RC Tank Warfare community hobby forum

Hi Andy,

There is quite an easy fix for your floppy roadwheels. I foresaw this problem when I was building the Geppy so I got a fistful of flanged bearings from Technobots, drilled out the wheels, removed the traces of flash from the stub axles with a fine file and popped them in. There was a very small ring of bright metal showing when the caps were re-fitted which could be touched up with paint, but I didn't bother because it showed up so little and soon got dirty. I had to cut the caps off short, but there is still enough length there to fit them using Loctite.
While I was at it I also polished the bearing surfaces at the top end of the swing arms and the inside of the supports where they go through the bottom of the hull (1200 wet & dry followed by Brasso) and lubricated each with a drop of spray chain lubricant (Halfords). This made a big difference to the suspension.

Peter

I used brass in the end on my wheels. If you see my thread on my build.
http://www.rctankwarfare.co.uk/forums/v ... =21&t=3736" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I'll have a look at the other thing you said about the upper part of the swing arm and the hull entry point.

Andy

Hi Andy,

Yeah, there are two soft metals there and the surfaces were none too smooth on mine. Some of that liquid PTFE lube might be better, but I didn't have any.
The other thing that I don't like there is the rather thin strip of ally angle that the inboard end of the swing arms go through. I keep thinking I will replace the strips with some square ally bar & some nylon sleeve bearings, but it means a major strip down to get at them.

By the way, do you happen to know if the standard tracks from the Leo2 will fit the Leo1 sprockets?

Iain is hopefully right about the Gepard (he usually seems to keep his ear pretty close to the ground). That will no doubt p*ss off the people who ask silly money for them of FleaBay!

Cheers

Peter

Hi again Andy,

Yes, I did follow your build thread. I've just looked at it again and one thing that does occur to me is you have what looks like brass-on-brass on your roadwheels. Thats a good idea, but the only time I've used brass-on-brass is in the recoil on my T34, where I have a brass tube end on the barrel sliding in a brass sleeve in the mantlet. It has caused problems.
I don't use it all that often and I've found that if its left for a while it can stiffen up, particularly if there is the slightest trace of condensation in the room. A couple of times the brass had oxidised so badly the recoil would not work at all.

I don't like using petroleum based lubes near plastic because they can de-nature it so I tried a smear of the Tam ceramic grease. That helped, but not for long. I'm currently trying a silicone based stuff (actually some very thick grade diff oil) used very sparingly and it seems to be working, but its a bu**ar to shift if you get it on the paintwork!

Just a cautionary note, I would hate to hear that you tried it after a lay up and found your roadwheels had turned into brakes!

Peter

Cheers Peter

Hmm locked road wheels that would be a sod. I'm tempted to try hellerman oil, its pretty good for lubing rubber sleeving before soldering. it is as far as I know non-reactive and would probably work well. I'll let you know. I also use a dry waxy
lube on my racing bike and might try that as well. Thanks for the heads up on that.

Andy

You're welcome!

I know the Hellerman stuff, seems very similar to diff oil. The Abbey 35 gun oil used on ABS airsoft pistols is also similar.

What is the stuff called that you use on your racing bike? Available from Halfords?

Peter