Track wear.

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Adrian Harris
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Track wear.

Post by Adrian Harris »

A question for those who run their Comets regularly.

What's the track wear like ?

Looks like mine needs some work on the toe-in...

20220709_222131.jpg

The wear is so bad that the inner ends have broken off most of the track links.

I'm assuming this means the wheels are splayed out, so all the weight is on the inside of the track links.
I'll get it out of the workshop and spin it over to check the angles of the axles.
I know both sprockets are rubbing badly and there's something funky going on with the idler.
Some videos to follow...

Adrian.
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Phil Woollard
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Re: Track wear.

Post by Phil Woollard »

I've never seen the ends break off like that before, the material is getting very thin I suppose and it just fractures. You need new tracks Adrian.
The comet is one of the best runners and lots of hard surface use at shows is going to wear them out.
I've seen this type of wear on well used full size Tiger 1 and many of my own Tigers, the mechanics of heavy engineering. You will need to replace the road wheel axle bushes, the wheel bearings and that idler issue needs addressing to in a similar way , or just replace the tracks and carry on!
I very much enjoy this type of maintenance.
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Jerry Carducci
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Re: Track wear.

Post by Jerry Carducci »

We need run time counters for our models! In order to do regular maintenance and checks....

Jerry
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laurent ROSSET
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Re: Track wear.

Post by laurent ROSSET »

Very similar to the 1/1 Vimoutier Tiger track wear
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John Clarke
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Re: Track wear.

Post by John Clarke »

That's the Comet, people race them around like a sports car.
Because it can. But.
The light that shines twice as bright shines half as long :D
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Adrian Harris
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Re: Track wear.

Post by Adrian Harris »

Pretty sure the idlers aren't supposed to do this:





I wound one of the ratchet adjustment screws back to be able to remove the tracks but the other one was as found.
I also checked the left hand idler retaining screw and it is done up as tightly as I dared, so no idea why that's so loose as well.

Sprockets rotate nice and freely, until you put any kind of sideways pressure on them:





Adrian
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John Clarke
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Re: Track wear.

Post by John Clarke »

Nope, I dont think their supposed to be like that Adrian :|
I think it might be in need a service sooner than later. :(
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Adrian Harris
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Re: Track wear.

Post by Adrian Harris »

Interesting that this Comet (Dennis Jones ?) from TankFest 2019 has exactly the same track wear pattern as mine.

DSC_0572b.jpg

Adrian.
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Tim Biersma
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Re: Track wear.

Post by Tim Biersma »

Hi adrian

The tracks on my comet are starting to look the same.
I'll try to switch the left to right and right to left, so they wear off the other side two.

Greetings tim biersma

Didier Molard
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Re: Track wear.

Post by Didier Molard »

even if not running regularly i have not that kind of wear, but checking the wheels, i found some of the screws holding the suspension arm on chassis to be loosened, and kept in place by the cover on outer hull.
inner nut (big one) was wandering in the chassis
this allow the suspension arm as well as the roadwheel to rotate a bit left to right

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