This video worked great for me. Good discussion and helpful points. Of note, if you don't have circlip pliers, an allen wrench will work just fine. I put the short end of the L-shaped allen wrench into the ball joint, and then I just had to tilt it back to get leverage and pop out the swivel joint holders.

Thanks for this video! I'm strictly a flight-sim hobbyist and started flying within 6 months of the release of MS FSX. Shortly after I installed the 3-DVD FSX Gold, w/Acceleration disc, (around mid-2011), I began the long journey of learning how to build and overclock, high-perf desktop computers needed to handle the 3rd-party addon software. But that's another story for another time. Then, I bought my Thrustmaster Warthog HOTAS on December 2011 from Amazon. I eventually found some light 'sticking' or slight drag in the spring return roughly 3 or 4 years later, (but not as bad as yours). As an experienced, first-class machinist for over 25 years, (now retired), I new that the best (affordable) grease to use on this system was the white-Teflon grease. I applied a light, nearly transparent coat of Teflon grease to the hard, ABS plastic ball and some to the spring. That was all I did and the control system operated perfectly right up until about two days ago, January 21st, 2024. BTW; that comes to 13 years from initial purchase and about 9 years since I greased it for the dragging issue, (for those of you who haven't been keeping track 😉), Then two days ago, (again, JAN 21 2024), I was setting up the controllers to take a flight in MSFS 2020. Unfortunately, I carelessly rested the Warthog's stick controller on my desk as I went to place my Rudder controller in position. I didn't notice that my shoe caught hold of the dangling USB cable from the TM controller's base and when I stepped back, the entire base and stick swept from the desk and hit the floor with the J-Stick grip leading the way! BAMMM! Just like that, a 13-year old controller came to an end. The stick, still tightly connected to the threaded collar, broke the ABS plastic that is part of the one-piece molded section comprising the universal ball for the X & Y axis. In DEC 2011, the Warthog only cost $398. Today, that same system costs $150.00 more than that, (Amazon's price is $550). OK, so I immediately ordered another Warthog base hoping that no damage had come to the Grip-stick. In fact, the base just arrived to my house and I'll be testing it later today to assess the Grip's functionality. I'm crossing my fingers... But I think I can attribute the reliability of the Thrustmaster Warthog flight controllers to the fact that I've always kept them covered, protected from dust. Of course, the Warthog controller system was built to last and meant for serious simmers. TM has proven it to still be one of the best flight-sim controllers available today. It was worth every penny they charged in 2011 and it's still worth every penny today. In fact, way before the availability of those "Meza Mount-Dust Covers" that you can buy today on Amazon (custom-fit to cover the TM control system), I bought the same covers from a private designer who sewed these covers himself, way back in 2011. In my opinion, he seems to be the original designer. He may have sold the design to Meza Mount but he was selling them as a member of the Thrustmaster Warthog original blog, (no longer on line). I also have the Honeycomb Alpha/Bravo yoke controllers for aircraft with yoke systems and I keep them covered and protected from dust as well. If nothing else, I would strongly suggest that anyone who owns expensive, advanced control systems like these to not underestimate just how bad dust can be when it comes to electronics and moving parts in these controllers. ALWAYS cover them when they're not in use! FWIW PS Thanks again for the video!

Pre-ordered my Warthog like a month before release, what, five years ago now? Was super hyped about it and to this day I absolutely love it and think of it as the best investment I've ever made in simming. But I can't deny the stiction has been a real pain in the ass and caused many a gun run to veer slightly off or led to some wonky ass landings. I've known for a long time that I'd probably be better off with a cheaper stick but I love the warthog so much I've just put up with it. Well, after a particularly frustrating couple of attempts to fuel in DCS I decided to fix the damn thing. Gotta say, thanks for the guide man. Stick is like pure silk now, it's what I should have gotten for my $500 back when I ordered it. I'll dedicate my next tank of gas to you. Cheers

To Fernando... glad it helped. And I know I was placing the o'ring on top. My o'ring was destroyed and was just placing it there for future sizing. I did state in the video and titled where it's proper location is. Have a good one and really glad I could help.

