davehour
Active Member
- Messages
- 33
- Location
- Puerto Rico
Hi,
The steering mechanism geometry of the Rovan F5 car isn’t correct from factory. The mechanism isn't symmetrical, meaning the servos don't work in unison; instead, they fight each other.
To have a symmetrical push-pull mechanism, the angles between the steering turnbuckles and servo arms must be 90°, or fairly close. If not, the servos will be pushing, push-pulling, and pulling, during a full deflection. To have 90° at all angles, the opposed sides of the mechanism must be the same lenght. Please see the next picture of the F5 factory mechanism that shows what's described above:
The F5 is a clone of the MCD XS5 car. Checking the MCD car manual, I found the steering mechanism is correctly designed to be a symmetrical push-pull mechanism. What causes the unsymmetrical problem in the F5 is, Rovan has been incorrectly assembling the steering mechanism of the car, specifically, the steering servo saver wiper arm (please see the next picture; part inside the red ellipse):
To fix the problem, the steering servo saver wiper arm must be reversed. Next, the correct holes of the servo saver wiper arm must chosen. And last, the steering servo turnbuckles linkages, must be adjusted to be equal in length. After doing these corrections, a symmetrical push-pull mechanism is achieved with all of its angles at 90° (please see the next two pictures):
The factory servo arms and the steering servo saver wiper arm of the F5 car, have their holes at the correct positions for a symmetrical push-pull setup. In addition, you will notice the servo saver wiper arm have holes for a single servo or dual servo steering setup. Please refer to the second picture above this paragraph.
In conclusion, the modifications needed to fix the problem in the F5 car push-pull steering factory setup are easy with remarkable results: Smoother and stronger steering mechanism response.
I hope you find this information helpful.
The steering mechanism geometry of the Rovan F5 car isn’t correct from factory. The mechanism isn't symmetrical, meaning the servos don't work in unison; instead, they fight each other.
To have a symmetrical push-pull mechanism, the angles between the steering turnbuckles and servo arms must be 90°, or fairly close. If not, the servos will be pushing, push-pulling, and pulling, during a full deflection. To have 90° at all angles, the opposed sides of the mechanism must be the same lenght. Please see the next picture of the F5 factory mechanism that shows what's described above:
The F5 is a clone of the MCD XS5 car. Checking the MCD car manual, I found the steering mechanism is correctly designed to be a symmetrical push-pull mechanism. What causes the unsymmetrical problem in the F5 is, Rovan has been incorrectly assembling the steering mechanism of the car, specifically, the steering servo saver wiper arm (please see the next picture; part inside the red ellipse):
To fix the problem, the steering servo saver wiper arm must be reversed. Next, the correct holes of the servo saver wiper arm must chosen. And last, the steering servo turnbuckles linkages, must be adjusted to be equal in length. After doing these corrections, a symmetrical push-pull mechanism is achieved with all of its angles at 90° (please see the next two pictures):
The factory servo arms and the steering servo saver wiper arm of the F5 car, have their holes at the correct positions for a symmetrical push-pull setup. In addition, you will notice the servo saver wiper arm have holes for a single servo or dual servo steering setup. Please refer to the second picture above this paragraph.
In conclusion, the modifications needed to fix the problem in the F5 car push-pull steering factory setup are easy with remarkable results: Smoother and stronger steering mechanism response.
I hope you find this information helpful.
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