lthump

[8D] Myself and a friend have worked out a fix for heng long tiger 1 suspension. The original suspension is all forward, as in the suspesion arms. The end result is it all works better going backwards ?? We looked at this and it's not just that the swing arms are all forward ( yes WE know they are one forward one backward on the real one) but that they are located to high as well , were the axels go through. the solution is not expensive . You will need two 50mmx6mm x 340mm aluminium bar. cost me 20 aus dollars x4 . We re-alighned the holes for the springs so the swing arms would face backwards and were as [b][/b[b]]low as possable. They now act and look like tamiya suspension. It will now ride over a broom handle without raising the tank body , its all in the suspension. Very much improved. I have some pics Hope they join on.

Perry S.

Good god brother. That thing has side armor.
Perry

lthump

You need 11mm holes for your original springs -32mm - (no less) apart from centre to centre, I am using new 30mmx 6mm bolts and drilling out to 6mm the new metal swing arms ( Plastic will work). I am also chamferring down the bolt heads on a lathe to bugger all ( you can file down if no lathe) so they fit inside road wheels. The aluminium is drilled to 5.5mm in the centre of the 11mm holes and then threaded to suit 6mm bolt. when bolt is screwed to exact position anut is applied to the inside hull position to lock axels in place, also assuring 90% to hull. I asure you all that it sounds harder than it is.

lthump

Oh yes+, It does improve the strength of you tiger as well , hehe, realstic armour

lthump

Adds a bit of wieght too !!

lthump

Please believe fellas , is not that hard. Ask questions, I will try to answer.

lthump

Ok , didnt mention , 11mm wide holes are 4mm deep into aluminium, you need 6mm but plastic sidewalls are 2mm , so 4mm deep into aliminium.

thedonut

Agree with you that it works better with trailing arms. This is what I did to my Tiger but went about it differently. Check it out in the link below. There's an attached video showing the suspension at work.

http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/m_67...tm.htm#6768080

chinito_03

my GOD! thats a thick side armor there... nice one!

lthump

Yes thedonut, that was a good change. Simpler than what I'm doing here. I have lowered the axel attachment point as well, to as low as it can go. Its now in the proper position , were heng long could have put it. This means the swing arms travel more up and down rather than backwards forwards .The combination of switching the swing arms to point backwards and lowering the axle , spring , point as low as it can go on the hull gives you tamiya performance running gear. Not to mention the strengh of 6mm bolt axles. It also gives me a point to attach a bearing for the drive shaft , so it is solid as well. The whole effect gives a strong tank feel to the tiger.

lthump

This photo shows more clearly one aspect of what we did . The axle hole has been moved to be more where it is supposed to be (Lower)

lthump

OK , I guess everyone knows all about it, I thought i might have something you all would be interested in. my bad.

swathdiver

Give it time brother! A few years ago this type of work was all the rage, now many just order the Asiatam lower instead. In the coming days more will see your work and appreciate it even if they do not comment on it.

lthump

Thankyou swathdriver, I'm not after a pat on the back , just thought more would be interested.

Perry S.

OK Ithump, it looks good. This takes me back a bit. As swath said, 2 years ago, most posts were of this nature. Tons of hull/suspension fab, home made 3:1 gearboxes when nobody had heard of them, endless smoker fixes. Now a days it all seems most just buy the new upgrade parts as opposed to doing stuff like this. It's really too bad. I like it. The posts that get the most amount of responses are conversational posts or paint job posts. Oddly build threads get very few. An injustice.

Couple questions. So you have your pivot points now. How will you push the axles through the swing arm and into the hull. The arc's are now pointing backward. Will you cut more. Also, you now have this 1/4" thick aluminimun strip in there, right where the gearboxes are supposed to go. How are you going to handle that?
Perry

lthump

Thankyou for your reply, Perry S. The swing arms are drilled out to 6mm to suit the 6mm x30mm bolts that are now the axels. The bolts push thru the swing arms ,which rotate freely, the spring is added ,and then the bolt is screwed into the alum plate which is only 1.5 mm thick at that penetration point. once the bolt is screwed to the desired position a locking nut is applied to the bolt on the inside of the hull.This locking nut also has the desired effect of making the axles a neat 90% to the hull The aluminium plate has now got all the wieght and pressure transferred to itself. I will make new holes in the plastic hull sides to match the plates spring holes. The old dissused spring holes and travel limit holes will now be filled with bog or fibreglass. The gearboxes were so tight a fit that it almost had me stop .There is just enough room, with the exception of the first axle locking nut , which I will need to either file or cut a round hole in the side of the gear box, probably both. I will also need the longer drive shaft of the bulldog gearboxes the make up for moving the gearboxes in . altogther it hasnt been to hard. The aluminium plate was deliberately taken thru to the front so it can be used for a bearing insert for the driveshafts. Hope that cleared up your questions , anymore queries I am only to happy to answer.

Perry S.

Post some pic's please

lthump

I'll be tied up for a few days , I'll get some pics when real life takes a break.

lthump

My friend has completed his tiger with this change and , wow does it run good. It now has the excellance of a Tamiya running gear for 30 bucks. He can drive over a broom handle and the tank chassis does not move , it is all in the running gear, looks awesome.He has stated that this is the best mod ever. For those of you who have a standard Heng long suspension , drive it backwards over a broom handle and you will see the difference from going forwards easily.