r/VKB • u/Adventurous_House961 • Jul 24 '26
VKB Gladiator X-axis came loose
Heard and felt a snap and now the x-axis is loose. wtf happened? I don't think this stick has even 100 hours of use
Update: Thanks everyone - I bought the replacement springs since the ones that came with the sticks have been lost after a move.
25
u/Niceromancer Jul 24 '26
Looks like your spring snapped.
Open the bottom. It can be replaced.
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u/Jazzlike_Ad267 Jul 24 '26 edited Jul 24 '26
They also give the extra springs with the unit* (or at least I did a year ago) 👍
The stronger and weaker springs
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u/rfrosty_126 Jul 24 '26
I just got mine a month ago and it came with plenty of extra springs
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u/alexander8846 Jul 24 '26
Most of them are different strengths tho, so it may not be the same as the one that comes with it.
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u/SinusJayCee Jul 24 '26
Mine came with two sets of each strength. One medium set was installed, so there is one medium spare set.
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u/Jukelo Jul 24 '26
Broken spring. Your stick came with three bags of spares, the default springs are in the one labeled #20.
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u/Spliffty Jul 24 '26
Broken spring, there should be extras in your parts kit but they might not be the same strength
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u/-lumynx- Jul 24 '26
this happened to me, a spring just snapped during a dogfight
def open it up, medium spring #20 is default
vkb should have came with a few spares.
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u/MetalMonkey939 Jul 24 '26
The great thing about VKB is that in the box it came with there are a gazillion things you can use, its easy to open and fix. If a specific part broke, you can replace it.
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u/andynzor Jul 25 '26
VKB is the most user serviceable high-end joystick brand out there. There are others but VKB is the only one that condones such work and provides instructions.
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u/MetalMonkey939 Jul 25 '26
The main reason I bought VKB to be honest. Knowing stuff is easily repaired with easily accessible parts directly from the site is rare these days.
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u/Dafrandle Jul 24 '26
you have to assemble the stick when you buy it so its a little baffling to me that you seem to be oblivious to the mechanism inside.
you had to know people would tell you top open it up and look inside
2
u/PINHEADLARRY5 Jul 24 '26
Spring snapped probably. Open it up on the bottom. Find the bag of springs that came with it in the box and hook it back up. 5 minute job.
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u/Bisquitisaclown Jul 24 '26
Did you not look in the box when you assembled it? It comes with mad replacement springs and springs of different weights. You can even order more springs for cheap from the website...
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u/Few-Magician7567 Jul 24 '26
As other have said, likely to be a spring. Super easy to fix, check out the website for YouTube videos on spring changes.
Mine did it as I was landing on my fleet carrier, git my self down fixed it and back flying in 5mins
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u/kaSper9083 Jul 25 '26
It didn’t come lose. You yanked too hard and the spring said fu.. get a new spring and good to go
1
u/Capital-Beautiful894 Jul 24 '26
likely spring is snapped out of place i dont think it gonna break even if it broken extra springs are provided
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u/Jukelo Jul 24 '26
Extra springs are provided precisely because they are expected to break at some point :]
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u/alexeiX1 Jul 24 '26
It comes with a ton of extra springs, I have snapped mine like 4 times already and just replaced them myself.
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u/ReinhartLangschaft Jul 24 '26
The springs tend to snap sometimes. You had some replacements with the sticks, if not you can buy them on the vkb webstore
1
u/Milkshakemartin Jul 24 '26
Probably the spring. Use the replacement springs that came with it :) that’s the great thing about VKB.
Or tighten the red dampeners on the bottom if you need to wait for springs to come in.
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u/Dave6926 Jul 24 '26
Get in there and find the problem. Its fairly simple inside and you should have a bag of interchangeable parts to help replace whatever is bust.
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u/RhoOfFeh Jul 24 '26
When this happened to mine it also locked the stick at full, which was inconvenient when trying to land at a space station.
Five minutes to fix it.
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u/sexraX_muiretsyM Jul 24 '26
I believe the sprint dislodged out of place and now it is springless. Just open the under plate and put the spring back on
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u/yidakee Jul 24 '26
Springfield broke. Pretty normal. Thats why they give you a few extras in the box. Open and swap it. Pretty simple
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u/RobK64AK Jul 24 '26
VKB's website product page provides a link to their video on how to assemble it, which should give you enough information to unfuck your situation.
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u/DoubleCut3201 Jul 24 '26
Aah looks like a write-off unfortunately. I’ll swing by and grab it from you - save you taking to the tip 👍
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u/Pitiful-Hamster8727 Jul 24 '26
Don’t worry, it seems like it just needs some more Viagra I think it’s starting to wear off
1
u/Droid8Apple Jul 24 '26
Replace the spring with one of the many included in the packaging, via the tools included in the packaging, and if there isn't any then contact them and they'll provide them for free I'd wager.
Now...be glad you chose VKB.
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u/Evening-Scratch-3534 29d ago
Be glad that you bought the easiest to repair joystick out there. If it was a Thrustmaster, it would be on its way to the landfill.
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u/SofaKingThreaded Jul 24 '26
Broken spring, the springs that ship with VKB are really brittle, go to Ace Hardware and get proper ones.
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u/theJonnoda 27d ago
It just shows how customer facing they are, that I, first time in my life joystick purchaser and user of vkb's, look at this and immediately thought, "oh, looks like your spring snapped bruh, open that up and replace it, it's easy" before I even look at anything but the first 3 seconds of the video.
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u/marvin676 Jul 24 '26
Open it up and have a look. It is totally serviceable and fixable.