Hot Racing Arrma 4x4 Fixed Link Steering Servo Saver

This is a chintzy product and I'd feel morally and ethically remiss if I gave it anything above 3-of-5 stars. I feel that the rating I gave is more than generous. The poor build quality of the fixed link servo saver is horrendous; it looks awesome, which is nice, but that's something many of us have come to expect from HR. In my opinion, that's the O-N-L-Y high-point of this part.

The longevity of the steering link is lacking to the nth degree. The tiny rubber gaskets that fit in the flanged pivot balls rip during installation so I never got one working between two separate vehicles. I put the first on an Arrma Vortkes 3s BLX and it lasted a couple of runs before popping off the servo saver itself. I contacted Hot Racing directly and they don't sell those little washers as a replacement. Either way, if they offered replacements it wouldn't matter given the poor quality overall. They're so weak it's surprising.

The fix for me was installing Arrma 4x4 pivot balls, the stock ones, which served to get rid of the aluminum ones that come with the part (ARA330515). I HIGHLY RECOMMED THIS CUSTOM ADDITION; get rid of the aluminum ones with weak ass gaskets that come with the part right away. That customization made the part operate much more smoothly and has been strong thus far. A tiny amount of Loctite in the servo arm screw and servo saver holes goes a long way.

Centering this part is a challenge and the turning radius is negatively impacted. It can't hug tight corners unless you take a line far outside of the hairpin and fall back into the fault line. This feature is lacking compared to A-L-L of my other buggies. I gave it my best effort but I believe the stock setup or competitors' servo saver and arms would prove to be a better setup, but it can be somewhat challenging to track down different setups, which is against the norm for the Arrma line of vehicles. To summerize, the part fell short of my expectations in a big way. Hopefully, regarding my customization/s, it'll prove to be a better setup over time. I update my reviews, so we'll see what transpires. If it explodes I'll check back in and if it performs at the track, I'll share that too!

Metal parts seem ok but the plastic insert stripped on first run.

Plastic insert stripped making it useless. Seems shortsighted to make an rigid aluminum 'upgrade' when the weak link remains the same.

It holds up pretty good took it out on a few bashes with the big rock, I saw the other review about the adapter stripping so after a few bashes I took it apart and looked at it and can confirm it does strip, giving it 4 stars still nice upgrade from the stock servo saver. Would be 5 stars but with the adapter stripping kind of annoying and the servo saver will not fit without an adapter, so you'll need to get a different one. Other than all that I recommend it.