YUP...getting too deep into the science of he Hobby can take he fun out of it sometimes.... Just Doing it is more funbrizo58 wrote:Hi All,
You say you were in the RC cars in the 90's. I myself was there in the late 70's so a bit more time then you. As a few chaps have said here there is a lot of very experienced model makers on this forum who know how to upgrade and make there tanks and other RC models more efficent. Well that's my two bobs worth. Brian...
Stimulates the "little grey cells"Merlin707 wrote:It's actually good to see a healthy debate spark life over this.
The information gleaned from just reading these posts is very informative, keep it up guys.
Sometimes good...Sometimes not so good 
IMO....There just isn't enough "meat" where the bearings would sit in 1/16...I know people have done it... the idea of doing it just doesn't pan out for meSaxondog wrote:If I could, the 1/6th FOA wheels are plastic,the hub size(Dia)is actually smaller than the same hub on my H/L Jagdpanther. (scale conversion)
Boring required a two stage process to create a flat seat. Once I created a jig set for my small drill press and set the depth the process went pretty smoothly. Ok the point is this,the wheel set has been used on three Hull designs and at weights up to 305lbs. Only two failures and both due to adjustment issues of leaving the lock nuts loose and allow slack so the bearing could travel.
Absolutely makes a difference in the overall performance of the track system. Applying this to 1/16 might be difficult,even impossible for a home hobbyist without precision tooling. But the principle I have proven,originally the wheels as designed were spinning on metal shafts with no bearing.
The amps required to move the tank dropped substantially once the new wheel assemblies were installed and the smooth transition of shock through the wheels,axles ,control arms reduced. We notice the first Hull was very noisy,the effects of the shock through the metal hull.
After the wheel mods this affect was reduced,very noticeably, The only change being the bearings. That's my input direct from testing.
Interesting discussion and a welcome interaction between so many members,can't wait for our next adventure in RC Tanking.
cheers,Blake
When drilling out the holes it's better to not use a drill bit. If you can try to get your hands on a 10 mm counter bore bit. It will have a small pilot that will center on the wheel and ensure your hole is on center. Drill press is required to get them perfect.ALPHA wrote:Yup...that's the key....thing is not many have steady hands to drill a consistent hole in how many wheels with a hand drill....and not many have a drill press...so there is a greater chance of irregularities than perfect bores ...not to mention you are still thinning the surrounding material that was made for bushings or surface to surface contact...which means you are changing the tolerances set by the factoryEastern Front wrote: If you bore the hole correctly, you should have no wobble....
Yup that's what I've been saying...reason I said if the tank is under 12lbs ...there is really no need to install bearings...over that ...it's something to be considered because of the added drag........( the added weight )as far as weight is concerned, you will not have enough weight on the tank to have any "Structural" effect on the wheel or suspension.
when a Bearing is installed correctly the weight is distributed in the hub, not just on the bottom as you would believe. the plastic in your tank is a lot stronger than you think, unless you bore your holes out to the point where the shoulder of the hubs are less than say 10 thousandths of an inch, you will not have anything to worry about. On another note, most conversions to bearings require two bearings for each hub so side loading is not an issue either. Remember, the tank is supported but how many axles? if the tank weighs say 20 lbs or 10kilos and you have 18 axles like the King tiger has, then your loading per hub is .5 kilo per axle or 8 ounces US, so really do you believe your going to rip that bearing out of the hub? or cause the hub to create an out of round condition? Now you could argue that when an axle goes over something and it flexes there is more torsional loading, sure, maybe another .5 kilo of weight total 1 kilo felt by that axle... Remember no matter what you are distributing weight throughout all the axles.
On another point, bearing also allow a better reaction to the inertia, if you have a clark board you know what I mean, the tanks don't just stop, they will kinda coast to a stop...
Hope this helps you guys that were thinking of getting bearings.. Cheers!
This way of boring out plastic installing things that weren't meant to be there is "BAND AID" stuff....a real improvement would be to machine your own wheels axles etc...so tolerances can be kept at a realistic level...and you do not WEAKEN any stock parts....you have to remember the host foundation...that is ...a good percentage of the structure is plastic
So if you are really serious..... do it right..make your own parts so you can apply the proper measures so nothing fails
Yup that's pretty much it...reason I'm sticking to my guns
ALPHA
I have drills and a drill press...that's not the concern I have it's the thinning of the walls of the original bore of the wheelCanadianBulldog22 wrote: When drilling out the holes it's better to not use a drill bit. If you can try to get your hands on a 10 mm counter bore bit. It will have a small pilot that will center on the wheel and ensure your hole is on center. Drill press is required to get them perfect.
Chris
Do you remember the thread Tom? I couldn't find ittomhugill wrote:Chris, Edwin uses sensorless outrunners from hobbyking in his tanks with excellent results...
Thanks Eastern... I still pass...I just never found the residual effect of installing a bearing to be sound...especially since my tanks are all under 12lbs....now if I exceed that...I will definitely do otherwiseEastern Front wrote:
Again, Just for Alpha, if you don't trust bearings it all ok, but unless you know plastics (shear strength vs weight etc) you are missing out. But to say that the hubs after boring a hub do not have enough meat without actually proving it is really a disservice. I know the shoulders are adequate enough, I didn't trust them at first either so I set out to prove it to myself, and when you see that the type of plastic used (Styrene) it has excellent strength properties. This is the reason that the majority of model producers use Styrene or a form of it.
