Fortunately once we get into the realm of 'what if' models rubber rimmed and steel rimmed applications are perfectly valid.
If the war had dragged on for a year or even 6 months longer I bet dollars to doughnuts we'd have all seen a lot more steel
rimmed everything tank. Hard or not on the tracks the need to field one more tank would have taken priority; the life expectancy of a
new tank was probably a lot less than it's tracks in the last months of the war....
I'm pretty sure I have most of the books everyone else has...
Jerry