Thanks for this video, I had some trouble reassembling after taking it apart to add the teflon ring/solder in some replacement wires that got pinched/grease everything up, but your video was the fix for getting everything back together. Thanks!

This was amazing. I was thinking that my warthog was giving up, but watching this I realized that all it needs is some quality lubrication. Thanks for doing this vid and extra kudos for not wearing a shirt :D

Great video, I followed all your advice and now my stick is just as smooth! As far as recalibration goes: I found that if I played with the tension of the two screws holding in the sensor that I could get the stick to center without having to re-adjust the dead-zone or calibrating. If you recalibrate or make your deadzone larger then you lose that extra tiny little bit of travel/range/precision from the stick. P.S. make sure the ground wire and ribbon cable coming out of the upper socket lay flat and fit in the small crater underneath the slotted half-ball that was held in by the two pins (The one he got out with the pliers). When I put mine back together they were slightly twisted and I felt it when I tried to move the stick. I had to get help from someone to make sure tension was applied so they didn't pinch the second time I was putting it together.

Thank you so much for this video. I fixed a friend's joystick and your video was SUPER useful in the process!

Good video. I liked the format, the voice over was well done. Clear and concise. Good job!

thnx for the video! No sticky problems on mine... also, I removed the MAIN spring, and set the 4 little onse from the lower position up to top position. Feels way easier now to control, but all fluent.....

Hey, thanks alot for this guide! I just followed it to the letter (even took my shirt off) and the stick sure is butter freakin' smooth :D

Great video!!!! I really like the way you zoomed in on the area being worked on, makes it very clear what you are doing. I have gone back and forth on the springs number of times and I prefer not to use the big spring and just use the little springs on top of the sliding mechanism.

Just performed this myself using your video. It was very informative and worked like a charm! The only insight I would give is that the ball plugs are very difficult to get out and get flush back in

Thanks for the vídeo, helped me to fix my Warthog (the magnet fell off inside the bubble). Just a hint: you're placing your o'ring on the wrong side of the pressure plate. It goes *inside* it, where it touches the "bubble". Cheers.

Brilliant !! I fly only aerobatic formations and this is such an improvement, many many thanks :)

I have my Warthog on order, I will be on the lookout for stiction. I am kinda of a computer hardware greasemonkey myself, so if I suspect stiction to be an issue I will definitely contact Trhustmaster. Thanks for the *EXCELLENT* video!

Thank you for very good and teaching video...that O-ring was first to get loose inside my stick and I removed it... useless thing it was :) . Now new NYOGEL- grease is in my table waiting for my completely overhaul of the insides of Warthog-stick

the link to the grease is down, any chance you can fix? i was thinking about doing this to mine. thx for the vid

can you do a complete disassembly video of the throttle controls? haven't found a single one

Thanks very much for the step by step ronin. Besides the bare chest ;) it was very helpful and produced the same, required result!

Watching this in Dec/2023!!! I just bought a new Warthog last week, and imediatly feel how bad this stiction problem is. I have Logitech G940 force feedback, and it´s very diferent!!!! I wonder if it´s possible to install some bel bearings to improve the smootness.

Great video, thank you.

I cant believe how cheap and nasty it is inside. Considering how much they charge for these .. wow. Why make one of the most important mechanical parts out of vacuum moulded plastic?? Sheesh. Amazing video btw. The time and effort invested to produce this deserves massive respect, sir! o7

Hey buddy nice video!!!! just for the heads up the teflon o'ring you can't keep it for long,, phages with time it gets thinner and thinner..i have used three so far untill i buy a new one from tm!!! i have a slack on the center in both axes!do you have any idea how to fix it?

Hey man, thanks for the great video - liked and subscribed! I have a 6 year old warthog that has developed a bit of play (twist) over time and now starts registering a trigger pull as all buttons being pressed but only when the stick is deflected in certain directions. I pulled it apart expecting to see a frayed wire causing a short, but everything looks okay at first glance. I haven’t cleaned all of the grease off of all the wires and separated the components enough to see every bit of them yet, so maybe I missed it. Can you give me some guidance?

Expensive product, with workmanship for cheap products. I would have never thought this is that bad inside!

