YHR

Yes this is true, Heng Long should include a link to this forum on their instruction sheet.

There is a lot to fix, and they can be a constant project. I have found a few of the right mods is better then all the mods, which just seem to lead to more problems.

Gear box
Idler adjustment
Metal suspension on some of them

Cheers

Dan

Kanyhalos

The left tracks keep coming into the groove of the idler wheel, no matter what I do. It's even worse then the HL stock plastic idler. I don't understand. Should I set the tensioner to even more tight?

All road wheels are clucking on the axle, they have a little backlash as it is shown on the video below.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U0e-...ature=youtu.be

Please someone tell me if this is a problem or not. It's with the asiatam lower hull. Can this be the cause of the constant track slippage? Or is this intended?

cleong

I'm not sure what you mean by "The left tracks keep coming into the groove of the idler wheel"?

To be honest, these tanks aren't precision engineered (nor do they need to be). Even Tamiyas have a certain degree of play as you have shown in your videos, of the lateral play in the roadwheels and vertical play of the track tensioner cam. Especially when you've got a collection of parts from different brands and sources, with different tolerances, you need to expect that not all of them use the same exact measurements for their mating surfaces. As far as I can tell, its normal. You can spend time to take the play out with washers, but I wouldn't bother.

YHR

Each arm has a set screw. Back out the set screw and see if you can push the axle pin in more so you have less slop between the road wheel and the suspension arm. Then retighten the screw.

Cheers

Kanyhalos

http://postimg.org/image/x8brpgwhr/

cleong

Take your tracks off and check that all your roadwheels are seated on their axles properly, loosen the set screws on all of them and push them in. They should form a straight line between the front drive sprocket to the rear idler wheel. Any wheel that is out of line can be adjusted by sliding it in and out on its axle mount and locking it down with the set screw afterward.

Kanyhalos

Now I understand that this is what exactly happening with my tank as well. The track guides go into the groove of the idler wheel when turning on grass terrain.
It doesn't do this if I go straight, and it also turns fine on concrete terrain. The problem only occurs on the grass terrain which is a little muddy due to its raining here almost every day since a few weeks.

I will check the road wheels if I can reduce their wobbling with pushing them more into the suspension holders. I dunno if it helps. This is very frustrating.

Is it even possible to fix it? Then how other people use the metal lower hull without these issues?

kizwan

Your road & idler wheels are not wobbling. Yours just moving left & right on the axle, and it's fine. It shouldn't causing any issue & I doubt the tracks throws on the idler is because of it. The wobbling I'm referring to is the suspension arms doesn't sit on the axle properly & with the axle diameter slightly smaller, it allow the suspension arms to tilted outward when turning. This is not the problem in your case.

Did you stop before turning? Or slowly turning instead of hard turning? My Tiger I plastic tracks are easily out of shape when running on grass. So it always throws either on the sprocket or idler wheels. The HL metal tracks helps but still have issue with tracks jumping on the idler wheels when turning on grass for obvious reasons (still using the stock HL plastic lower hull & no adjustable idler mount). I have been told that MATO metal tracks are better than HL ones because the pins are enclosed. You can see pins on the HL tracks. The enclosed pins kinda add rigidity maybe (??). What happened in your case is that when the tank is turning on grass, the inner tracks gets dragged & therefore the inner tracks move outwards a little bit. If you look closely, you can see the inner guide horns of the inner tracks are now hitting the idler wheels. The tracks will jump on the idler wheels when the tank move forward after turning (on grass). If your tank can turn with one of the tracks stop & then after turning, move backward a little before moving forward, you may be able to prevent the tracks from jumping on the idler wheels.

Kanyhalos

Thank you kizwan. You answered a lot of my doubts.

I did not stop before turning. I was turning while moving forward but I drive it slow speed as usual (I have 4:1). I'm also thinking about making it a bit tigther again.

If your tank can turn with one of the tracks stop & then after turning, move backward a little before moving forward, you may be able to prevent the tracks from jumping on the idler wheels.

Could you please explain this with more details? What if I try to seal the grooves of the idler wheels with some strong material like epoxy glue or something like that?

kizwan

For example if you want to turn right, turning with only left tracks running with the right tracks stop. The moving backward a little after turning should get the tracks realign properly again, so this way it shouldn't throws on the idler wheels when moving forward. This worked when I tested last time, not perfect solution of course.

Kanyhalos

Yep I understood that. I'm just asking if you could explain the physics part of why exactly this is happening.

Kanyhalos

It seems logical if I tighten the tracks enough, it wouldn't have a loose part of links near the idler wheel so it physically wouldn't be able to jump. Am I right?

Kanyhalos

Oh and one more question... why do you exactly mean with "inner tracks"?

kizwan

Sorry, GMT +8 here.

I'll try.

For example if the tank turning right, the left tracks will be "outside tracks" & the right tracks will be "inner tracks". It just "physical" location of the tracks when the tank turns.



