RC Tank Warfare community hobby forum

The are nice little 1/30 2.4G Heng Long Infrared battle tanks. I bought a set a new set recently (Pershing & Sherman) so I now how 2 sets. The radio gear in these Tanks are very good and are excellent for other projects. I like the M26 model but it seems to have a short battery life compared to the Sherman so decided to look into it and realized the tracks are a bit tight on this model and there is no way to adjust them but after looking at it discovered a way to decrease the track tension and decrease the the track turning resistance at the same time. When I first looked at this tank from a side profile, Something was off, after some time I realized the road wheels are all touching the ground at the same time. After removing one of the suspension arms I figured out a way to fix this problem. When turning in place with this tank, there is a lot of ground track resistance. By changing the angle of the front and rear road wheel on each side the tank performs better and has a longer run time of the small 600mAh lipo battery.

In the next post I will show how this mod is done if any interest

As you know, the road wheels should all be keeping the whole length of the track on the ground. As far as I can figure, the only means to overcome the friction while leaving all the road wheels on the ground would be a more powerful motor and/or reduced gearing. Fitting more powerful motors or reducing the gearing may not even be possible without major modifications. Do you think I understand correctly?

Herr Dr. Professor wrote: ↑Wed Apr 09, 2025 2:53 am As you know, the road wheels should all be keeping the whole length of the track on the ground. As far as I can figure, the only means to overcome the friction while leaving all the road wheels on the ground would be a more powerful motor and/or reduced gearing. Fitting more powerful motors or reducing the gearing may not even be possible without major modifications. Do you think I understand correctly?

Yes, but in this case of a underpowered model, with no spring suspension, This is a solution that improves overall performance of the model. Being that is is an inexpensive 1/30 model, This is the way to go.

Oh I forgot to mention that the tracks are too tight on this model from the factory with no adjustment. Moving these road wheels a few degrees adds a little slack to the tracks thereby using less power and increasing performance. I think on real tanks the spring tension is more in the center road wheels depending on balance front to rear.