Good morning fellow tankers, the question I have for all of you is, in the F.A.Q. section I found a post by Ksoc about known issues with the Tamiya kits. I just completed(98%) my Tiger1, pics are coming. The turret rotation is not as smooth or responsive as I would like. I have been searching for some sort of upgrade to make it much more reliable. What I have seen is when I want it to rotate Rt. or Lt. sometimes the turret will start rotating in the opposite direction(a small jerking action) then rotate the direction I want it to go. The post in the F.A.Q. section post has a gearbox upgrade for this-Tamiya Gearbox Kit #72005. Has anyone done this mod? and If so do you have pics of it? The other thing Ksoc says is to super glue the clutch. If that was your fix, then exactly where do superglue the clutch. Thanks for the advice and I have been bugging my wife to take some pics of the Tiger(her camera). When I post them the thread title will be "My Tiger finally gets it Stripe's" Again thanks to all of you for the help I have ask for.

Tim S

Going by your explanation, I'd look towards the Tx/Rx first. Possibly trims or something with the stick. If you are using a programmeable TX, make sure there's no mix or expo set. Also, make sure the turret is rotating smoothly and you don't have wires binding.

The rotation is just a simple motor/gearbox, it won't go in the wrong direction unless it's getting power in that direction. I have many Tamiyas and the Tiger I is hands down the best engineered of the lot. No need for upgrading anything on it, mine is all original and still running perfectly after 12 years with my kids driving it.

The only rotation mod that I'd suggest (and only if you find it an issue) is to glue the clutch gear. In the rotation gearbox there is a gear that allows slippage if the turret binds. Some guys don't like the slip, especially in battle. You would hear constant clicking of the clutch slipping if this was a problem, which isn't what you have going on. The clutch is there to protect you from damaging stuff if you twist the wires too much by going in one direction (if you go 6 full rotations left with never traversing right, your wires become a knot) or if you whack the main gun on an object, it allows the turret to slip free without snapping something. It's really not a bad design, nor something that has to be done unless you find it a problem. I didn't find it an issue until I was battling, but then a certain amount of abuse is expected.

I believe the Tamiya Gear Box kit you mention includes the 'blue' gears that some use to replace either one or both of the rotation/elevation clutch gears.
They will work, however I think those kits cost $12-$14?
You can glue your clutch gears as ausf recommends for free.

Tim,

Thanks for taking the time to search through the site and read that post.

As aufs said, if you do not hear the clutch slipping, then gluing / replacing the clutch gear most likely will not help.

The South East Armor Div. site also has some advice on how to improve turret rotation.

http://www.sead.us/technology2.html

Attached are photos of the turret drive gear, showing where to glue. Also is a photo of the blue gear installed. Good luck and have fun tanking!

A simple adjustment that I often add to my Tamiya traverse is adding a large Zip tie around the assembly to create more "closure" around the Tamiya gear. Most of my vehicles have it and it seems to work very well.