RC Tank Warfare community hobby forum

Hello,

I need some help urgently. For some reason my gun elevation stopped working, it is really droopy and sloppy on my Tamiya King Tiger 1/16 RC. I can only get the gun to elevate and depress in that position in the video below?

If I put it in normal position it doesn’t work at all

Please help I am begging you guys!

Do yourself a favor and replace the tamiya elevation unit with a Heng Long unit.
Its an easy conversion and well worth it.
I will try get you a link to how I did it on mine.

viewtopic.php?t=23877&start=60

Page 7 shows it in place.
A couple of holes, solder the Tamiya cable onto the H/L unit and use the Tamiya link arm to transfer the energy.

HERMAN BIX wrote: ↑Thu Jul 10, 2025 6:07 am viewtopic.php?t=23877&start=60

Page 7 shows it in place.
A couple of holes, solder the Tamiya cable onto the H/L unit and use the Tamiya link arm to transfer the energy.

In the short term do you know any fixes? Or know what my problem is?

It's probably the Tamiya elevation clutch slipping. A lot of folks glue it so that the clutch doesn't slip anymore. My Tamiya KV-2 does it also, but I haven't cared enough about it to fix it yet as I don't run my Tamiya tanks very much.

tankme wrote: ↑Thu Jul 10, 2025 7:02 pm It's probably the Tamiya elevation clutch slipping. A lot of folks glue it so that the clutch doesn't slip anymore. My Tamiya KV-2 does it also, but I haven't cared enough about it to fix it yet as I don't run my Tamiya tanks very much.

I think it’s the elevation arm I might have to order new parts

Michael151722 wrote: ↑Thu Jul 10, 2025 10:42 pm

tankme wrote: ↑Thu Jul 10, 2025 7:02 pm It's probably the Tamiya elevation clutch slipping. A lot of folks glue it so that the clutch doesn't slip anymore. My Tamiya KV-2 does it also, but I haven't cared enough about it to fix it yet as I don't run my Tamiya tanks very much.

I think it’s the elevation arm I might have to order new parts

It quite possibly is. Another awful design on the Tamiyas. If it does need replacing just order the aftermarket brass ones. While the shipping will probably be more from an Ebay seller or Axel's it still is a better option than trying to hunt down the Tamiya sprue and the crap plastic arm and they are expensive. I have found from my Tamiyas that after a while it sometimes is not a bad idea to just do a major teardown/rebuild. One of the good things about Tamiyas is that they are mostly constructed by screwing parts together other than the cosmetic stuff so not only do you get the satisfaction of doing a new Tamiya build almost for free but I guarantee your tank will run better for it. Also because a lot of the internals/Tamiya rats nest of wiring paths etc will get cleaned up as you understand what is not ideal in real life running. The Tamiya manual way is not always the be all and end all. I have rebuilt my Tiger 1, Jagdpanther, one of my KTs, KV-2 and especially the JPIV/70 all needed it after a few years of running and they all run better now than when I originally built them.

Panzermechaniker wrote: ↑Fri Jul 11, 2025 12:11 am

Michael151722 wrote: ↑Thu Jul 10, 2025 10:42 pm

tankme wrote: ↑Thu Jul 10, 2025 7:02 pm It's probably the Tamiya elevation clutch slipping. A lot of folks glue it so that the clutch doesn't slip anymore. My Tamiya KV-2 does it also, but I haven't cared enough about it to fix it yet as I don't run my Tamiya tanks very much.

I think it’s the elevation arm I might have to order new parts

It quite possibly is. Another awful design on the Tamiyas. If it does need replacing just order the aftermarket brass ones. While the shipping will probably be more from an Ebay seller or Axel's it still is a better option than trying to hunt down the Tamiya sprue and the crap plastic arm and they are expensive. I have found from my Tamiyas that after a while it sometimes is not a bad idea to just do a major teardown/rebuild. One of the good things about Tamiyas is that they are mostly constructed by screwing parts together other than the cosmetic stuff so not only do you get the satisfaction of doing a new Tamiya build almost for free but I guarantee your tank will run better for it. Also because a lot of the internals/Tamiya rats nest of wiring paths etc will get cleaned up as you understand what is not ideal in real life running. The Tamiya manual way is not always the be all and end all. I have rebuilt my Tiger 1, Jagdpanther, one of my KTs, KV-2 and especially the JPIV/70 all needed it after a few years of running and they all run better now than when I originally built them.

Thank you man, did you have any ideas on how to put together that henntec system?

Well I can't help you any more than Guido who designed/fabricated it. I know I have some spare brass elevations arms, I'll have a sort through of my boxes of parts as I did see them when I was building my Panther in the spring. But I think your KT could probably do with going down the rebuild path. It's actually fun. I assume you built your Tamiya and it does have a nice paint job. I wouldn't tear it down so far say as removing the torsion bars/gearboxes but it really is a good idea on Tamiyas after a few years especially on the KT which is just so problematic without a lot of aftermarket fixes to just clean/brace everything up. Although a great looking model I think the KT is the worst Tamiya. The wiring mess on Tamiyas generally gets worse over time but unlike HL and Taigens for instance you can't always put a sleeve and zip ties on the central wiring up into to the turret and clean things up as that actually can make things worse. I love Tamiyas but the rotation mech and to some degree the elevation is awful. One of my KTs works great but for some reason the recoil will retract but not go back to original position until you re-fire. No amount of resetting fixes it. But it is a beautiful tank so I just live with it