poor traction issue, suggestions please!
 

hey guys, lately ive been mainly using the tank for rough terrain. driving it over globs of snow and ice and attempting to drive in rough places. most of the time i manage to get through woithout alot of problems, but i have been noticing that on semi steep angles and whatnot that the tank just doesnt seem to have enough traction. is there any mods or tweaks i can do to the stock tracks to get more grip on the snow? i was thinking of maybe fliping the tracks around 180 degrees to get more traction but im not sure if that would help. i have noticed that if i attempt a spot that i get stock on backwards the tank will sometimes be able to climb right up it. im pretty sure that grip is alot to do with it and perhaps weight maybe a factor aswell, however there is a significant amount of weight in the front too. any tips, tweaks, or mods for the stock tracks to obtain more traction on snow would be greatly appreciated, thanks

RE: poor traction issue, suggestions please!
 

You must remember These vehicles act just like the real ones. They DO HAVE LIMITS as far as degree of angle they are able to traverse.<div> Other than adding some more weight you dont really have any options. </div><div> High torqe motors and gear boxes. SLOWER MOTORS with MORE Torque. </div><div>  You are having an issue that you are compounding by wanting a dragster tank. Every time your on you want to go faster. </div><div> It's a TANK, it AINT meant to go fast</div><div> Speed or Traction, you cant have it booth ways. You have also been told how to achieve either desire so it's time to do something about it for your self.</div><div> Turning the tracks around will only make the situation worse as they are a DIRECTIONAL track. It is optimized to travel in the direction it is mounted</div><div> Look up the Bulldog and find out what it's real operational limits where.</div>

RE: poor traction issue, suggestions please!
 

i understand that it has limits but on the snow at low angles it sits still spinning the tracks, and i know that it can climb much steeper angles on non snow surfaces so im guessing it must be the tracks. the only reason i asked about flipping the tracks around was because in reverse it seems to climb stuff much better. perhaps this is due to the weight of the motors and gearboxes. i will add more weight to the front and see if that helps. as far as the speed goes, im thinking of having 2 setups for it, during the summer when there isnt snow to go climbing through id like the tank to run faster, and have more traction in the winter. i could have both simply by switching the gearbox and motors for summer, and then switching to the other setup for the winter months. and im not looking to make it a dragster, it is just wicked slow right now. for speed i have a modified traxxas rustler which serves the need for speed quite nicely. ill get some videos of my tank running on flat ground at full speed. to me it doesnt seem as fast as other bulldogs ive seen. also the trim slider for left and right on my controller is set all the way to the left just for it to run straight. could this have something to do with the tanks speed?

RE: poor traction issue, suggestions please!
 

i decided tonight to pull the gearboxes out and do the break in procedure to it. i used the method of running the gearboxes with toothpaste in the gears. i also used a 12 volt power supply for it. i probably should have done this sooner but my tank only has around 5 hours of actual drive time on it. but after doing the break in and driving it again it seems to have a significant increase in speed. ill get it out tommorrow for a full test run but im pretty sure that as of right now i might be happy with the speed. i also ran the motors individually out of the bearboxes with the 12volt power supply to break in the brushes. cant wait to try it out. it not only has more speed but it also seems to be less noisy and runs smoother. ill post back tommorrow with some info.

on a different not im considering buying several small screws and screwing them in through the inside of the tracks with the tips pointing down to give it some more traction. then again doing this might require several hours of drilling and screwing them in. not sure if i want to spend that much time doing it lol

RE: poor traction issue, suggestions please!
 

Hi you are siupposed to break in motors at low voltage 3v or less if you used 12V you probably buggered up the com and brushes worse than when you had the motors in the tank.
also if you want better traction try CA glueing a few rubber pads on some of the tracks that should give you a little more bite.

RE: poor traction issue, suggestions please!
 

It sounds like he's having traction problems, not torque problems. If the tracks are spinning, slower motors and 3:1 gear boxes probably won't help. Snow and ice are going to be slick. If it goes up better in reverse, try adding weight and see what happens, it's cheap and easy. If you want to run in snow, maybe look at a tank with a more aggressive, wider tread, like the Tiger 1 or maybe the KV-1? Not sure why you can't have speed and traction. Seems like two seperate things.

RE: poor traction issue, suggestions please!
 

im pretty sure the motors are just fine being broken in at 12volts. ive broken in alot of motors using 12 volts and never had problems. the reason i used 12 volts for the break in is to get a higher rpm and thus getting a quicker wear on the brushes. i tested it all out after breaking in the motors this way and the tank is running much better. im gonna add some more weight tonight and give it a go tomorrow and see how it runs. hopefully we dont get any fresh snow fall so that i can test it out with the added weight in the same spots i had trouble getting up today. i will also pick up some rubber and ca and try adding the pads to the tracks. hopefully that and the added weight give it the traction im looking for

RE: poor traction issue, suggestions please!
 

