RSEA

Four days before the next DAK battle and I discover my Tiger suffered some sort of damage from its run in with a certain bridge at the DAK field. DAK has "Dragon's Teeth" obstacles on the field but this bridge is apparently far more deadlier than they are.

I was trying to drive across the bridge while viewing it and the tank perpendicular to the driver's side (making it hard to see whether I had the tank lined up properly on the bridge because the Tiger is so damn wide). I wasn't lined up correctly and the driver's side sprocket went up and over the middle side "tooth" of the bridge, came crashing down and the sprocket slammed against the last "tooth" (circled in red) bringing the tank to a sudden and hard halt. This violent action lifted the turret clean off the chassis and dropped it back down over on the loader's side of the upper deck.

Now at any speed, the driver's side sprocket wheel stutters as it rotates only when the tank is moving forwards (strangely it does not do this when run in reverse). It will make about 3 complete revolutions then it will momentarily STOP, then continue to rotate, creating a stuttering movement of the sprocket as the tank moves along. It does it not only when the tank is on the ground, but also when it is up on a block and the tracks are hanging freely above the ground.

Only thing I have been able to notice is that each time the sprocket stutters, the brass bushing (circled in the gearbox photo) will rotate a little bit in sync with the stuttering sprocket wheel. Normally the bushing is motionless and does not rotate. I have seen the same bushing on the opposite gearbox rotate at times though too (but not at regular intervals), and that sprocket does NOT stutter at all. The stutter is reduced when I remove the tracks from the driver's side and have the gearbox just turning the sprocket wheel alone.

I'm not quite sure what is causing this stutter motion. None of the gears are stripped. Maybe it is the brash bushing.. It doesn't look like I will be able to fix it before the next battle on Saturday though.. So I'll probably have to show up with a wounded Tiger for the last battle of the season. I've yet to bring it to a battle where there wasn't something wrong with this tank..

As a side note, I had thoroughly cleaned those gears and applied white grease to them in January. Now the grease looks black like old motor oil! What the hell??

sevoblast

Steve, sounds like a gear with a broken tooth somewhere around the idler shaft, the shaft you have the red circle on. Also, make sure you did not bend the motor frame when you tangled with the dragon's tooth.

Reason the grease is black is the normal wear from the gear train mixed with the dust etc in the air. Normal. I clean mine, IOW remove them from the AFV, completely disassemble them, and clean them to as new couple times a year. Reassemble them with good oil and grease, and off you go.

rjblaze

Maybe it's me......or an optical "delusion", but the whole shaft for the gear you have circled seems to be crooked. I am wondering if the bushing isn't so warn that the hole is now oblong, allowing for fore-and-aft movement of the gear, and creating intermittent contact with the gear it is engaged with. Just an observation from the pic.

Panther F

Looks like the Sherman is too damn wide too! [sm=lol.gif] Very nice bridge, you guys have it all! [sm=thumbs_up.gif]


- Jeff

sevoblast

I like the Finnish T 34. Nice touch!

RSEA

Thanks for the input guys. There are NO broken or chipped teeth on the gears.. The shaft I have circled does indeed appear to be slightly crooked, I had noticed this before I took the photo.

I have a few unused extra road wheel bushings. The road wheel bushings look like the same bushings that are on my gearboxes. Can anyone confirm this (Bob maybe you know)? If so, I will try replacing the bushings on that shaft and see if that fixes the problem.

sevoblast

Yes, Steve, they are the same animule. Fit like a glove. I do peen mine in to the frame to keep them from turning, though, and use Tamiya ceramic grease on the shafts during PM cycles. My oldest is about 8 years old now, a vet of many combats in Dville and also this AO, and is still going strong.

RSEA

Bob - I found the culprit, it is a damaged gear after all! It is not on the shaft I circled though. The last white plastic gear on the front of the gearbox has lost 2 teeth. They are almost completely worn down. Every time these 2 worn teeth engage it jambs the gearbox until the drive motor overcomes it and forces it to keep turning.

I had just installed a push button cannon fire switch on my radio, new zinc counter weights in the turret and a new stiffer spring on the elevation stay bar too. I thought it was all ready to go and I find this when test driving the tank yesterday. I first noticed it because the sprocket wheel was locking-up when trying to pivot turn the tank, in addition to the stuttering. Now I know why it is doing that.

Unless I can somehow get a replacement gear by Saturday morning, I will be unable to battle the tank on Saturday [] That bridge really crippled ole 931.

Steve

Pershing.Driver

what kind of gear box is that ... I may have spare gears

RSEA

The tank is a Tamiya Tiger I with early Type 1 gearboxes. It is a white plastic gear fused to a small brass gear as one piece. It is the last plastic/brass gear combo that engages the steel gear attached to the sprocket driveshaft. I am waiting to hear from Bob as he might have one.

