NEWB - help with Heng Long 1/24 tank treads

joelspangler · Post by **joelspangler** » Wed Dec 27, 2023 1:03 pm

Complete tank newb here. I purchased three Heng Long tanks for myself and two boys this Christmas (the Japanese type 90, German Leopard 2A5, and USA M1A2 Abrams). All 3 suffer from tank tread problems, where the treads get stuck keeping me from being able to turn consistently. Sometimes the whole tread even just falls off. I can't seem to drive more than 10 feet before having issues. I see for some of the larger tanks there are adjustments to tighten up the treads, but I'm not seeing any way to do that on these. Does anyone have any tips on how I can make these better?

Herr Dr. Professor · Post by **Herr Dr. Professor** » Wed Dec 27, 2023 2:57 pm

Hello joelspangler! I wish I could help, but I am rather unfamiliar with the 1/24 tanks, except that I think they are quite nice. (I gave two to a 1/77, 1/72, 1/35, and 1/24 and more expert here on RCTW, so I am hoping he will jump in here and help out.)

modler · Post by **modler** » Wed Dec 27, 2023 3:22 pm

joelspangler wrote: ↑Wed Dec 27, 2023 1:03 pm Complete tank newb here. I purchased three Heng Long tanks for myself and two boys this Christmas (the Japanese type 90, German Leopard 2A5, and USA M1A2 Abrams). All 3 suffer from tank tread problems, where the treads get stuck keeping me from being able to turn consistently. Sometimes the whole tread even just falls off. I can't seem to drive more than 10 feet before having issues. I see for some of the larger tanks there are adjustments to tighten up the treads, but I'm not seeing any way to do that on these. Does anyone have any tips on how I can make these better?

Greetings joelspangler, And welcome to RCTWF, Yes, that is why these HL 1/24 Tanks are not all that popular. They need a few mods to iron out the bugs in the tracks.

First off you do not want the tracks tighter as they WILL break. I have a mod for tightening them up a bit due to stretch around the pins area.
What surface are you running them on? These do not do well in hi traction situations like running on carpet. Short Indoor outdoor carpet maybe. Best to run on a smooth hard surface until you get the tracks sorted out.

The gear box which is excellent has a L\R spring loaded tracking sprag which helps keep the tank tracking strait when moving forward or reverse but puts a big load on the tracks especially when running on a hitraction surface. I believe the spring tension in this "sprag" is a bit too hi. This spring sprag works like a Slip Differential between the tracks. more info here
viewtopic.php?t=34148

Herr Dr. Professor · Post by **Herr Dr. Professor** » Wed Dec 27, 2023 7:40 pm

joelspangler: now you have met the 1/77, 1/72, 1/35, and 1/24 and more expert--or one of them at least. Is there any chance of photos? I have not seen good photos of any of the three you have, so even that would be fun for me.

joelspangler · Post by **joelspangler** » Thu Dec 28, 2023 2:39 am

I can't pretend that I can take better pictures than the promotional pictures by the vendor, so here are some links to MotionRC where I purchased mine. I'll eventually take a picture or two of my own and post here when I do, but these will have to do for now.
Japanese type 90 - https://www.motionrc.com/products/heng- ... lg3808-001
USA M1a2 - https://www.motionrc.com/products/heng- ... lg3816-001
German Leopard 2a5 https://www.motionrc.com/products/heng- ... lg3809-001

We've been running our new tanks indoors, which for me is mostly carpeted. It does work a little better in the one room where I have linoleum, but honestly, I'm quite disappointed in not being able to use these on carpet. I haven't tried outdoors much as it's cold and rainy here in Pennsylvania. We shot airsoft off of our covered porch, but didn't try them in the grass or on our gravel driveway.

The gear box spring tension is a bit over my head - is there a way to adjust it? The other thread talked about disabling the slip dif, but said that isn't for beginners, which myself and my two sons (14 and 11) would definitely qualify as.

For "high traction" surfaces such as carpet, would adding something like slippery tape over the rubber treads help, so the treads themselves are the slippery surface, instead of needing to go to the only non-carpeted room in my house (which isn't a very good spot to play).

Herr Dr. Professor · Post by **Herr Dr. Professor** » Thu Dec 28, 2023 4:09 am

Thank for the links. I would hesitate about any kind of tape. I would be concerned that the tape might come off and jam up under the upper hull, potentially harming the gearing.

modler · Post by **modler** » Thu Dec 28, 2023 1:57 pm

joelspangler wrote: ↑Thu Dec 28, 2023 2:39 am I can't pretend that I can take better pictures than the promotional pictures by the vendor, so here are some links to MotionRC where I purchased mine. I'll eventually take a picture or two of my own and post here when I do, but these will have to do for now.
Japanese type 90 - https://www.motionrc.com/products/heng- ... lg3808-001
USA M1a2 - https://www.motionrc.com/products/heng- ... lg3816-001
German Leopard 2a5 https://www.motionrc.com/products/heng- ... lg3809-001

We've been running our new tanks indoors, which for me is mostly carpeted. It does work a little better in the one room where I have linoleum, but honestly, I'm quite disappointed in not being able to use these on carpet. I haven't tried outdoors much as it's cold and rainy here in Pennsylvania. We shot airsoft off of our covered porch, but didn't try them in the grass or on our gravel driveway.

The gear box spring tension is a bit over my head - is there a way to adjust it? The other thread talked about disabling the slip dif, but said that isn't for beginners, which myself and my two sons (14 and 11) would definitely qualify as.

For "high traction" surfaces such as carpet, would adding something like slippery tape over the rubber treads help, so the treads themselves are the slippery surface, instead of needing to go to the only non-carpeted room in my house (which isn't a very good spot to play).

That might work. The gearbox in these Tanks is quite robust and has a "Slip gear" for each motor so no worries about that. I have all three of these tanks and they are the best you can get for the money. I see they are ~$80 which is less than I paid for mine. I broke the track on one of mine running it hard on a high traction surface. I fixed the track with 2 staples. I modified the staple for less width and pushed it through the broken track right where the metal pin goes through. They tend to stretch and finally break there. You might want to buy some extra tracks. I have seen them on ebay. Some of these tracks are better than others. The older ones seem to be better. If you had some extra tracks, you could experiment with adding "pads" of some material like heavy tape or polymer. They problem is attaching the material to the rubber track.

It's a hobby keeping these things running

People here @ RCTW solve problems like this with all the time or get better parts

. This is a "beginners Hobby grade" Tank and can be modified for better operation. Being a "IR Battle Tank", these tanks see severe service of operation and will need service from time to time.

Some people here might say "get 1/16 with metal ITL tracks and metal gearbox etc, etc" and they would be right if you do not want these issues but then the money output is scaled UP to achieve that end of course

modler · Post by **modler** » Fri Dec 29, 2023 7:28 pm

More info on 1/24 Tanks here
viewtopic.php?t=34148&sid=a5c8e6a00c813 ... f4884a64f3

joelspangler · Post by **joelspangler** » Sat Dec 30, 2023 2:58 pm

Thanks guys. I'll probably attempt adding something less grippy to the treads to see how that works.

modler · Post by **modler** » Sun Dec 31, 2023 2:52 pm

joelspangler wrote: ↑Sat Dec 30, 2023 2:58 pm Thanks guys. I'll probably attempt adding something less grippy to the treads to see how that works.

That would work if you can find a way to attach "it" to the Tracks. I have the same problem with my 1/24 HL Tanks but used a different solution. I made up a current limit diode adapter that limits the power to the tracks through a voltage drop through the "Schottky diodes". This plug in mod makes the Tank more scale like with respect to Track speed and power.