New HE King tiger- sticky wheels and idler/gear sprocket bea

[Marc780]

The plastic wheels are sticky, most of them turn with too much resistance. Few spin freely like they should. I gave up the idea of machining in some bearings since I'm keeping the plastic for now, but if anyone has installed a metal sleeve or some such I'd be interested in your mods...After I paint I think I will at least take the wheels off and use some silicone grease on them (I have several jars of this stuff for my PCP airgun, and the Hill pump that powers that) this grease won't damage plastic unlike other greases.

I've been looking at posts from people who put bearings on their idler wheel and motor drive shaft and seriously thinking of doing that. So far the mods are home made, glue a Bearing to a reinforcing plate of alum or styrene and attach the plate...any ideas anyone?

[Fishtank]

You could try taking the wheels off and putting a washer behind them. That will stop them over tightening when they roll forward

[Marc780]

That's an idea, that would help for one side probably. Perhaps I'm overthinking here, maybe the most I should do to the wheels is polish the steel axles, grease them and forget them. The wheels are unacceptably stiff to turn though so I'm looking for the most effective if not most elegant approach to fixing that.

[palepainter]

When I reassembled my Tiger1, I used axle/bearing grease on the axles. It worked great.

[dgsselkirk]

I know there is a technical name for them but it escapes me...
You want the washers that have a slightly raised rounded suface not the perfectly flat ones. I find they work great. That is really unusual that you have a lot of the wheels sticking. I might find one or 2 that usually have a little burr on them or something that can easily and quickly be fixed..

[lister fiend]

i have a heng long k.t & had to use washers to stop the wheels fouling on the suspension arms.
it cured my problems.
right up untill the suspension arms started fatiguing
there's always something else to go wrong

[Fishtank]

I think in some cases its always worth taking any tank you get to pieces, that way you get to know the tank and also see whoever put it togethers shortcuts and little mistakes.
Ive had 4 tanks so far and the only one thats had no real issues was the M26 Pershing.
I think the TIGERS / King tigers have a more complicated road wheel set up and much like the real tanks get over stressed too easily with standard parts.
Have faith its well worth it when all these little faults are cured.

[Marc780]

i have a heng long k.t & had to use washers to stop the wheels fouling on the suspension arms.
it cured my problems.
right up untill the suspension arms started fatiguing
there's always something else to go wrong

By fatiguing do you mean they cracked? Did you drive it a lot or are they just subpar for the weight of the model? And Did you then just get the metal arms if so can I ask where you found em?
?

[lister fiend]

hi marc,
it's quite a heavy tank as stock.
i put metal tracks & idlers on & it weighed a tonne,
my poor old henntec idlers couldn't cope with the weight & thats when the suspension arms started breaking.
so went back to plastic & bought metal arms from wdm.
not sure on a state side supplier though, there torro ones, so you'll have to mod the bolts as well as there held by a little grub screw & not self tapping.
hope that helps
lister

[PainlessWolf]

Marc,
I worked through this a couple of years back with the same HL King Tiger. I wound up using the Tensioner with metal tracks, sprockets, idlers and suspension arms with heavy duty springs. The suspension arms were from Asiatam and worked well except for bringing the lead road wheel on the driver's side too close to the sprocket. New metal suspension arms available from HL have since resolved this problem. Two years on, the tank still sits level and runs like a charm. You can have heavy metal on your tank if you prep the chassis for it.
regards,
Painless