[Dopamine]

I've just bought a new Slot.it Audi R8C (CA12C) which has had its rear wheel grub screws over-tightened in the factory. I've ruined three new Slot.it allen keys trying to loosen the screws, only have two undamaged allen keys left and don't want to ruin those. I need to loosen the grub screws to reposition the rear wheels, which have been fixed too far inboard at manufacture.

I've tried alternately gently heating and cooling the axle and wheel assembly, which succeeded in loosening one screw, but the other is still jammed tight. Any ideas how to undo it?

 

[300SLR]

Two ideas that might be worth a try
You could try penetrating oil.
Have you tried a hardened tip Allen wrench for those screws?

 

[Mr Modifier]

If you bought it from a trader - I would send it back along with your ruined allen wrenches and ask for replacements.

I would also message Slot.It on this forum to make them aware - it's probably going to be an issue for a lot of people and if I am sure Maurizio will be keen to investigate and stop any ongoing problems.

 

[Pete-slot]

you need a decent allen key , the cheap ones are too soft

 

[RichD]

Regular L shaped Allen keys that small are nearly useless. If you want to stick with Slot.it stuff the PA23 wrench with a slipper clutch is your best bet. There are a number of wrenches with hardered tips out there. Those tend to be expensive and the tip will want to snap off before it will round off. The wrenches by Wiha are not likely to do that. The screws themselves can also round off, but a wrench with a hardened tip will get them out most of the time. Higher quality screws are available, I get mine from Slot Car Corner.

 

[RikoRocket]

Do the heating cooling thing a few times, it may succeed eventually

 

[roblees]

I agree that a hardened wrench is the way to go and used carefully will last and last.

Did you also know that you can quickly un-ruin the L shaped keys by cutting, grinding or dremeling off the worn bit?
A quick rub with some emery to remove swarf and you have a new key, just a bit shorter!

Obvious I know but just in case...

Also, if you have a hammer and a vice and can get the axle out of the car, support the wheel carefully in the vice then carefully tap the end of the axle until the wheel is in the right place, using another axle as a drift if necessary - this might have the added bonus of freeing up the allen screw.

Good luck! Rob

 

[PETER GUNN]

I have had a lot of problems with the small grub screws in Slot it wheels, i have given up on the small L shape wrench completely useless and have bought a proper wrench even though using this has not cured the problem of buring the grub screw, it looks like i will have to rethread my Slot it wheels to take P/P size grub screws which i find ok in my other cars, Slot it please do something about this, and i am careful not to over tighten Keith.

 

[Dopamine]

Thanks for all your suggestions, gentlemen. Problem now solved.

Repeated heating/cooling cycles didn't work, nor did penetrating oil.
I don't own a hardened allen wrench (nor do I feel that one should be necessary. The Slot.it provided wrench should last long enough for at least one use and/or the screws should be properly tightened at the point of manufacture)
Returning the car was an option I considered and dismissed, because 1) I fixed the problem, and 2) I bought if from the eBay seller theslotoutlet, whose customer service when it comes to returns is poor (I know. I've returned three cars to them in the past and have always been left out of pocket)

The fix was to remove the wheel insert and, using a drift, hammer the axle out of the wheel.

I can't help wondering why Slot.it don't produce their axles with small flats on each end, which would increase the efficiency of a grub screw tenfold, with the added bonus that the screws could be tightened to a lower torque. It would result in fewer damaged allen wrenches and screws, more reliable location and it probably wouldn't cost a fortune either. How about it, Slot.it?

 

[Guest]

I have , along with many others that I know, never had or heard of this problem but would agree that the supplied wrench is not good and recommend any of the decent after market wrenches available.

 

[Martyn_]

And I'd probably not be using that eBay seller if I'd been left out of pocket by them on three occasions!
Glad to see all sorted now, have you tried grinding a flat on the axle yet?

 

[Chapman]

QUOTE (Dopamine @ 17 Sep 2012, 13:24) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>I've ruined three new Slot.it allen keys trying to loosen the screws
Apparently these grub screws have been tightened too hard at the factory, an issue for quality control.
The Slot.It tools apparently also aren't always of top notch quality, as can be seen in this this old thread.

