I had the same problem, ie "slop" developed in my MSFF wheel. Not a big
problem but it was irritating so, when I saw that one could pry off the
"Microsoft" cap to get at the screw, I thought I'd give it a try.
Tightening those screws will not solve the problem. I did manage to solve
the problem though and I'll try to describe how.
First you have to completely disassemble the wheel - I mean completely.
Don't attempt this if you are faint-hearted. There are about a million
screws to remove; take out every one that you can see, then pry up the three
*** feet at the back of the unit as there are mounting screws under them
( none under the front three though). You will see some wires feeding
through the steering shaft that attach to the PC board via a small
connector - gently pry that connector apart and feed the wires and the
connector through the steering shaft. At this point the steering wheel can
be completely removed from the housing and set aside.
The steering mechanism (gears, shaft, etc.) are held in place by a metal
plate about 4"x4" secured to the housing by five screws. When those screws
are removed, everything will come apart. Make note of how everything fits
together!
The "slop" comes from the steering shaft having play between the metal plate
I mentioned above and the front of the housing where the steering wheel is
attached. There are no bearings there, only a white plastic bushing about
2" in diameter and maybe 1/4" thick that slips over the steering shaft and
that bears against the front housing. I used very thin sheets of plastic
(the kind used to laminate ID cards and such) to cut out washer-shaped discs
that I could place in between the bushing and the bushing's seat on the
steering shaft to take up the slack. I think almost any material would work
here - you're just using it to take up space. In my case it took about
three thicknesses of the plastic to remove the slop. Just be careful not to
use too much or your steering wheel will bind.
Anyway after carefully reassembling the unit (don't forget to plug the wires
back in!), my wheel works as well as it did on the first day I owned it and
there is no longer any play at all.
>I have MS FF Wheel which I bought last december. Now it seems that the
wheel
>has started to loosen up litlle by little and also ff effects are getting
>weaker . It feels as if there should be a***somewhere in the midst of
>wheel to hold the actual wheel attached to rest of the thing, and that
***
>has started to lose its momentum. Does anybody know if it is possible to
>take away this plastic plate with "Microsoft " label on it, and maybe find
a
>some bolt in there which could be tightened. Just checking if somebody out
>there has experienced such a problem with this wheel.
