Armortek

I have been breaking allot of track pieces lately, mostly the track pins are bending, I was just wondering how often you do maintenance on them. All the pieces seem tight, could the track be to lose. The Arizona rocks aren't that forgiving either. Are the new fasteners to hold the track pins better then the previous ones. Any thoughts are appreciated.

Respectfully


Alfred Pfaff

Alfred

Which parts are you breaking ?

If the track pin clamp bolts have been tightened down completely, they don't grip the track pins as well as if they are only partially tightened - but then they required thread lock to prevent them from coming undone.

It was discovered on the M4A3 Sherman that placing an M2 nut between the clamp and the end connector stopped the clamp from bending too much and made it possible to tighten the bolt and nuts completely.

This is the picture from the Firefly instruction sheet:
If the track pin clamp comes undone, and the end connector comes off, the high tension on the Sherman tracks will bend the track pins easily. BTDT

My Firefly kits have the new machined clamps, but I haven't built them yet, so cannot say if they are better than the original system

Adrian.

I appreciate it Adrian, I do not believe there is a nut between them like that pic. I think I will undo all the parts and re-due them since I am sure its been at least 8 years or more since they were put together.

Respectfully


Alfred Pfaff

Alfred,
I've used the original clips with no issues in my Sherman for several years. But I loctited the small nuts on the end connector clips - this prevents them from separating as Adrian mentioned. The Sherman's tracks run quite tight - they will not like rocks in the idlers at all. Try to avoid that if possible.

I have set of the new end connector parts. They are nicer than the clips and will not bend like the clips. I found them to be quite snug going into position. Once in place - Loctite the nut.

I also run my tracks a little looser than the manual states. This gives a little bit of foreign object forgiveness in the idlers. But I also try to run at scale speed - to avoid shedding the track. High speed 360's and pirouette's should be avoided.

Best regards,
Bob