Alright, here’s a problem that can happen to any Last Action Hero game. The crane stops moving. What’s actually happening is that a gear in the crane’s gear box is slipping on it’s own shaft. The video below shows how the shaft on the right spins, and the middle shaft spins, but the middle gear does not.

There is no replacement for this gear box available. So, what are you going to do? Scrap the crane function? No way! I got down and dirty and FIXED the gear box. Here’s how.

What needs to be done is the gear that is slipping on it’s shaft needs to have a metal rod inserted into it with additional metal rods put into the gear to stop it from spinning. From there, it is all JB Welded into place to keep from moving.

Once the gear is removed from the box (you’ll have to drill out the rivets that hold the box together and later replace them with screws.) The first step here is to drill a hole straight through the gear and shaft.

Next, drill 4 more holes in the gear that will allow 4 metal rods to be placed on either side of the first rod. I used hardened drill bits for the metal rods. The picture below will show what I’m talking about.

Now, just cut all these long rods with a dremel so it looks like this:

The last step of the gear modification is to JB Weld it into place so the rods won’t fall out.

Now, put the gear box all back together and reinstall it into the game and enjoy a fully functional crane again. I did this same type of repair on my Bally Doctor Who several years ago for it’s Time Expander gear box and it is still working today!