Not true you just did more damage than good... the reason why you break in a motor at low voltage is so the brushes don't ark (spark) alot and 100% fully shape and mate to the Comutator so your motor gets most effecent. What you just did caused alot of arking being you ran a motor rated most probably at 8.4 volts limit at 12V you brushes where arking like crazy fouling the comutator from the extra hight voltage and extra strain... You need to do some web researching on electric RC motor break in and learn a good old lesson.

RE: poor traction issue, suggestions please!
 

i am aware of that shen, and while i was running the motor i could see the brushes through the cooling holes on the sides of the motors. there was no arcing going on. had there been i would have stopped what i was doing. but it is highly unlikely that i did more damage than good considering the tank is running better now than before.

RE: poor traction issue, suggestions please!
 

You sir are now on your own. Seems that you have no interest in the expertise and opinions of the people who know what they are talking about.<div> just because you did not see sparks does not mean they where there. in fact you would most likely not see them. At high voltages and high RPMs the sparks are hotter and smaller and cause MUCH more damage. The reason it runs better now is there is less resistance from the com and brushes. have no fear this wont last long as your motors are about to eat them selves.</div>

RE: poor traction issue, suggestions please!
 

Snow and ice will effect all tanks 1'16 or 1;1 scale. I have slid down an iced over road sidways in an M-48A2, so no biggy when your M-41 looses traction....Maybe snow getting up under the belly....happens. If your tracks are spinning, that's probably it....Tanks cannot plow through deep snow banks.

RE: poor traction issue, suggestions please!
 

may i insist in putting a plow on the damn thing and RAM your way throght? just saying a plow could be what you need, not only would it add wight in the front but if it was down you could possibly plow your way through and set it right so less snow is under your belly and more under your tracks

RE: poor traction issue, suggestions please!
 

That's an M-41. No Bulldog ever had a dozer or plow...it's a high speed recon tank, not an engineer vehicle.

RE: poor traction issue, suggestions please!
 

Sliding sideways down an icy hill in an M-48? I believe I would be changing my armoured underwear after that manouver!

Mike.

RE: poor traction issue, suggestions please!
 

after running it today with some added weight it does in fact run better, but the tracks are the problem. if i run my fingers along the tracks they are smooth, so im going to add the rubber pads as suggested. and patton you are right there are alot of instances where it is rubbing on its belly. when that happens i try to find a path where there is less snow for the belly to get stuck on. adding the weight made a great difference as did breaking in the motors and gearboxes.

panther G, thanks for the "expertise" on the motors eatting themselves, that was very "technical" of you to point out. a year from now when the motors are still going strong i will be sure to bring it to your attention

RE: poor traction issue, suggestions please!
 

Please do but they wont last that long . I'll be here long after your gone so we'll see.

RE: poor traction issue, suggestions please!
 

ok panther think what you want.

RE: poor traction issue, suggestions please!
 

Another one confuseing tanks with dune buggies. Like was said probably bottoming out the hull and tracks just spin.

RE: poor traction issue, suggestions please!
 

shen, the rubber pads your talking about do you mean just cut my own rubber pads, or are there pre-made pads that can be used? if there are pre-made pads would you have a link for them? thanks

RE: poor traction issue, suggestions please!
 

as i said, thus why you put the dozer on the front to make your own path lol plus the wieght

RE: poor traction issue, suggestions please!
 

They used to make a set of tracks for the BD with the rubber pads but I haven't seen them in a long time... Ask around, maybe someone has a set they will sell to you.

RE: poor traction issue, suggestions please!
 

lol yeah that could be an option but i doubt i would like how it would look with a plow on it. im gonna try shens idea of adding rubber pads to the tracks. that should give me a little more bite which i think will be all i need to conquer the obstacles.

RE: poor traction issue, suggestions please!
 

i think i may have found the ideal machine for my winter needs. its the electric kyosho blizzard. it has ridiculous incredible traction on the snow. and despite popular belief it also has speed and traction, which was said to not be possible. the price tag is a bit hefty but considering what it is capable of i think its an ideal tracked vehicle for me to use in the snow. check this badboy out!!

http://www.google.com/url?url=http:/...uQ&amp;cad=rja

RE: poor traction issue, suggestions please!
 

WOW DB that is more like a snow jetski throwing up rooster tails like that, the reason the tracks on that are better is because they are mesh like hollow tracks so they allow small pockets of snow through to aid grip. Tank tracks are pretty much solid so they sit on the snow to spread the weight, hence you get grip problems, especially if your tracks have pad's on them it makes it even worse. Drill holes in the pads to let the snow etc throgh like the kyosho ones and it might improve it but you will not have realistic tank tracks anymore your choice. You must also realise these are 1/16 scale, so something that is say 15mm deep is about 2feet deep in scale terms, like someone has already said everything has it's limits, especially SCALED UP to real world terms...........Still enjoy the snow while you can.
Here in England snow brings everything to a stop with grip problems, so youre not alone me old son.........

RE: poor traction issue, suggestions please!
 

What tank is it and do you have metal/plastic tracks?

What PantherG says is right and you're right about your motors still running in a years time. The thing is they won't be running as efficiently and although you'd never notice the difference they will be putting more of a strain on the electronics and it's the electronics trying to protect by breaking in the gearboxes.