Excellent video. I have a Warthog on order and will be sure to try this if needed. I do have some Molykote white grease which is used with small plastic gears in printers which I hope will be sufficient as an alternative to Lewmar Gear Grease.

Ronin, I followed this procedure as closely as possible using the exact same Lewmar grease as you did, and I still get stiction. Any ideas? Have you heard of anyone else who got no result from this?

You sir are a hero for every Warthog user! Thanks a bunch!

Will this change the tension of the stick? or just make it smoother? I don't want to sand anything down and then the stick is as light as a feather... but thanks for the great instructional video!

Beware: when clicking together the articulation spheres (see 9:37 in video), if the wires are not pre-inserted into the notch and carefully pulled, they can get damaged and/or cut.

well my joystick just died.... seems like it might be a case of pinched wires, ive coontacted thrustmaster and im going to see what they say. If my warranty is up, then il try to open it up and see if i can find where the problem is. Then if it's fixed, il do this as well to loosen it up. Good video.

Hey man, I know it's been awhile since this video has been posted, but I was wondering if you could share the pinout of the base's 5 pin mini din connector. My brother got one of these and the the wires didn't have any stress relief on them and a couple of them sheared off at the solder cups. I'm trying to fix it for him, but I'm not certain of the connections for the orange and brown wires. I know it's only a 50/50 guess, but It'd give me peace of mind knowing I'm not ruining the uC's on the boards. Thanks!

do you know where can I find the cable coming from the stick connector to the bottom board?

wow you are really fast with the screwdriver

If the problem is seams that makes friction, wouldnt this fix alone simply by the use over time? I dont dare to dissasemble that much and place a wire on a wrong position to get pinched.

All I did was cut the spring wire a bit and it fixed it

Not sure if I broke my PTFE ring, but after applying some considerable pressure in realizing that the software axis did not go to full forward unless that force was applied, and some large, sweeping movements around the forward hemisphere of the stick's range of motion, I encountered an odd spike and sudden give in resistance that I did not feel afterward. Now, it feels like (mind you I have a nice case of OCD) there is less resistance moving forward than backward. Picking up the base and holding it in the air, letting the weight of the stick pull it down for even force appears to show this, as it sags down when I have the forward side down, but remains erect when the backside is down. Pretty sure it's that damned ring and I've used the thing for only a freaking hour and a half. I opened it and it appears to be the case, and if TM is as shitty as checking for it having been opened as they are at building them then I'll probably be able to have them fix it anyway. If not, it'll be a fun thing to tinker with as I'm used to all of the shit I buy being broken anyway.

So I just got my Warthog today. I am concerned about the sticktion issue, though I haven't noticed any yet. This seems likely a highly involved process, and I'm not too comfortable dismantling the electronic components in the flight stick. Is there a less invasive (albeit, with the understanding that it would be a less effective) method? It would seem if you just dismantle the stick from the top and not go underneath you could reach almost all of the locations he greased, even if you couldn't sand and smooth the seems. Would this be an ok Temporary solution for someone who is unwilling to risk having to Solder anything? Or would it be a MUCH less effective than this?

Hi Ronin, I hope you can help me. I recently bought a second hand thrustmaster warthog stick and throttle in good condition. There was a problem with the stiction of the flight stick though and following advice I re-greased the ball and socket joints up. It now moves smoothly but I have a much more crucial issue now! When I move the stick; the input on the screen is wild and erratic and flicks all over the place. The computer doesn't ever know where the stick is. The roll and pitch just flick everywhere on the scale all the time. It is defintely half working because it only flicks around when I move the stick. I thought I might have grease on the sensor so I took it apart and cleaned it again but it still does it. I re-calibrated the stick but that didn't help. Argh now this thing seems totally mad and I can't use it. Have you heard of this problem before and know of a way I can fix it? It is defintely something to do with the hall sensor and not the buttons. Could I have put somehting back in the wrong way round? Please help me, at the moment I have a very very expensive paper-weight. Thank you in advanced,

Ive seen allot of people have trouble with warthog's and other producs. Maybe i should get a cm stick from what i've seen they work for 15 years. Advice annyone?

