Tamiya Pershing roadwheel problem
 

I own a tamiya pershing for 2 months and recently I notice cracks in my idler road wheels thus I took them apart and found that the plastic is breaking apart from the insides. I thien procced to take all my road wheels out and found that every one of them have the bearing support broken. Is this normal or is the paints I used to paint of the ABS plastic causing them to become brittle? I used testors spary paint of the tank.

There is a gap between the bearing suppot plastic and the rest of the wheel do I need to fill it with soem sort of glue to increase support and if so what glue shld I use. I have already ordered 5 spruce As to get the roadwheels but I want to prevent this from happening again. Please advice, thank you

RE: Tamiya Pershing roadwheel problem
 

Did you instal 'after market' bearings? There have been reports of leaky bearings that cause the problem you describe.

RE: Tamiya Pershing roadwheel problem
 

Yes I got some bearings from a bearing distributor locally. So you are sayingthat the bearing oil of the after market bearings causing this problem? If so I shld go back to using the original bushings that came with the tank? How abt the rumour that the grease tamiya supplies for the bushing points also cause a similar problem is this true or false? Thank you

RE: Tamiya Pershing roadwheel problem
 

I have had a Pershing since they first came out and never had a problem with the roadwhells like you. Yes it sounds like the bearings are the problem, there have been some similar reports to yours and the leaky bearings were the cause. I am not saying you should only use the bushings that came with the tank, but obviously not the brand you bought again. Perhaps some of the others can advise on good brands to get. I stayed with the stock bushings and as I said, no probs with them. I have never heard about any rumor that Tamiya grease could cause your problem, so I can't discount the possibility that it caused your problem although it should not be necessary to grease bearings anyway. In any case I don't even lubricate my bushings as grease can assist in accumulating 'crud', they work fine without grease.
Hope this helps, sorry to hear about your bad luck.
Do you run your tanks with the Singapore Club?

RE: Tamiya Pershing roadwheel problem
 

Its ok, I changed o the bearings coz I read in some forums(not sure where) abt the tamiya grease(small blue tubes) will coz problems to the plastic of teh road wheels and then I alrdy had teh grease inside the bushings so I panicked and bought the bearings. Lil did I know that teh bearings will cause similar problem. Worst thing now is that I lost 1 set of the bushings and have to order a whole pack just to get replacements. Btw, did you fill up the gap btw the bushing stays and teh rest of the roadwheel with glue? This is for teh inner road wheel only. Thank you again

RE: Tamiya Pershing roadwheel problem
 

Sorry, I can't remember:D

RE: Tamiya Pershing roadwheel problem
 

you should always fill gaps ,
excessive free play will make the 2 surfaces hit themselves(knocking)and it will make the plastic crack.

petroleum greases will dry out plastics(cracking)
go with non petroleum ,graphite powder or silicone lub.

personally i would roll them dry(bearings) to get the squeaking sounds.
(they dont turn fast enough to seize ;)).

RE: Tamiya Pershing roadwheel problem
 

My King Tiger is around 20 or so years old. When I first got it about 6 months ago, I disassembled the roadwheels and found that it appeared the brass bushings were actually rotating in the roadwheel against the plastic.

Of course, the parts that were supposed to be moving weren't, but it probably wouldn't be a bad idea to either grease the road wheel where the bushings fit as well as the moving parts, or find a way to make them tighter in the wheel. I ended up greasing both the bushing and the place where they fit into the roadwheel just to be sure.

@Schutzstaffel,

Squeaking sounds real cool and all, but it usually means you have friction, which could lead to wear. Even at the slow speeds, the weight is probabaly enough to do some damage to something over time. The reason I took the roadwheels apart on the King Tiger in the first place was to find out what was squeaking. I'm glad I did.

RE: Tamiya Pershing roadwheel problem
 

Thanks everyone for the advice will get some new bushings and run the tank dry at the momenta nd service them every once so often.

RE: Tamiya Pershing roadwheel problem
 

i understand what your are meaning >>>capncrunch,
but i was talking about ball-bearings(should have type ball-bearings).
was thinking b-b.

of course you should lub bushings,will last longer :D:D.
but it is good that you have made that point come out.
best regards cap;).