 

[Dopamine]

QUOTE (snurfen @ 17 Sep 2012, 16:51) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>And I'd probably not be using that eBay seller if I'd been left out of pocket by them on three occasions!
Glad to see all sorted now, have you tried grinding a flat on the axle yet?
It's the same old eBay story and my own fault for chasing bargains: bargain hunter suffers a bad experience and resolves not to use the seller again, but their continuing low prices break my resolve and I buy from them again.

I know the risks of buying from this seller and take them into account when bidding on the auctions. (Note to anyone still interested in buying a new Slot.it Audi R8C for £29.99: bid at the opening bid on theslotoutlet's auctions and bid no higher. Most times you'll be given a second chance offer at your opening bid, which also then counts as a buy-it-now purchase, not an auction purchase, which gives you greater consumer protection and, in theory, you should not have to pay the cost of returns, as you do with auctions. It's theslotoutlet's refusal to reimburse return p/p that has left me out of pocket.)

I haven't tried grinding a flat yet. I'll try it later and let you know how it works.

 

[Guest]

QUOTE (Dopamine @ 17 Sep 2012, 16:33) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>I bought if from the eBay seller theslotoutlet, whose customer service when it comes to returns is poor (I know. I've returned three cars to them in the past and have always been left out of pocket)

I guess the answer on customer service is to use a proper and knowledgeable dealer rather than an I pile em high sell em cheap merchant. You only have to look st the eBay feedback for the answer.

 

[Nomadic Racer]

If none of the other tips work you can try the following. Dip one of your `L' shaped alen keys into super glue & push it into place. leave until dry & then remove the grub screw.
You will of course need two new grub screws.

 

[Screwneck]

Heating up light alloy and metals will cause the material to expand faster than the bolt and thus crush the bolt in tighter and even ruin the internal thread.

The tiny grub screw design needs a rethink at SlotIt and Fly and Ninco as they fail to do up tightly and undo effectively without stripping both allen keys and the hex bolt hole. They need to pinch the larger NSR style and move along the technology bus a bit.

You have also probably already stripped out the hex bolt hole. If so, you really need to address this with SlotIt or your retailer as they are impossible to get out once the hole strips without drilling and ruining the thread.

File down your ruined allen keys so the heads are fresh and use WD40 penetrating spray or 3-in-1 oil. A tiny drop in the bolt hole is all you need. But clean it up after or the hubs will slip.

 

[Bigtone]

I managed to get one stuck slot.It grubscrew out by getting a small self tapping cap screw, putting a dab of superglue on the tip and screwing it in as hard as I could to the grubscrew. This was after I had tried everything I could think of, I was gob smacked when it worked. Since then I have redrilled and tapped all my slot.it wheels and gears to the same size as NSR

 

[PETER GUNN]

Come on Slot it judging by the comments on the Forum this stupid little grub screw you are using in the wheels is not up to the job it may be ok if you don't remove the wheels at all but if you change spec in the gear/wheel department they are completely useless like bigtone i am having to do extra work to get a more effective set up and i am also looking at NSR in fact i am getting so fed up with this i am seriously thinking of switching to NSR cars as well even though i like the Slot it cars your grub screws are a step backward a disgruntled soon to be ex customer Keith.

 

[Slot.it]

I am sorry that you had this problem, but I really can't remember many other occurences of this happening.
We have been using these screws in all parts and cars for 14 years with no problem, if used with a good tool. People changes wheels and gears quite often on our cars and parts as some other racers say.
A bigger grub screw is two to three times as heavy, thus creates much more vibration when spun at high rev. It is a noticeable difference.
Besides, a bigger grub screw would leave less metal on the threaded side, and I've seen several wheels break due to this.

As for the tool, I had missed that thread, and we'll see what can be done. Chapman would you please contact me.

Regards
Maurizio

 

[CJA]

Hi All.

I have re-drilled and re-threaded many NSR hubs, for myself and others, and I always go for the smaller Slotit size rather than the NSR size, cos it gives greater screw/hub contact and is less likely to strip. (you can also get away with a smaller boss in those difficult sidewinder situations).

There is absolutely no problem with the Slotit screw size, I would respectfully suggest that those who claim so are wind-up merchants, either having very limited experience or just "having a larf" !.

The OP appears to have a genuine problem, but this can be resolved by cutting a slot across the screw and hub with a fine Dremel disc, and using a small screwdriver to extract the grub-screw.

vbr Chris A.