It seems to me that the plastic housings on the 2005 "red" generation Victor 884s are much looser in their tolerances than previous generations of 883s and 884s. This could be why there is a misalignment problem. I prefer the older "blue" 884s because of this.
Once you get the PWM cable properly seated, one of these will help it stay that way:
You can buy them here:
http://robotcombat.com/marketplace_ifi_esc.html