Fixing your Zero Tolerance 300's rattle.

P

Puer Aeternus

Joined
Dec 29, 2013
Messages
39
Woot, first post :-)

A few years ago I ordered a Zero Tolerance 300st, when It arrived I noticed that the knife rattled when deployed. It seemed like something was loose inside. I sent it back to KAI and w/ in a few weeks they returned it however the rattle resumed again. I did some research (kai never did say what caused the rattle) and discovered its the torsion bar inside. Instead of sending it back to KAI and have them yet again NOT FIX IT..I took matters into my own hand.
To stop the torsion bar from rattling, I simply added some grease. I used lube for my bike and filled in the groove where the bar sits. Below are pics that show the step by step. Putting it back together was a bit tricky as all parts are a bit finicky to put back in the right place, The knife is back together and works fine, its much cleaner and best of all, NO RATTLES when deployed.
I hope this helps anyone else who has the same issue.


You will need:
Grease
Hex Keys
Socket set
Patience or vodka

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remove the screws from the G10 scale. Next remove the Pivot Nut

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I filled in the Groove w/ ample grease. I was concerned that the grease would squeeze out and make a mess once the knife was together. There was no mess, the lube fit in the groove and stayed.

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The ZT300st opens and closes as well as the first day I got it....and its now a lot cleaner (no more pocket link)
 
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Dang, that is a lot of grease, but if you are going to fix something might as well go all out!
 
BobSig said:
Dang, that is a lot of grease, but if you are going to fix something might as well go all out!
Click to expand...

Hehe...ya it is. I was not sure exactly where the bar was rattling so I covered all bases w/ a ton of lube. I am just pleased as punch that it no longer rattles. Its not cool to show off your $200+ knife and your friends point out the obvious flaw in it. It kinda deflates you.
 
Does anyone know what the spacer in the handle is made of? It feels like plain ol' plastic to me. I never thought about it till I took the knife apart, I think it should have been aluminum, titanium or steel considering the build quality of the rest of the knife.
 
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In my experience with Speedsafe and from reading different reports of this issue in the past, it's not really a "flaw" in the sense that it's a mechanical failure. So, that may be why the trip to warranty didn't permanently fix anything. Speedsafe knives will occasionally just do that because of the way that the bar sits in the handle. The trick is to add grease to the chamber from time to time as the problem persists. From the factory, they do add grease but as time goes on, that grease gets moved around and the rattle can appear again. It's a normal thing with the design according to my understanding.
 
I had used just a single dab of white lithium and that held up for a while. It is common and an easy fix as you mentioned.
 
You mean the back spacer? That is black G10. No plastic on this knife. And the rattle will show up eventually but with how much grease you added, it may not. I add a dab every now and then, but it is defiantly not a flaw.
 
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