Is the 300g tub of grease Necessary or could I get away with using the 100g tube?? How much total grease from the tub did you use on this project?

Hi ronin, can you give a new link to the grease? the one you posted is no longer available.

Thanks. This video helped me so much. Im gonna sell my Warthog now and buy a better joystick

Good job ! I broke down the inner and outer hinges. Posted in support. Do not answer. Guys! Tell me where you can buy these items? Sorry for my English. Good luck to all !

While pulling the cap i cut the black wire ( ground wire ). The stick is working perfectly without soldering it. Is it going to cause problems in the future?

Hey, I have a question, I have opened the 2 screws on my brand new warthog throttle for the optional afterburner detent and in the process dropped both screw rings into the space and I can't get them out, I've tried shaking the throttle upside down and eventually they've stopped making any sound inside meaning that they got stuck somewhere, and the throttle works fine, so what's your opinion, is there a risk of something getting damaged in there? should I risk it and open it up (since I literally just got it yesterday)? any help would be greatly appreciated :)

Hey one more thing has cropped up for me after a firmware update that I can't seem to fix is the calibration is off, it seems by default now its pulling back and up when the stick is in the centered position, any idea on how to fix this? Thanks in advance.

Hi, I am about to do this fix, but before I start I would like to completely understand the construction, WHY are these swiwel plugs a problem, and exactly WHAT do I achieve by expanding the holes that they go into....?

I used brake pad grease on mine - the grease you put on the back of your brake pads to stop them squeaking

Link to grease product is broken. The links that rsi42 posted are probably correct, but US shopping is disabled on their site. The west marine website shows a product, but doesn't detail the type of grease (calcium sultanate, or other)

My Z axes on my throttle is spiking, Can you take apart your throttle and expose the pots or hall sensor? Maybe you know why it's spiking on me along with certain buttons highlighting when it does.

Anyone got a link for the grease?

I just got a problem with my stick: From center point to a bit down and to the left it feels very loose; movement about 1 cm. It does go back to center when I release it, but the problem is that there is no movement input in this range. Makes it feel horrible to fly with. Any suggestions?

What is this black O ring? My unit didn't come with one, it seems useless.

My stick don't fully return to center (The stick seems inclined), when I push he return a little to right of center (position 31960, center is 32768; axes X). If I reassembly like in 10:23 I can realign correctly the axes? Thanks for video and sorry my hard english

GREAT! Thx a lot!

Is this H.O.T.A.S worth it? Been seeing a couple of others come out on the market at a lower price point ( Mad Cats Rhino X-55) but they are most likely not the same build quality. Will be mostly playing Star Citizen and Arma 3. Thanks for the help.

just bought a new rig via DCS forums..is a user there tha making new ones and more reliables!!! unfortunately the play on the center still remains its not big but it is there...

How long will this fix last?

Ti sembra possibile che si debba spendere 10 volte il prezzo di un joystick ordinario per poi dover fare tutto sto lavoro?

Do newer production units have this problem? You would think that they corrected such a common problem

My slew control stopped working. I bought it in August 2013. Am I screwed? No response from tech yet.

Has anyone tried to do DCS f18 aerial refueling with this warthog stick after performing this fix?? I have a brand new warthog stick purchased a few weeks ago. Although the stick is nice and heavy and I guess "realistic" feeling, I'm finding it impossible to do aerial refueling. The stick is way too stiff and it just doesn't have that precision and finesse that's required for refueling.

This is not a HOTAS video it's joystick video. All the videos being posted for a HOTAS repair or mod are making it very hard to find videos where the creator is actually touching both the stick and the throttle AKA: "HOTAS"

Hi, nice vid, sort of oddly trippy with the split camera view, music and "nekkid in the basement" vibe :D J/K, I just bought one of these sticks and am noticing the same thing, so they are still making them this way as of July 2014, which seems stupid for such an expensive stick. Is there anywhere that this can be done professionally and where it won't void the warranty?

