RC Tank Warfare community hobby forum

Hi, Look on Ebay uk, seller is ramparama, F608 2RS Stainless steel flanged miniature bearing 8mmx22mmx7mm, are the ones I fitted
priced at £4.99 each.

Regards John

Meter rat wrote: ↑Wed Jan 01, 2025 9:46 am Oh dear, Mr Zooma. Welcome to the wallet emptying of the world of Challenger. I to have been through similar as you with my very own problematic Challenger. If you need any help you know where I am.
For the drive shaft out put bearings. They are readily available from bearing factors, and are sold for roller skates and skate boards. They will also be cheaper. Pavel has given you the size. Red motors in these make the world of difference in these large models. As you have found they are a tight fit, with very little clearance.
It would be well worth your time to brace the lower hull. I found that to get the metal tracks to the correct tension, the hull would distort, and flex, causing alinement problems , which caused the tracks to come off. Since bracing the hull, I have not had any issues with tracks coming off. I do run mine hard and fast, on S3 batteries.
Fail all else, it could be donated to the Dunoon sanctuary for unwanted Challengers.

Happy New Year Meter rat - I already have the address for the Dunoon Sanctuary for Unwanted Challengers - If I thought I could have thrown it that far it would have arrived at your sanctuary "by air" just after I bought it during Covid.

Now however, I will try to get it working with as little "wallet opening" as possible.........if, that is possible.

Getting the bearings is not going to be too difficult, but finding the best way to fit them in the hull is what I am looking at now. How did you fit your skateboard bearings into your Challenger 2 ?

Pavel's installation looks very professional, but I can't see how he did it unless he removed the plastic bearing and turned a collar to fit the ball bearings, but it looks like a fill of epoxy (or similar liquid fill) is covering it so I cannot see - but it does look very neat, although this is an area that will not be seen, so as long as I can find a method of holding the bearings firmly I will be happy.

I am thinking about "sliding" (after gently prising the motors apart) a thin slice of plasticard between the two RED motors to help stop the motor wires from shorting-out against the metal gearbox sides. The motors will pinch the plasticard firmly enough to keep it in place. Have you fond a better way to insulate them from the gearbox sides?

Any pictures of your chassis brace and axle bearing fix would be very helpful ....and much appreciated!

Bob.

This is the one that i fitted

Ludwig von wigbearer wrote: ↑Wed Jan 01, 2025 10:41 am Hi, Look on Ebay uk, seller is ramparama, F608 2RS Stainless steel flanged miniature bearing 8mmx22mmx7mm, are the ones I fitted
priced at £4.99 each.

Regards John

I have just found the bearings on eBay John and taken a look at them - that is another option for me to ponder over.

Did you just push the bearing in from the outside after removing the original plastic bearing?

I am looking for an easy (but secure) fix - preferably one that does not need any machining .

Bob.

Its a dead easy fit, it replaces the whole bearing plate/axle cover, much stronger than pushing a bearing into the original plate.

Hi, It pushed in from the outside without glue, I cant remember if it pushed straight in or if I had to remove any of the plastic to fit them.

It is looking like the Challenger 2 is quite a "needy" tank.

Once I have sorted the axle bearings, it seems that I will need to find some pictures to see how others have made a chassis brace !

Ludwig von wigbearer wrote: ↑Wed Jan 01, 2025 11:25 am Hi, It pushed in from the outside without glue, I cant remember if it pushed straight in or if I had to remove any of the plastic to fit them.

As a typical "bloke", tradition dictates - that I really should take a look in the Heng Long handbook that came with the tank (better late than never?) and at the back it shows the "official' bearing replacement kit that has a turned flange that is pushed in from the outside - just like your flanged bearing idea!

Your Challenger might be an older one than mine. The bearing should just push in from the inside looking at your picture. Mine just pushed in from the outside as it has the bearing support in place. I have a pair of aluminium supports if you want them? I am not sure how they fit, as they were not required for mine. There are some pictures of my hull brace in my build thread. Page 5. It is simply made from 25mm x 25mm x 3mm aluminium angle, from B&Q. Pavel, I believe used a flange bearing from the inside and secured it with epoxy? He also seals them from the outside to prevent ingress of dirt. Something I have found unnecessary as my bearings have seals. I have now fitted these output shaft bearings to all my modern tanks.
viewtopic.php?t=32250

Sorry, as for insulation on the motors, I just used a simple piece of tape over the motors. Nothing as elaborate as what you are proposing.