VKB-SIM

Hello,
while changing the cams inside my gunfighter Mk.III base I noticed that one of the bearings is not fully resting on its cam in its original configuration (unfortunately I forgot to take a photo). So when I attached the new cam I removed the single washer sitting between the cam and the bearing inside the housing (red arrow) - now the bearing rests almost perfectly in the middle of the cam (blue arrow), but the cam only just clears the gimbal housing. The Photo shows this configuration.


Everything seems to still move freely, but I don't think this is the way it is supposed to be assembled. I guess the bearing riding on the cam should be positioned further out, but I don't see a way for me to do that.

Should I keep it the way it is now? Should I move the washer back between the cam and the bearing?

Since in the bearing the inner and outer cages are the same in height and protrude the same way, when installing the cam without a spacer washer, unnecessary contact of the outer cage with the cam during loading and movement is possible. Therefore, a thin washer should be installed in this place. And already on this node, align the bearing running along the cam (adding / removing washers). And you don't need so much lubrication - just a thin layer.

Alright, so I cleaned up some of the grease and made another photo as it is now:


Than I moved the washer to its original position between the cam and the housing:


That looks a lot worse to me, and nothing like the cam installation on the other axis.

The washer used here is the same as the one on the other side, next to the nut. They are both 1.1mm wide. So as far as I can tell either this washer should be much thinner, or one of the bearings is not positioned correctly.

Not having mine apart in a while so I'm not sure but I'm looking at the bolt the cam pivots on, the one you're working on (pitch). Versus that same bolt on the other cam (roll). Could it be you have the bolt in backwards and that's messing up your clearance? I'm thinking the head should be to the inside and the nut on the outside but I could be wrong. That's the way the other one is laid out.

I'd say as this is a fairly easy thing to get messed up even by the best of us it might not be a bad idea to have an exploded diagram that shows how this assembly is supposed to go together. The washers are easy to get mixed up!

Maybe not. I just looked at pics I took of mine a while back and it's arranged that way although I do have more clearance. Image doesn't seem to want to display.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/3NA7xT3Q3E7cdmJx6

Can you post 2 pictures with that cam, taken from both sides?

I hope these are the pictures you asked for:


The cams in my gunfighter appear to be the new cast version, they are magnetic. They also have a small "washer" lip build in so they don't ride on the outer part of the bearing.

I now also removed the second cam again and took a closer look: this one was already installed without a washer between the cam and the bearing. So either a lot went wrong in assembling this gimbal or these cams are actually meant to be installed without a washer.

Please move the washer on the other side of the cam; this way, from the posted pictures, it seems the cam would be properly seated on the guiding bearing.
Also, you still have too much grease on the parts in there. There's no grease needed on the cams or bearing if you don't live in an extremely high humidity level room/country.

Came to the same conclusion. It's now installed like this (to lazy for another photo...): nut - washer - bearing - cam - washer - bolt head.

Interestingly the other cam came installed with a single washer from the factory, like this: bolt head - bearing - cam - washer - nut. Would have expected another washer between the bolt head and the bearing. But everything works smoothly, so the bolt head does not seem to contact the outer bearing shell.