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Stormwind

Stormwind

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UK
Corally RC's
  1. Kronos
After taking out my Kronos 2021 version only a few times I have developed a problem which I can only presume occurred whilst doing a cartwheel roll after a bad landing over a fairly sedate jump.

The steering completely locked up like the servo saver was very loose (I have previously tightened it due to being very loose from the factory) and I deemed that was the end of my day but didn't want to carry the damn thing all the way home so continued to drive it home in it's current state.
I am sure that I could hear the servo working when steering for a little while whilst carrying it home but the wheels were not turning. By the time I got home, the servo completely had completely died. Firstly, I presume that this was a stupid thing to do and I should have just carried it home, I am guessing that either the servo saver or the pivot balls had tightened during the crash and the steering was no longer as free as it should have been and the servo couldn't handle that extra friction? I have a new servo order so that problem is kind of resolved...

However, I also noticed on the drive home (steering via pushing the car in the right direction with my foot) that the front wheels are not parallel to each other and the left wheel is turned out when the right wheel is straight. After working on the car and believing I had found the issue, I still have this problem and cannot figure out what I need to be checking. Originally I noticed that the plate connecting the turnbuckles to the steering blocks appeared to not be straight due to a loose screw. I replaced the screw (since it was stripped anyway) and the triangle plate is now flush with the steering block. This however has not helped and I still have a toe-ing out wheel. All the information I can find elsewhere suggests that problem is easily remedied by tightening the turnbuckle but since this car is stock, it has the plastic turnbuckles which are not adjustable.

From what I can see, nothing else seems bent or damaged or misplaced.
Can anyone think of where else I need to check?
I appreciate any help you can offer.
 
It may be that TC sends them with a little toe out on each side. IIRC, my 2022 XTR had a bit of toe out on each side from factory


In your case, the servo may have skipped gears inside or teeth on the horn, so if you make one parallel to the car, the other seems way out.
While you are working on it, order the turnbuckles and ends from an XTR and swap them out as well. Should be less than $20ish for all the parts
Jenny's is out, but then whole steering set is $27 when they have them and should include other upgrade parts for you too
https://jennysrc.com/collections/co...m4-turnbuckles-c-00173?variant=39435532632118
 
It may be that TC sends them with a little toe out on each side. IIRC, my 2022 XTR had a bit of toe out on each side from factory
Click to expand...
I think in my case this is way more than that. You can see the extent of the problem below. I definitely don't remember noticing it before.

IMG_20230119_091030.jpg


$27 for an entire steering set seems really cheap if you ask me. It's a shame that I can't find anything like that in the UK.
From what I can see, the parts required to change to the XTR turnbuckles would be the following right?
1674170974465.png


The highlighted parts come to about £12 so I'm thinking I'll add them to my next order. I'm considering replacing the steering block arms and the knuckle as well just in case the either hole has become enlarged and it is not holding as flush as it should.
I will also be replacing the ball joint since I mangled that with pliers when I replaced the CVD since I didn't know about the hex hole in the bottom.
 
I'd be checking to see if you bent the steering rack/ackerman bar, it's a little difficult to see being buried in there, if it's bent it'll pull the turnbuckles in at the center thus toeing the wheels out, no guarantees that's it but worth a look
 
3 disadvantages with moulded, fixed plastic trackrods and upper arms.
  • No adjustability
  • Less authority
  • More flex
I like a little toe out on a 4WD car - it gives more aggressive turn in, but your pictures are showing lots of toe out on the front and loads of toe in on the rear. This can sometimes be exaggerated by a wide angle lens.

Looks like something has bent, or possibly the balls on your ackerman plate are loose. Maybe something moulded has cracked? Too many variables without closeup photos. Remember though - you only need a very small amount of bend/slop somewhere inboard to produce a lot of error at the steering arm/hub/wheel.

Your servo failing suggests something has fouled up your whole steering assembly, so that needs properly investigating first. Once that's done, you could upgrade to turnbuckles - you can adjust geometry then.

Bashers tend to prefer the moulded items as they're less likely to break the ends off. So, the choice is yours. 👍
 
AngrySection8 said:
I'd be checking to see if you bent the steering rack/ackerman bar, it's a little difficult to see being buried in there, if it's bent it'll pull the turnbuckles in at the center thus toeing the wheels out, no guarantees that's it but worth a look
Click to expand...

I'm not familiar with any of the parts mentioned here so I'm not sure what I am looking for off the top of the bat.
If you could outline which parts these are in the exploded view of the Kronos from the manual I'd really appreciate that. That way I can see compare what the parts are supposed to look like compared to how they are now.
I have also not taken apart any of that assembly yet so wouldn't mind any pointers on what the minimum amount of screws would be to be able to access the ackerman easily and the rest of the "embedded" steering system. Again, just a quick highlight on the exploded view would certainly point me in the right direction. I'm not yet well versed with how everything connects together to be able to start pulling screws out here and there after having several issues when replacing the CVD and the servo.


Horatio said:
Looks like something has bent, or possibly the balls on your ackerman plate are loose...

Your servo failing suggests something has fouled up your whole steering assembly, so that needs properly investigating first. Once that's done, you could upgrade to turnbuckles - you can adjust geometry then.

Bashers tend to prefer the moulded items as they're less likely to break the ends off. So, the choice is yours. 👍
Click to expand...
I couldn't wait to go again after my new servo came so I replaced that and had it out at the weekend with the toe-out as it was depicted above, probably a bit hasty but this thing is too fun to drive :LOL:. I'll be ordering some new balls in my next order anyway since I mashed one up with pliers when replacing my CVD since I didn't know about the hex slot in the bottom (I don't think this is my toe-out issue though since I didn't have this issue after replacing the CVD). I could potentially change the balls out there just to double check.
 
