Kimbrough Large Small End Servo Saver

I have been using this large Kimbrough servo saver (Kimbrough part number 123) on my Tamiya Clod Buster since about 2000 and it has never failed to do exactly what it is supposed to do, which is protect the steering servo gears in a crash. My Clod Buster is an old ESP Clodzilla IV from back in the day and it actually has two steering servos - one servo for the front steering system and another servo for the rear steering system. Thus, my truck actually has two of these large Kimbrough servo savers - one for each servo.

The internal spring in these servo savers is strong enough to allow my Clod Buster's wheels to steer fully from lock to lock when the truck is not moving on dirt. I never drive my truck on pavement so I do not know if the springs are strong enough to steer the wheels on that surface when it is stationary.

My truck has two Cirrus CS-80 steering servos (Cirrus went out of business a few years ago) and the Kimbrough 123 servo savers fit on them perfectly with the included Futaba 25 tooth spline adapter. They fit nice and snug on the servos' output shafts and they have never slipped, even after some pretty bad crashes.

If I had one wish it would be for this model 123 servo saver to have the heavy duty spring of the Kimbrough 124 servo saver in it. That is the one made in black plastic and it has a much stiffer spring in it. That would probably work a little better for steering the heavy tires on my Clod Buster. I could have just bought the Kimbrough 124 instead but that one has a little bit shorter "horn/tab" on its side compared to the Kimbrough 123. The horn on the 123 is 0.75 inch long while the horn on the 124 is 0.725 inch long. I used the longer Kimbrough 123 to ensure that the steering system on my Clod Buster turns completely from full lock to lock. (Note that my Clod Buster has aftermarket aluminum axle tubes and steering knuckles so it has considerably more steering travel compared to a stock Tamiya Clod Buster.) I keep hoping that one day Kimbrough will make a black version of the 123 servo saver with the stiffer spring in it but after all these decades of use on my Clod Buster, I am not holding my breath on that ever becoming a reality.

Overall, this is a great servo saver that does exactly what its name says it should do - save the servo's gears from damage in a crash. It is certainly not a glamorous part but it just works and it works extremely well at what it was specifically designed to do.