RE: Tamiya Pershing roadwheel problem
 

So lubing teh bushings is fine as long as we do not use petrolum based grease? Thus I need to find graphite powder or lithium grease. I think I will run teh bushings dry when my replacements come.

RE: Tamiya Pershing roadwheel problem
 

at least put cooking greasse or something from girls make up(lipstick? oil of olay?) less armfull for now till...

RE: Tamiya Pershing roadwheel problem
 

The Tamiya ceramic grease is not the problem at all. It is very safe for plastic. Probably non-compatable grease in those bearings I would suspect.

I purchased my Pershings bearings from these people [link=http://rcboyz.com/]RCBOYZ[/link] which they sell bearings that are not only sealed, but have the plastic safe grease in the bearing so it will not harm the plastic wheel.

Going back to the stock bushing is okay, just use the Tamiya ceramic grease. I even used it with the bearings as additional protection.


Jeff

RE: Tamiya Pershing roadwheel problem
 

Hi Panther F thanks for teh info, but I was not refering to the ceramic grease but the clear grease that tamiya provides and is applied as per instruction. These come in small blue plastic tubes. Will look at the bearings thank you

RE: Tamiya Pershing roadwheel problem
 

I've put ball bearing in my pershing and I think they came from Towers with no problems. Plus they were cheap- $30.00.

RE: Tamiya Pershing roadwheel problem
 

Planedev:

You can probably salvage the bearings if you're patient. Rubber seal, teflon, or metal? For any of the three, you can use RPM's 'Bearing Blaster' developed years ago to blow old lube and sand out of bearings on the offroad cars:

http://www.rpmrcproducts.com/product...hires/8117.htm

Tower Hobbies: http://www2.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...?&I=LXEV92&P=M

I've used it to rejuvenate bearings and maintain ball bearing lifetimes. It can also be used to blow out 'bad lube' or plastic-hostile lube, and then you can run them try or use it to blow in some graphite or something else. I've yet to see if it'll handle the rubber-shielded ones I got off Walawala... before he changed suppliers.

The other way was one I used in my pre-Blaster days, which was soaking my metal-shield ones in varsol. It removed the lube from the bearings to float on the top, and then I re-lube'd with my lube of choice. This won't work for teflon seals, as the sealant on the teflon dissolves, and it'll probably destroy the rubber seals.

If you're REALLY patient, and the bearings are good, you can use a straight pin, and pop the seal rings, and then remove the seals to soak/clean the bearings. I've done this but its not easy, as sometimes you end up with the spring-rings going flying in a form of 'tweezer-pult as the photo-etch and small parts assemblers call it.'

RE: Tamiya Pershing roadwheel problem
 

how patient is really patient? can you give us idea how long it will take? should I take a day off to do this?

RE: Tamiya Pershing roadwheel problem
 

I thought the bad bearings were the rubber sealed type?

As far as grease I use Super Lube on my Tamiya Tiger and Sherman even in my gearboxes and turret ring this stuff is fantastic;

http://www.flyfishusa.com/reels/super-lube.jpg

Water & Saltwater resistant

More reliable lubrication, outlasts petroleum based greases and oils

Remains free flowing in freezing temperatures
Will not stain or harm wood, rubber, leather, plastics, fabrics and paint.

Won't drip, run or evaporate

Repels dirt, dust, grit and grime

Prevents rust and corrosion while reducing friction

Long Lasting

Compatible with conventional lubricants

Reduces friction and wear

Reduces Maintenance

RE: Tamiya Pershing roadwheel problem
 

Hi CJ, sounds like a fantastic lube so what brand is it? 'Super lube'? My bearings are metal shielded type, I have never blown bearing oil out of bearings b4 so I am not too sure how one does that. But Ithink for now I will stick to the bushings and run them dry, plus fill the gap in teh inner roadwheel between teh bearing supports and teh wheel with epoxy just in case. I dun want to tak eanymore risk with my new road wheels.