When the tank turning, one of the tracks will be working harder than the other tracks. If the tank turn right, the left tracks will be working harder than the right tracks & vice versa when turning left. There shouldn't be any problem on the "outside tracks" but the "inner tracks" will get drags against the surface. This is when the "inner tracks" may get out of shape. When turning, the back of the "inner tracks" will be dragging outward & this will causing the inner guide horns to hitting the idler wheel. There are two types of turning; one is turning using proportional steering which one tracks will be moving faster while the tracks on the other side will be moving slower & two is one tracks moving while the tracks on the other side stop. With the former, the "inner tracks" may jump on the idler wheel while turning even if you're running your tank slowly. With the latter style of driving, you can prevent the "inner tracks" from jumping on the idler wheel. Basically on rough terrain & grass, it's better to drive the tank like a real WW2 tank. The running tank backward a little after turning may get the "inner tracks" back in shape, so that it'll prevent the tracks from jumping on the idler wheel when moving forward. Last time I tested this, most of the time it worked. You also can use neutral turning or super spin for turning the tank.

I think you'll have better experience with US/Allied tanks. My Bulldog run a lot better. I don't feel the need to fix anything except maybe DIY a dynamic track tensioner using springs.

Maybe but it'll stress the gears & this will affected on how the tank moves/drives. It's all about driving style. I don't know about Panther G tracks but the Tiger I plastic tracks are easily getting out of shape when running on grass. You might want to try metal tracks.

I did thought about sealing the groove on the idler wheels but if the tracks jump, the guide horns still can stuck there. The only way that going to work if the material you're using can make smooth & slippery surface, so that when the tracks jump, the guide horns will slipping back to its correct position. However this may also allow the tracks to throws completely.

Kanyhalos

Thank you. Based on your suggestions, I tried the methods to drive the tank on a very rough terrain, a soft carpet.


I fast drove the tank into it, and immediately turned left. The left tracks slipped off immediately.


But I noticed that if I stop the tank and slowly turn it with both tracks moving a bit (even the inner one), it has no issues at all. It wasn't even needed to drive a bit backwards. I'll check it on real grass when I'll have time, hopefully today.

Strato50

Most tank models will turn better gradually, as you describe, in thick grass or otherwise rough terrain.

Doing a dead hard turn left or right is very rough on the tracks and drive gear, regardless of mods. When I'm driving around my 14lb Tiger or 4lb Chi-Nu Kai, grass always demands a nice wide turning radius. No tank is perfect and tracks will fly off!

Kanyhalos

Thank you. At least I know that there is no error in my running gear, I just have to be careful while driving.
Every day a learn something about these, and at least someone else learn from our posts as well.
I am satisfied with my tank in overall anyway, it would have been better to expect all these errors and problems before I jumped into the hobby. The upgrades don't end, just my wallet and my freetime do.

Kanyhalos

I have got these idler wheels. As you can see, it has 2 grooves on each wheels. That's where the track guides go into.

http://www.welshdragonmodels.co.uk/e...ale-1296-p.jpg

I'm thinking about filling the grooves with two component resin. I think it would stick well and it is hard enough to prevent the guides go inside.

What do you think guys? Is this a good idea?

MAUS45

If the track guide horns are getting into those groves in the idler, then you have an issue with track tension which is causing the tracks to ride up on the idler when you make a turn.

Kanyhalos

Do you mean that my tracks are a bit loose and I have to set them tighter?

MAUS45

Yes. can you post a photo from the side of your tank so we can see how loose or tight the tracks are?

Kanyhalos

Thanks. I prefer to show it on video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kd5-...ature=youtu.be

Kanyhalos

My supplier suggest that I should buy the newest Taigen metal tracks with closed pins, plus metal sprocket the G idler wheels. He believes that it would fix the problem of the track slippage. What do you think guys? Should I go for it?

Also yesterday I noticed that my tank starts to struggle if it's approx 10 meters away. It was with full battery charge and new AA batteries in the transmitter. I never had this problem before. It was outside in the park. What could be the issue?

sergeantseabass

I don't think that metal tracks and gears will solve the problem of slippage. I think it more just a tension issue. As far as the signal that your system seems to be struggling with is it a Am or 2.4 Htz radio. If it is an am radio I would recommend that you rswitch out for a 2.4 radio system. Also you the problem could be with interferance that you have in the house or around your neighborhood. Hard to say for sure but knowing what kind of radio system that your working with would be a help into figuring out what the issue might be.

Kanyhalos

I've got the HL 27mhz system. I removed the upper hull and noticed that the crystal in the socket is loose. I put it back all the way. I'll test it today to see if that was the problem.

Regarding the issue of the tracks, the supplier said that my plastic tracks are soft and they bend easily, that's why the track guides jump into the grooves. That wouldn't happen with the metal tracks, he says.