New life for Saitek pedals

[Perfesser]

Mine are getting a bit long in the tooth and are "clunky" about the center so I'd been eying the mod to remove the center detent. When I had them apart for the mod I saw the tracks themselves have a couple of divots worn in just about where the pedals sit at rest. Taking out the detent had little effect on the pedal feel. Still clunky at the center.

Each of the Saitek pedals mounts on a 4- roller carriage that sits in a pair of tracks molded into the base. Almost all the wear  is near the end of the track nearest the user. The good news is that the base itself is symmetrical save for the notch cut out to feed the USB cable through. With a small round file I made a corresponding notch on the other side and reversed the base so the the pedal carriages ride in virgin territory. Cleaned out the old gummed up grease and lubed them up with plastic friendly grease. Greatly improved feel, no more clunky spot.  

What if that isn't good enough? I originally thought I would have to put a metal strip in the track to cover the worn part and had been thinking what material to use. The track is just a hair over 1/2" wide but quite shallow, the shim needs to be stiff but very thin, too thick and the pedal carriage will jump the track. Options might be hacksaw blades (there are thin wood cutting blades) with the offset on the teeth ground off.  Possibly the easiest might be a flat spring from inside a tape measure.

If anyone does get to the metal shim stage please post your results.

 

[Jabo]

How about a section of plastic modelling card rather than metal - available in very thin sheets, is quite flexible, easy to glue etc