Idler wheels on Taigen lower hull, Tiger 1

[RenoirLV]

Hi,

I have an early Tiger 1 with Taigen lower hull with torsion bars and other good stuff. The one thing that has been bothering me since the very day I bought it is the position of idler wheels. They sit too high for historic accuracy and also for decent track clearance. Has anyone found it a problem and how to fix it?
All early versions of Tiger 1 have the centre of the idler wheel roughly at the same height as the centre of the roadwheels. On this Taigen hull it is not possible. Adjust what you may the idlers are still way higher that the other wheels and the clearance is very small at the back. It may even get worse if you increase track tension they may start hitting the hull release screw on the left side.

[RenoirLV]

Thanks, just browsed through my pictures and realised that I dont have any decent pics of my Tiger. Just a bunch of garage shots on a newspaper... I guess my life story will need to come later.
As concerns the height of the roadwheels, Im sure you are right about the top alignment. I have seen some tanks where the centre is aligned to roadwheels, including on pictures of the incredibly good and expensive Aero-mate Tiger. Being on the same level would be fine for me. But the tracks sit higher at the back. It is typical of late edition Tigers but not early.

[RenoirLV]

Last night I went for the obvious thing and removed one track link from each side. That did help lower the idler position as it now stands closer to the rear set of the roadwheels. Still it's not level with the top of the roadwheels. It may even be the case that the suspension arms are too high. It looks ok when I press the bottom part of the tank down.
The HL chassis is more accurate in this respect. I have a track tensioner installed and with that the look is perfect.

[RenoirLV]

I thought you'd be able to get the heng long roughly visually correct.

So, by removing a track link, is the number of links historically correct

Joking aside, how does the Taigen run now?

Mick.

What is the correct number of track links. 98 or 99? I didnt count on this one.
It rides OK. Still cant handle snow well. I couldnt help it and tried yesterday. Went too far obviously as one track went off the idler wheel and got the entire side stuck. Was full of snow. It still can handle only very thin layers of snow.

I have seen in numerous pictures of real tanks that the preferred tension of these tracks used to be so that the tracks touch the 3rd set of roadwheels.
Some extremists on their models make the tension so that the track does not touch any roadwheel... That is crazy.

[gp100]

I have no clue on a HL. But, on my Taigen all metal mid-version tank, there are exactly 95 links per track.. My tracks are metal however, so I'm not sure if that makes any difference.. I simply adjust my tension until the tracks touch all the road wheels.

They aren't super loose, but aren't tight either.. I give them an even balance that makes it where they are tight on the sprocket and will not come off.. Seems to work great. They have never come off or jumped a tooth.. And they run great in the snow or grass.

They have enough flex to them, that going over an object still lets the tracks flex with the suspension.

Here's how I set them.. I hold the tank up and if I can put my pointer finger barely between the third wheel set and the track, (under the wheel) then that's fine.. (to the first knuckle)

Then I repeat for the other side.. just my way of doing it.. seems to be the way that works for me..

[jarndice]

The tracks on a Tiger 1 are at their optimal position when the first road wheel the track touches after the sprocket is the SECOND one,
The first road wheel should not be touched by the track as it passes over it at all.
Shaun.

[Tiggr]

Until I saw this thread, I had not even considered the idler wheels.
This is one of my Torro Tigers.