RC Tank Warfare community hobby forum

The Aisatam suspension on my elefant has the issue where the prongs go through the hull and there is a screw that goes in to hold the arm to the hull. The prongs usually break off as the metal is weak and the arm falls off the tank. the newer ones have a steel prong instead of the cast metal and so it is stronger. The other problem is where the suspension flexes between the two wheels. there is a spring in there and the metal that holds and goes around the spring is very thin and weak, It breaks right there and there is no way to fix it. I think the hooban one is plastic and at least it can be glued and reinforced if need be. Hope that clears up any confusion about the suspension

deathrawt wrote:The Aisatam suspension on my elefant has the issue where the prongs go through the hull and there is a screw that goes in to hold the arm to the hull. The prongs usually break off as the metal is weak and the arm falls off the tank. the newer ones have a steel prong instead of the cast metal and so it is stronger. The other problem is where the suspension flexes between the two wheels. there is a spring in there and the metal that holds and goes around the spring is very thin and weak, It breaks right there and there is no way to fix it. I think the hooban one is plastic and at least it can be glued and reinforced if need be. Hope that clears up any confusion about the suspension

Hi Death, hooben ones metal (but better metal) the only plastic bit on the suspension are the wheel bodies and the plastic covers you glue on to the back of the suspension which aren't load bearing at all. In the hooben the thin bits are a single thicker piece which should cause no issue. Do you have any images of the failed part in the asiatam?

Kiaser wrote:Thanks tomhugill I realize you have done a lot in this department just happy to chat about the subject to look at the Pro's and Con's it is a big exceptional unit

This thread has inspired me to crack mine out and get it sorted! Been fine tuning today, noticed that I've got the replacement steel shaft swing arms spare so any issues I can just swap them out. Running outside it really is a beast, it moves much more realistically than lighter models and the extra weight really helps the traction turning on grass. Yes its got its negatives and some of the bits are a bit crude but nothing that cant be fixed! I

Hi Tom, I do have a pic of the failed Aisatam suspension but I don't know how to post up pictures. I don't have a photobucket or anything so I am not sure if I can
Thanks for the info on the hooban suspension. I have the hooban kit nib but didn't pay attention to the suspension obviously as I thought it was plastic

Bottom line is the suspension is and was still the problem with the Elefant and also the Porsche Tiger...It really isn't the compound that it is made of..it's the general design used to replicate that elbow joint...the Asiatams will fail in time on the metal chassis...will probably last a little longer on the lighter Hooben...As it is mentioned...they are of the same design ....It really isn't the tank itself that puts stress on that joint...though it does add to it...it's the spring inside the elbow that does it ...."THAT"...and how it is applied is the flaw

ALPHA

ALPHA wrote:Bottom line is the suspension is and was still the problem with the Elefant and also the Porsche Tiger...It really isn't the compound that it is made of..it's the general design used to replicate that elbow joint...the Asiatams will fail in time on the metal chassis...will probably last a little longer on the lighter Hooben...As it is mentioned...they are of the same design ....It really isn't the tank itself that puts stress on that joint...though it does add to it...it's the spring inside the elbow that does it ...."THAT"...and how it is applied is the flaw

ALPHA

The spring does not really put much force on that joint, the end stop on the back end of the bogie limits the travel and is what takes most of the force. What force is in the joint is distributed through it and even though they look fairly thin they're very strong in tension (which is what is acting on them)

Just for clarity here are pictures on both the hooben and asiatam bogies

First up the asiatam:

As you can see the "elbow" is supported by two circular sections, with a gap in between for the spring. I should point out that the bogies are made out of the same material our tracks are made from the joints of which are under greater tensile forces with less joining area (ie where the track pin goes through) and they don't tend to break....





Heres the spring arrangement:



Here is the weak point I originally mentioned, where the shaft is milled out, however as you can see this is the updated version and this part has been replaced with steel which is plenty strong enough.



suspension disassembled



Now we come to the hooben suspension, the joint is supported by one much thicker cast piece, absolutely zero chance of this breaking under normal use!





The down side is that the spring is sandwiched between both (rather than being sandwiched between the two halves of one side like on the asiatam) which means there is more play in the joint (which is the real failing of the hooben design)

Heres the shaft which bolts through the hull:



Its pretty similar to the end of the swing arms in torsion bar suspension and is made from stainless steel so its super strong compared to the zinc allow that even tamiya use in their suspension arms.

Anyway hopefully that gives some more detail on the two suspension designs (and how the elbow joints completely different)

I will say the asitam bogie in the pictures is nearly 6 years only (its from before the full metal elefant was actually released) and has not had any deterioration.

Good night folks

The spring tension is present compressed or not ...it puts constant stress on those two arm attachment loops...they will eventually fail

Thanks for posting pictures...it illustrates the flaw in the design

ALPHA

Thanks for the pics Tom, yes those two circular sections on the Aisatam suspension is what failed on mine. Your photo shows how thin the metal is on that part

Yup the photos do help a lot...this one probably the best

those two retaining loops is what broke on three of the arms on the metal hull that was lent to me for measurements,,,the rest of the photos show that there isn't all that much improvement to the design...the fact that asiatam addressed the issue proves the issue has been present for awhile ,,,the picture with the spring exposed also shows that the pressure is constant whether compressed or raised off the ground...weakening it on the Hooben might prolong the life of the elbow connection

ALPHA

Kiaser wrote:Thanks tomhugill for doing this, much appreciated

Your welcome fella