I was never happy with the plastic bushings in my LWFF and from the
outset my wheel had lots of float both in and out plus side to side.
I did what I could to get rid of some of it without replacing the
original parts and although it was better it wasnt good still. Previous
to this wheel I had TM GP1's and converted them to a more rigid frame
inside and replaced the bush with a decent bearing surface so the LW
didnt even compare to my �30 TM for smoothness.
I had also problems with the steering pot holder on the LW where there
was slop between the mating of the pot shaft and its coupling to the
steering shaft and this meant I had a sort of whiplash effect when
changing direction fast, I had to hot glue that in place to make it
better.
All the above meant I really struggled to get to grips with the new
wheel, FF, floor mounted very bad designed pedals and changing gear with
my fingers. I used to use the hand throttle/brake on my GP1 and change
gear with foot mounted switches.....<S> fingers too big to use GP1
buttons!
Anyway Jens Schumacher in Malasia ([email hidden]) offered a
ball bearing conversion kit for the LW in this group some months ago, he
got the original idea from another guy who converted his wheel. Jens
wanted to offer the kit at just about cost price to all who wanted to
attemp the job and set about designing and making a kit suitable for the
average handyman to install.
His kit was ready and he contacted all who showed an interest with a
price $60 plus shipping ($15 for me in the UK). He also set up a web
page with lots of very detailed info and pics on how to convert the
wheel. http://members.xoom.com/JensSchu/LogiCorner.htm
My Kit arrived yesterday Friday and Looked real professional all
bearings preassembled individly packed in sealed plastic. I was itching
to do the job.....
Luckily I have a 24/7 internet connect for next to nothing these days as
reading the manual on line and doing the job meant refering to photos
quite often to be sure of not making a mistake. I could have printed it
but its quite detailed and would have taken for ever.
All went really smoothly, but I took my time to get the bearings shimed
out exactly as i wanted them and the whole job took about 5hrs. If you
were doing more than 1 wheel I think 1.5hrs is about right but to keep
refering to on line photos and text for a one off job makes it much
longer.
I assembled it all without the FF cables to start with to be sure all
was smooth as could be and boy was that smooth!! No floating wheel in
any plane.
After refitting the FF cables it felt a little tight but lots of
left/righ turning to settle the cables back in the pully's fixed that
too.
Jens made a brass collar that the steering pot fits into so the problem
with a sloppy fit on that part has also been taken care of.
The wheel feels completly different now and so much better, i'm sure
that those who use FF will feel many more of the small feedback effects
with this conversion. I still dont use FF but may start to now<S>
Just setting the wheel to have no FF and 90% center return spring means
that if you go to full lock and let go the wheel now swings through the
center 3-4 times before stopping dead center. Before it would just about
make center once and not always dead either.
My very first flying lap after conversion was 1:44:34 at the Oring
followed later in the day by a 1:44:14...not a great deal better than my
normal qual laps there but it felt so much easier to do with such a
smooth feel to the wheel.
Great job Jens.....I'm well pleased.
MikeT.
P.S No, I dont have any connection with Jens and i'm not on commission,
oh and I know I can't speel tooo<G>
--
- MikeT [email hidden]
:-)
On 29 Apr 2000 12:56:48 GMT, [email hidden] (MikeT) wrote:
>I was never happy with the plastic bushings in my LWFF and from the
>outset my wheel had lots of float both in and out plus side to side.<snip>
---------------------------------------------
[email hidden]
Remove "NOSPAM" before using my email-address
JensSchumi homepage at http://members.xoom.com/JensSchu/
Racing simulation, esp. GPL
Logitech Wingman FF optimization
Classic cars, esp. Morris Minor
Radio controlled airplanes
:-)
<snip>
---------------------------------------------
Remove "NOSPAM" before using my email-address
JensSchumi homepage at http://members.xoom.com/JensSchu/
Racing simulation, esp. GPL
Logitech Wingman FF optimization
Classic cars, esp. Morris Minor
Radio controlled airplanes
