PART 4.

To summarize everything up I have found that aside from some cosmetic issues the metal upgrade version of the TongDe M60 a reasonable good tank. It has features of both HengLong and Tamiya which kinda makes it somewhat of a hybrid and in my opinion that makes for a good base tank to modify or build off of.

So which is it more like HengLong or Tamiya. Well that's obvious, it is more like a HengLong. It drives very much like a large 6.0-7.1 HengLong tank (with similar metal features). So if you have driven one of the newer King Tigers, Abrams, Leopard 2 or Challenger 2s then you will have some idea as to what to expect.

While evaluating the metal TongDe M60 I found a number of thing I especially liked and disliked.

LIKED:

1.) The torsion bar suspension and road wheels. These make for a rather smooth running over rough terrain once they are tuned correctly.

2.) The metal gearboxes. Yes I said gearboxes. They are actually rather nicely put together and very easy to remove from the tank and work on.

3.) The turret. It is roomy and was very easy to install a metal servo recoil/elevation system as well as adding "canvas" to the mantle sides.

4.) The idler adjustment mountings. These huge compared to ones used on the new HengLong large tanks.

5.) The tracks. They are well built and I suspect will provide very durability.


DISLIKED:

1.) The torsion bar plastic lock down covers. These are poorly molded and I had two break on me. I was able to repair them. But I have ended up simply reverse engineering the covers and making them out of high strength engineering resin.

2.) The lack of down travel suspension stops. These would have saved me from breaking the torsion bar lock down covers. I ended up making my own which have been performing flawlessly.

3.) The stock motor pinion gears. Both did not mesh well and both motors had to be replaced.

4.) The sprocket attachment screws. These were Philips head and could not be torqued sufficiently to keep them from coming loose. I did end up replacing them with Allen head screws.

5.) The on/off switch and battery access. Both are under the turret bustle rack. I moved the on/off switch to the loader hatch and arrange the battery connections so they could be reached (with a hook/tool) via the engine deck hatch. Still not happy with the arrangement,but it is the best option for the time being (I am not a fan of magnetic upper/lower hull mountings for hull access. I drive my large tanks to hard and the tops always come off with magnets).

6.) The metal tracks. Wait didn't I just say I liked them? Yes, but I also disliked them for their weight, pins walking out, incorrectly width and poor climbing hip.

X factor) The shipping packaging. I put this last because it is not really tank related but was an issue. My M60 arrived with a number of broken parts. Fortunately I was able to repair them and move forward. The shipping box was undamaged so there was/is no excuse except that the tank was not secure well enough in the box.

So let me know your thoughts. Anything more you would like to see or I did not cover? It tried to keep is short and to the point and I know I left somethings out.

Photos from testing and LA Tank Clubs IR battle day.