Pershing.Driver

I don't have any spares for that model gearbox ... sorry

sevoblast

Anybody local to Steve got any of the original Type 1 small gears? Two sizes of this gear were used, two small ones and one large one in each TU. The brass centre gear in each large nylon gear is interchangeable, and simply pulls out. IOW, if you simply have the outer nylon one of the smaller diameter and can get it to him, he will be in business. I have a couple here, but I'm off the Florida coast and can't get them to him in time.
Steve, you may want to either locate spares for this TU, or consider upgrading to the newer Type 3's, a bolt in swap and your ZUH19 will also bolt right on to them. This is a known problem with this TU and is the reason Tamiya rapidly came out with the Type 2 to replace them.
Sev

pcomm1

Close enough in OC, CA. I just looked in my parts bin and I have all the spare parts Steve needs to rebuild the Tamiya type 1 gearbox. The 3 gear set, brass gear shaft and misc other bits have been in storage for 5 years and he can have them for free plus $3.00 for a padded envelope and postage. Let me know. email me plus Bob has my email address.

John

RSEA

John - So you actually have one of the smaller nylon plastic gears Bob mentioned.. I was seriously considering ordering a set of the newer Type 3 gearboxes tomorrow morning from Danville. They could send them 2nd Day Air UPS and I'd be guaranteed they will get here on Friday, in time for the battle.

I appreciate the offer John. Could you definitely get the gears to me by Friday afternoon? That is the thing.. The short time notice. Danville opens at 7AM tomorrow our time. I will call them at 7AM to see if they have Type 3 TUs in stock ready to go. If they don't I will send you a PM about the gears and see what it would cost to get them here by Friday..

Steve

pcomm1

This is what I got and if they will work for you, the parts can be FEDEX overnight. Just pickup the delivery tab for the envelope. John

RSEA

John - I have sent you a PM..

pcomm1

Hi, I will send the gear set out 2 day FedEx at noon today. I sent you my email address. Send your street delivery address and I will PayPal invoice you the actual delivery fee after I drop it off. John

sevoblast

John, thanks so much for helping Steve out. Rather kind of you, me lad.

pcomm1

Thank you and deep down I am really just a big old Abrams with a Heat Sabot in the breach. Just setting an elaborate trap for those desert living DAK guys.

John

sevoblast

Well, you done good, kid. I have what he needs, but being somewhat east of the Florida coast, the time factor would have weighed in negatively.
If you're gonna wax some DAK, nail a few for me....and pray that me and VCO don't come for a visit any time soon, 'cause we will of course have the black cross on our tanks....should be an interesting contest between a 1946 KT with a supercharged Benz diesel and a 12/8 with night vision and stabilization etc, and the Abrams...

pcomm1

Now I have lost contact with Steve, he must be at work and he didn't send his mailing address...yet. But there is still time. I like those black crosses too, my Japgpanther and little Pz4 are my favorites. But my 90mm M36B TD WIP, when finished, should be suitable for most any encounter. John

sevoblast

Well, John, the up armoured KT with increased frontal and side armor using technology from, believe it or not, a US civilian armoured car firm who built trucks to carry cash to banks (you thought Chobham was a Brit idea?), will make the '46 King pretty much IA from front and side. Just please this time try not to scratch the paint and break the headlight lens, as Supply gets pretty indignant about replacing the Bosch lamp systems, and the First Shirt has other things to do besides detailing some young lads to paint over the scratches.
Again, good job helping Steve. If you haven't heard from him by morning my time, lemme know, and I'll provide you with an addy. Now it's time for this old man to hit the wrack. Long and hard day, and it's almost midnight here.

RSEA

John - I gave you my mailing address in the first PM I sent you at 9AM this morning. Your right, I have been working so that is the cause for my delay in responding. I resent the mailing address again to the email address you gave me via PM.

Steve

pcomm1

Hi Steve,

Not to worry, the gear set is with FedEX and they will deliver sometime during biz hours on Friday, 5-21-2010.

The "elaborate trap" is to make sure your in action, so you can run into or ram every Sherman on the field. Can yo do that?

Thank you in advance for taking on the mission. And visit PayPal and pay me for FedEx.

Enjoy, John

RSEA

Thanks John! Your payment has been sent!

That is right, Pcomm John has saved the day folks, and the dreaded Totenkopf Tiger 931 will roll into battle on Saturday destroying as many Shermans as possible in the process! The 88mm is ready to go and has a new hair trigger installed in the radio. The DAK Green Dream Team is one "Pcomm plastic gear" away from being totally devastated this weekend.

This thread has played out almost like a soap opera.. Glad you all were able to enjoy it!

Steve