Steering Post Shim Kit. (Team FastEddy)

The slop in the steering posts has always bothered me. There were no shims of the proper size to use that I could find so I had some made up for my new shim kit. Eliminating this play will make your steering more responsive. I had the shims cut so they will also help shield the bearing from contamination.

Here is a tutorial on how to install them.

I just recieved my Team Fast Eddy Steering Post Shim Kit.

The steering on the Baja has never been as responsive and precise as I would have wanted it to be. The issue is that there is a lot of up/down play in the steering wiper assembly. To make things worse, the extra play causes a gap that allows dirt to enter and contaminate the bearings, thereby causing binding issues. In addition, the whole steering assembly rides right on the lower steering cross brace and the lower bearings are not used effectively, this adds even more friction to the steering system.

To remedy these issues, Team Fast Eddy has developed a Steering Post Shim Kit. The shims have been specifically sized for this particular application. The thickness of the shims allows you to make fine adjustments to zero out the play. The specific diameter of the shims allows for full coverage of the bearings to protect them against contamination, while at the same time the shims never touch the outer races and therefore does not hinder smooth bearing operation.

I installed 1 shim at the bottom and 2 shims at the top of each steering post. How many shims you use will all depend on how much play is in your steering assembly. I would first try 1 shim at the tops and if you can use more, then add 1 to the bottom. Its more important to use them on top as this shields the bearings from contamination. As far as the bottom ones. if you can use ones at the bottom, you need to be able to use one on each post, you can’t just add to one post and not the other, that will make the assembly uneven. The tops you can use any combination of shims.

Here are some pictures showing what I did.

This pic shows the amount of play at the top of the wiper assembly, notice how much of the steering post is visible.

This pic shows how much contaminated the bearings get

Here I installed 1 shim at the bottom of each post, this will raise the wiper assembly off the lower brace, allowing for full use of the lower bearings.

Here you can see how the shims fit perfectly over the bearings, yet they do not touch the outer race.

Here is the whole assembly back together with the shims, as you can see the shims have filled the gap and the steering posts are no longer visible.

A quick recap:

Without the shims:
Excessive up/down play in the stering assembly
Bearings are covered in dirt and completely contaminated
Entire lower wiper assembly and lower bearings ride on the lower cross brace and are a source of unnecessary friction

With the shims installed:
No more up/down play
Bearings are protected from contamination
The entire wiper assembly is raised off of the lower cross brace and now makes full use of the lower bearings.

The upgrade is extremely simple to perform and took less than 15 minutes to complete and most of that time I spent cleaning the wiper assembly and bearings. The steering wiper assembly now has zero up/down play and moves as smooth as butter.

Lastly, these shims are stainless, so you should not have to worry about rust and corrosion once installed.

Once again Team Fast Eddy has hit the mark with this upgrade.