Hey Jmcnulty - Merry Christmas fellow tanker !!! I put in different springs. Not quite as strong as the originals. I put slightly softer ones in, so I guess I actually "unbeefed" up the suspension ?!?!?!?! I also drilled out all of the wheels and inserted nylon bushings in all of them. This protects the suspension AND the lower hull by strengthening all of them. I also inserted metal supports on inside of the lower hull. Next, I inserted 3/16 in steel piano wire as axles on all but one (and that's coming soon) of the wheel assemblies. This is truly critical for the front idler wheels (the ones on top, up front, nearly totally hidden by the side armor). Again BIGMIG's posts on this are what convinced me that this had to be done to keep from breaking the really flimsy wheels. Lastly, I wrapped each and every road wheel in a soft type of foam rubber that I cut from 8 1/2 X 11 sheets. Not only does this strengthen the thin plastic a great deal, it adds that realistic look to the wheels, as without this on them, they look weak and fragile. I'll post a copule of shots to this so you'll see what I mean.
The .50 cal I ordered from Kenny Kong. It's actually from his 1:8 scale series of accessories, but the difference between the two scales is really negligible. I'm going to order one of his tank crewman next. The .50 cal mount I made from some plastic and some 1/8 in piano wire. I just bent the wire until I got the general shape where it would fit and then did some final adjustments with the pliers and Vise Grips. Super glued it to the gun. The gun moves up and down and that's it, but its more for show than anything. Do a search for 1:9 scale Abrams or for BIGMIG and look for his posts. That's what I used for most of my changes. I'd be glad to help in any other way I can if you want to try some of his stuff out - it works.

Ottodiesel