finley_harris5•20d agoProlific Poster

I threw $60 down the drain on those cheap thumbstick replacements

So I bought a 4 pack of those no-name aluminum thumbsticks off Amazon for like $15. Figured they'd be a quick upgrade for my Xbox controller. First one went on fine but after 2 days the metal ring started grinding against the shell and now my aim drifts like crazy in shooters. Tried sanding it down a bit but just made it worse. Now I gotta buy a whole new controller shell and stick module. Anyone else get burned by those cheap metal sticks? Should I just stick with the stock rubber ones or pay up for the name brand?

2 comments

2 Comments

ben40220d ago

Learned that lesson the hard way myself man. Those cheap metal sticks almost always have tolerance issues because the aluminum expands and contracts differently than the plastic housing. I switched to the kontrolfreek precision rings instead, they cost like $10 and just snap around the stock sticks without any grinding or modification needed. Way less hassle than replacing a whole shell and stick module. Stick with the stock rubber ones for now and save yourself the headache.

the_jessica20d ago

This is one of those things that applies to way more than just controllers. It's the same trap people fall into with car parts, phone cases, even furniture. Everyone wants the fancy upgrade until they realize it doesn't actually fit right or work with the original design. I've seen it with aftermarket car stereo kits that look great online but rattle like crazy once installed because the plastic dash kit can't hold the metal trim. Ben's totally right, sometimes the stock stuff is just engineered better as a whole unit, even if it's not flashy. Why do we always think swapping everything out is the answer when adding a simple fix that works with the existing parts is usually smarter?