Brian's 2017 NO. 10 LATE TIGER 1 BUILD

[Tom OBrien]

Christoffer, your insight on track issues is very much appreciated. Armortek should take your words and include them in their instruction manual.

Notably, when I park my tank (when I'm done playing with it), I loosen the tracks using the track tensioner so that it's as slack as it can be. This takes tension from the tracks when not in operation and may avoid track stretching. Inevitably, you are correct to warn that no matter how perfectly tracks may seem to be aligned, tensioned, etc., you're going to have issues and so, you should be prepared to deal with them as they occur.

Here's another observation -- I noticed that when the tracks are "too loose", they tend to "sag" slightly outward from where they normally sit on the road wheels and sprocket. I noticed when looking straight down from above the front mud flaps, which are at right angles with the hull, when loose, the tracks that sit on the drive sprockets are not perfectly parallel with the front edge of the mud flap. When the tracks seem "tight enough", they no longer sag and are perfectly parallel with the mud flap front edge. Has anyone else noticed this?

Also, critically, when adequately tensioned the tracks are still supported by the road wheels beginning at the 3rd or 4th road wheel from the front.

Brian, your lift is great. How well is it balanced on the lift platform? The advantage is, if it's stable enough, you can work on it at eye height -- good idea health-wise.

cheers... Tom

[Brian Ostlind]

Tom, that’s right no tank is perfect. Just look at the originals, they had all sorts of problems. Have you researched the field modifications that the mechanics used to make during ww2? The list for just the Tiger I tank is longer than your arm and they are quite technical!

The lift is totally stable the entire tank floor is supported from side to side, front to back with 1/4” steel plates. I try to make everything kid safe since I have a two year old and I wouldn’t leave it fully raised unless I am right there next to it. I think it is nice to get everything at table top level or higher.

[Tom OBrien]

Brian,

As part of my early days in tank development, we were given "lessons learned" from tank development as far back as the British in WWI. I haven't researched German tank field modifications but now I'm interested and will do that while it's snowing outside.

I'm sure you've already considered safety with a two year old around. Mine are grown and have flown the nest but a nearly 300 lb object is still potentially dangerous even for adults.

I ordered a jack and it should come in a couple of days. I look forward to using it instead of my ancient Egyptian method using 2 x 4 levers and blocks.

Tom

[Brian Ostlind]

I discovered I made an error putting in the swingarm o rings. I put them outside the lower hull plates instead of inside the plates. I am working on removing my swingarms and moving the o rings inside the hull. Whoops.

[Brian Ostlind]

[Vince Cutajar]

Was that first swing arm behind the sprocket touching the sprocket teeth?

Vince

[Brian Ostlind]

Possibly...I haven’t addressed the scratch I’m hoping it’s nothing.

Was that first swing arm behind the sprocket touching the sprocket teeth?

Vince

[Vince Cutajar]

When I set my sprocket at the recommended distance of 16.5mm from the hull, I noticed that the sprocket teeth were just missing that swing arm. So to be safe I set the sprocket to 17mm instead. Most probably having the O rings on the outside of the hull did not help.

Vince

[Brian Ostlind]

I got all my swingarms off, some of them seized and needed a little motivation from a crowbar. I will rest my knuckles and redo the rest later.

[Tom OBrien]

Brian,

When building mine, I recall some irritation that the instructions were not clear about how to install the O-rings on the swing arms. I watched Oddball's you tube on his build and he showed installing the O-rings from the outside, compressing each and working them into the hull where they are supposed to sit. I was able to do this with just one o-ring with much difficulty before I realized they should be installed from the inside, through the brass race. They seated well once I got them installed from the inside and there was no issue with the swing arms riding on the O-rings and as a result, sitting out from the hull inappropriately. .... I have no idea how Oddball got his to seat from the outside.

I think this is one of the more if not the most critical parts of the build.

I also realized that it's critical to make sure the torsion bars are seated properly, with the grub screws securely fastened according to the directions. I use thread lock ("BLUE" or mid-strength) for all fasteners but would recommend using "RED" or high-strenght for the torsion bar grub screws. Make sure the grub screws are secured against the flat part of the torsion bars. (I recall the design is such that the default position of the torsion bars situate the flat part of the torsion bars where they should be).

Tom

[Brian Ostlind]

Had a long day tearing the suspension down and getting the o rings set. A few broken tools later and some blow torching and I got the right side rebuilt correctly...I think! I did forget about the grub screws under the hull, doh. That was a little setback. It will be very interesting to see what happens next. I am tired but I can hopefully rebuild the left side a little quicker now.

[Brian Ostlind]

Got the left side all put back together and took it for a spin. Looks like it’s all running correctly. Lot of work but it payed off.

[Vince Cutajar]

Good to hear that Brian. Will you be experimenting in loosening the tracks by adding maybe one track link? In my humble opinion they look too tight which can lead to premature breakage of the track links.

Vince

[Armortek]

Good to hear that Brian. Will you be experimenting in loosening the tracks by adding maybe one track link? In my humble opinion they look too tight which can lead to premature breakage of the track links.

Vince

Vince, keep in mind that in Brians latest pictures the tank is jacked up so the roadwheels are hanging down.
Only way to see if the tracks "look" right is to get the tank on the ground and loaded.

Kian

[Tom OBrien]

Brian, what's the easiest way to upload photos from a mobile device? I can share it to my email, then forward the email but can I share directly to the forum site?

Thanks,