All of the suspension, track, and motor mount work is done. Preliminary testing in the garage looks good. After slamming the controls forward and back, left and right, the motor mounts didn't move. I was intentionally being hard on it to see if anything broke. It was raining/snowing last weekend so I didn't get her out on the town, but hopefully this weekend I can get some vids of it in action again. I used some of those really cheap car seat springs ($1/piece) so that's why there are two of them on most of the suspension arms. One is under tension and the other isn't so it acts like a progressive spring. I used a different type of shaft collar on the pivots since the compression type collars I was using slipped due to lack of grip on the 1/2" carriage bolts. The new spring arms are grade 8 1/4" bolts. Basically they are just tightened to the point where they dig into the 1/2" carriage bolt and have yet to slip. I experimented with drilling holes in the 1/2" carriage bolts to accept the grade 8 1/4" bolts, but even using a vise and my drill press the holes always ended up in slightly the wrong place. The suspension arms have a square hole in them to accept the carriage bolts. That way I didn't have to weld any of the bolts in place. The motor mounts seem VERY solid now. I had to lengthen the drive chains by one link to have more space to bolt the "U" channel to the hull. The attachment chain track is on the sprockets pretty loose. I had backed my tensioning system all the way out during the re-construction and realized that once the new tracks were on, it really isn't needed at all at this point. That might change once I get it out in the real world, but the option to add some tension is still there. I put just enough tension on it to keep the rear axle from moving. The gray putty in the pic with the track under the mud flap was a repair I had to make. Somehow I couldn't get the old sprocket off and started knocking it off with my rubber hammer. Long story short, my aim isn't that good. Smacked the plywood and splintered it nicely. I used that two part putty stuff (no not Miricle Putty), but similar. The stuff dries very hard and is fairly simple to mold as long as you do it quickly. I finally got the electronics up off the bottom of the hull and mounted, but I still have to secure all of the wiring so it doesn't come loose in combat. Overall, it looks like a successful rebuild. It may not be pretty, but it seems to work well. Now....off to mount a marker. ;)
http://i154.photobucket.com/albums/s265/nitzerebbhead/Sturmtiger/IM000004-2.jpg http://i154.photobucket.com/albums/s265/nitzerebbhead/Sturmtiger/IM000005-2.jpg http://i154.photobucket.com/albums/s265/nitzerebbhead/Sturmtiger/IM000006-2.jpg http://i154.photobucket.com/albums/s265/nitzerebbhead/Sturmtiger/IM000007-2.jpg http://i154.photobucket.com/albums/s265/nitzerebbhead/Sturmtiger/IM000008-2.jpg http://i154.photobucket.com/albums/s265/nitzerebbhead/Sturmtiger/IM000009-2.jpg http://i154.photobucket.com/albums/s265/nitzerebbhead/Sturmtiger/IM000010-2.jpg http://i154.photobucket.com/albums/s265/nitzerebbhead/Sturmtiger/IM000011-2.jpg http://i154.photobucket.com/albums/s265/nitzerebbhead/Sturmtiger/IM000012-1.jpg Derek --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You are currently subscribed to the "R/C Tank Combat" group. To post a message, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe, send email to [email protected] Visit the group at http://groups.google.com/group/rctankcombat -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
