Is there anything I can do about my HL Tiger I pulling to the left? I suspect it's due from either a weak motor or unequal voltage to the motors. It pulls about 3-4 inchs every 6 feet.

My VS Tank (M1A2 Abrams) does the same thing when I drive it wide open throttle, but about 20% of the time it drives normally. I don't get it. It is like one of the motors is getting more power most of the time, but then all of a sudden the power equalizes.

It is the only time that it makes a nice, smooth turn around the driveway, though. [sm=tired.gif]

Have you messed with the trims? Or does that model not have trims?

Ice: How is the airsoft cannon on that Vs? How powerful and how reliable? Sorry to thread hijack.

Trims are glued

Have you tried taking out the gear boxes, cleaning off all the oil and reassembling making sure they spin equally free?

Or adding thick grease to the faster side to slow it down?

Model railroaders have struggled forever with this same problem. Getting two electric motors from the same manufacturer to run the same speed throughout voltage ranges is pretty much hit and miss. Add in slight variations to gearbox friction and you could be pulling your hair out in short order!

I would check for anything that might cause more friction in the side it pulls to. Short of that, unless there is the equivilant to the model railroaders solution (DCC control that equalizes starting voltage) you may just have to do the best you can. My cheapo tank does the exact same thing. It was so bad at first that it almost ran in circles! After looking for differences between the two sides and removing as much friction as possible, it still pulls to the left, but it is very slight.

Hope this helps some. []

Rocketman1959:

Well, the Marui guys have found sometimes one track scrapes. check inside the track guards on both sides, and see if one track is rubbing anywhere. you may need to remove some styrene to get it to rotate freely.

An extreme way to check if its the motors is to swap them about, but thats not a very fun task. It ~is~ do-able without soldering, as you unplug the connectors from the board plugs, AFTER you note which ones went where, and checking what polarity they were (with a meter if you can)

If the problem switches sides, its the motors. Not much you can do though you CAN get replacement motors (and ones that sloe the tank down)

The guys here know the full trouble-shoot: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/MaruiTankGroup/

Hope that helps ya out.

WhiteWolf

Mine is not the airsoft version. I bought a Leopard and an Abrams with the IR "lazers"(Dr. Evil), so I can battle in the living room with my wife. She keeps claiming that the tank's pull to the left is causing her to get killed. What a crock! It is funny how she keeps getting killed with the Leopard, too. I am just lighting her up......literally

After reading the other posts, I am starting to think that something may have worked itself loose....maybe the idler wheel screw. Perhaps the 20% of normal driving that I experience is when the parts all have the correct orientation rather than a fluctuation in power distribution.

Sorry to jump in here on your thread, Rocketman1959, but thanks, everyone! [8D]

That brings another thing up, Ice. When I first took mine apart, every piece recieved a L/R label in an unseen portion of the part. That way every thing goes together the way it came apart. I even found out that one of the sprocket and gear combos is very loose when attached on the wrong side of mine!

Okay. How about since I want to update the gearbox anyway, I just get the whole metal gearbox upgrade?

Rocketman1959:

Matotoys has it... as well as a lot of other upgrades: http://www.matotoys.com/canada/produ...products_id=71 (the gear set)

Note: You need ~two~ sets to rebuild one tank.

The only thing the guys have problems with is grease that stays on the gears... thats in another thread here: http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/m_3830566/tm.htm

That help you out?

WhiteWolf

Wolf, I bought the set off Ebay a little bit cheaper (US EBAY THOUGH). I also received the entire "set" with both gearboxes.