Stormwind said:
I'm not familiar with any of the parts mentioned here so I'm not sure what I am looking for off the top of the bat.
If you could outline which parts these are in the exploded view of the Kronos from the manual I'd really appreciate that. That way I can see compare what the parts are supposed to look like compared to how they are now.
I have also not taken apart any of that assembly yet so wouldn't mind any pointers on what the minimum amount of screws would be to be able to access the ackerman easily and the rest of the "embedded" steering system. Again, just a quick highlight on the exploded view would certainly point me in the right direction. I'm not yet well versed with how everything connects together to be able to start pulling screws out here and there after having several issues when replacing the CVD and the servo.



I couldn't wait to go again after my new servo came so I replaced that and had it out at the weekend with the toe-out as it was depicted above, probably a bit hasty but this thing is too fun to drive :LOL:. I'll be ordering some new balls in my next order anyway since I mashed one up with pliers when replacing my CVD since I didn't know about the hex slot in the bottom (I don't think this is my toe-out issue though since I didn't have this issue after replacing the CVD). I could potentially change the balls out there just to double check.
Click to expand...
Screenshot_20230123_162028_com.android.chrome_edit_549581682031242.jpg
 
A broken arm or bent hinge pin can also cause this. Also make sure you bolted the steering turnbuckle into the same spot on each side.
 
Thanks for you replies. I have managed to find a full steering assembly on ebay that should arrive in the next few days.
I will try and figure out how to disassemble the frontend soon to get a good look at all the parts to see if I can finally resolve this issue.
 
Stormwind said:
Thanks for you replies. I have managed to find a full steering assembly on ebay that should arrive in the next few days.
I will try and figure out how to disassemble the frontend soon to get a good look at all the parts to see if I can finally resolve this issue.
Click to expand...
I just noticed your Avatar - are you into FPV quads? 😎
 
WyldCFH said:
It may be that TC sends them with a little toe out on each side. IIRC, my 2022 XTR had a bit of toe out on each side from factory


In your case, the servo may have skipped gears inside or teeth on the horn, so if you make one parallel to the car, the other seems way out.
While you are working on it, order the turnbuckles and ends from an XTR and swap them out as well. Should be less than $20ish for all the parts
Jenny's is out, but then whole steering set is $27 when they have them and should include other upgrade parts for you too
https://jennysrc.com/collections/co...m4-turnbuckles-c-00173?variant=39435532632118
Click to expand...
No no. The corally turnbuckle link ends are very weak. I replaced all mine. With alluminum ones. But other brand ends would be better. Like arrma kraton ends.
On the problem you mentioned check the steering drag link that the inner tierod ends connect to. Those bend easily and are very weak . A flaw in design. Its built like a racer but it's a basher. Corally has a lot of learning to do on bashing. They do make an upgraded drag link but it's pricey. And I'm not sure if there stocked in the USA yet. If that's where you are.

Deeznutz said:
This was my issue. Bent stock steering rack from 1 crash!. THIS CAR NEEDS A REAL BUMPER LOL. I got the 7075 steernig rack on the way. BUT a real bumper is needed to extend out front of the wheels.
Click to expand...
T bone made awesome bumpers. If you can find any . They went out of business.
 
Wallys Rc World said:
No no. The corally turnbuckle link ends are very weak. I replaced all mine. With alluminum ones. But other brand ends would be better. Like arrma kraton ends.
On the problem you mentioned check the steering drag link that the inner tierod ends connect to. Those bend easily and are very weak . A flaw in design. Its built like a racer but it's a basher. Corally has a lot of learning to do on bashing. They do make an upgraded drag link but it's pricey. And I'm not sure if there stocked in the USA yet. If that's where you are.


T bone made awesome bumpers. If you can find any . They went out of business.
Click to expand...
Very true on the ends, I'm awaiting the 8.8mm balls to show up but I've got a set of losi ones here I'm gonna try to fit, pretty sure they will, thick ends and it'll also be 5mm shafts for the steering instead of the 4mm, right or wrong I'm definitely gonna test it

IMG_20230130_180915299.jpg
 
AngrySection8 said:
Very true on the ends, I'm awaiting the 8.8mm balls to show up but I've got a set of losi ones here I'm gonna try to fit, pretty sure they will, thick ends and it'll also be 5mm shafts for the steering instead of the 4mm, right or wrong I'm definitely gonna test it

View attachment 3314
Click to expand...
Perfect. I think that will do the trick.
 
I bent both turnbuckles, multiple times on my XTR and never once had an issue with the ends. This is from sending it 15-20 feet in the air out of a skatepark bowl and landing on concrete.

Just shows anything can fail and it is hard to track down issues without having hands on
 
WyldCFH said:
I bent both turnbuckles, multiple times on my XTR and never once had an issue with the ends. This is from sending it 15-20 feet in the air out of a skatepark bowl and landing on concrete.

Just shows anything can fail and it is hard to track down issues without having hands on
Click to expand...
I suggest having multiple rc,s for cases when they break.
 
Wallys Rc World said:
I suggest having multiple rc,s for cases when they break.
Click to expand...
Haha, yes. This is my first "real" RC I guess. My alternative is a 1:16 scale banggood special (it's a Xinlehong 903 which I believe is rebrand of the Absima Racer Truggy) which is great for slinging in a rucksack and taking anywhere, just so long as the grass is not too long!

I recently took that and my Kronos to the skatepark and tbh, I may have had more fun with the Xinlehong than I did with the Kronos. Probably because I'm too concerned about breaking the Kronos and it's super heavy so taking it easy and what not. The cheap Xinlehong, don't really care about breaking it so just launched it. Weighs nothing so just goes flying :D
EDIT: (Obviously the Kronos is way more fun for general bashing!)
 
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