Hey here's a fun fact, and something you might want to let people know. I had uneven resistance, and I more or less fixed it. Basically, when you take out that floating black element with the white ring on top, you might notice that the screws are not completely flush. At least mine weren't. I screwed them in, and the resistance became enormous, as well as making me need to really push to get the thing to even go onto the poles before I reassembled. That got me to wondering about it stretching and the holes getting smaller due to the pressure, and I loosened the screws enough to give it a few thousandths of an inch of play (just eyeballed it), and lo and behold there's even resistance save for the front which I left a tiny bit too tight. When I go to regrease it I'll address that, but as far as left and right goes, where discrepancies are much more annoying, it's pretty much exactly the same. So a troubleshooting step would be to check that white ring and perhaps back the screws out a tiny bit so it jiggles a little. Just something I noticed. Also told TM to shove it when it came to RMA and that I'll just call for parts. I'd be without the thing for months if I sent it out to them...

Maybe you should reconsider the greese you used. It can make plastic brittle after some time: Silicone greases, for example, are lubricants that blend well with this material, increasing the life span of components and significantly improving their performance. A silicone grease can be considered the perfect plastic lubricant, as it tends to be inert towards plastics and elastomers.

Nice video, got some supplies to follow your lead but I got stuck with the grease. I was able to get my hands on two greases: www.ulei-mobil.ro/pdf/MobilIndustrieDataSheet/Mobilgrease%20XHP%20222%20pds.pdf and docs-europe.electrocomponents.com/webdocs/0ff2/0900766b80ff288d.pdf I`m trying to decide should I use the Mobil grease on the plastic/rubber and plastic/metal surfaces or only use the silicon based grease.

Yes it is but as I have said before.... There is nothing out that comes close to the construction and performance. So ya gatta deal with our options lol. Now if you can get your hands on a black mamba. That is the best but almost impossible to get.

my stiction has been getting worse of late, to the point where I am thinking of going through this nightmare of pulling it apart.

they must have fixed this issue....i have had mine for over a year and its still silky smooth. il2 ftw

Dont use a jelly or wet grease on electronics. Always use a dry grease last longer and works better less messy. Also less chance of messing the electronics up.

actually that is the slack that i was talking about top view TM HOTAS Warthog slack (top view) bottom view TM HOTAS Warthog slack (bottom view)

Mine got waaaay worse.. hmm, what did I do wrong? :S

De-sodder???

Nice vid. Since you made it has t master actually got their finger out of their arse and fixed this shit by default from factory?

It's pretty ridiculous that this even needs to be done for the amount of money paid for this thing.

Dude! Do you do services for other people with these? Haha

Are you still looking for someone to ship you their warthog stick to make another video? im thinking of buying one and having them ship it to you for this fix. Then i could pay for the shipping to send it me. If it works as good as i expect ill tip ya:)

Rather than windows tool download the official thrustmaster tool which will save the calibration into joystick firmware. Using the windows tool may reduce its overall resolution.

Wow plastic part? I thought it will be full metal

I keep crashing because it keeps throwing me in dives .

my inner ball (the half ball thing that the two black plastic plugs hold in place) is snapped in half. . maybe a 3d printed one will work. . and yes the production finishing on the internals of this product sucks major ass ! ..

frickin Saitek Pro Flight Yoke has sticking problems but after trying everything, i just decided its shit workmanship. gave up on it.

Still looking for a stick to clean up? I'll send you mine.

dry lube !! graphite powder

Nice beaver on your chest haha

OK, so you pay over $400 and you still have to mod it to make it perform decently. Well done, Thrustmaster...

It seems to me that a more powerful spring would also assist in overcoming the stiction issue. Do you NOT agree? I discovered available HEAVY DUTY SPRINGS FOR THIS PRODUCT.

For the price they could do better.

Great info, thanks! But what can we really expect considering that everything is made in China...🤦‍♂️

Just about to get one....now TERRIFIED. with all these issues of stiction, havent Thrustmaster embodied the solution in the production phase? I`m cack handed and would not like to go rummaging around inside my expensive Warthog....

so let me get this straight I pay 600 bux to have to work on this fucking thing for 3 hrs ? no thanx

You paid $450 for a piece of shit like that which requires heavy modding to make it worth the $450? You're crazy....sigh