BRDM Driver Posted September 8, 2018 Share Posted September 8, 2018 I'm sure this has been asked before, but I could only find photos of a track change while the wheels were off... So procedure is: Park with a good 1-2 vehicle lengths of space behind. Split track on one side at front, between bottom of sprocket and road. Drive forward off of track and allow lose track to run back over wheels. Old track will now be behind vehicle. Replace old track with new track. Drive back onto new track until vehicle is back in original position. Use sprocket and rope to winch other end of track back over idler and wheel until it engages with sprocket. Use track clamp to bring ends together and drive in pin. Repeat for other side. Always keep an eye out for mudflaps getting caught up in the track! Does that sound right? Should the track tension be relaxed first? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
terryb Posted September 8, 2018 Share Posted September 8, 2018 no. 1 remove front and rear mudflaps 2 release track tension completely 3 midway between front sprocket and first roadwheel remove trackpin (it helps if you fit the track clamp and flex the pin removal joint to app. 13 degrees-this allows the pin to be slid out) 4 join new track to old in front of vehicle 5 slowly and smoothly drive onto new track until new track has arrived over top of sprocket. 6 remove track pin and disconnect old track 7 fit chock between track horn and second road wheel (to prevent vehicle running off front of track) 8 drive very slowly forward to bring two track ends closer together and apply parking brake 9 fit track clamp and then remove chock 10 it is important that the two ends are married together precisely, with 13 degree angle between them to allow the hexangonal bushes to align. Applying too much force/incorrect angle will destroy bushes/pins essential tools to have are; track clamp, long drift, bush alignment tool, copper mallet good luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sirhc Posted September 8, 2018 Share Posted September 8, 2018 If you don’t have space you can do it how I did mine: http://www.livesteammodels.co.uk/dhmg/sabre001.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BRDM Driver Posted September 8, 2018 Author Share Posted September 8, 2018 1 hour ago, terryb said: no. 1 remove front and rear mudflaps 2 release track tension completely 3 midway between front sprocket and first roadwheel remove trackpin (it helps if you fit the track clamp and flex the pin removal joint to app. 13 degrees-this allows the pin to be slid out) 4 join new track to old in front of vehicle 5 slowly and smoothly drive onto new track until new track has arrived over top of sprocket. 6 remove track pin and disconnect old track 7 fit chock between track horn and second road wheel (to prevent vehicle running off front of track) 8 drive very slowly forward to bring two track ends closer together and apply parking brake 9 fit track clamp and then remove chock 10 it is important that the two ends are married together precisely, with 13 degree angle between them to allow the hexangonal bushes to align. Applying too much force/incorrect angle will destroy bushes/pins essential tools to have are; track clamp, long drift, bush alignment tool, copper mallet good luck! Hi Terry, So the new track is joined to the old track on the end that's flat on road. When you drive forward, what do you do with the other split end of the old track? It's going to want to collect at the front if it's still engaged with the sprocket? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
terryb Posted September 9, 2018 Share Posted September 9, 2018 when you get ten links of old track clear of the sprocket, take out he track pin and put it to one side. Easier to handle and stack than a whole roll of track!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BRDM Driver Posted September 10, 2018 Author Share Posted September 10, 2018 So just out of interest how many links should there be on a Scorpion? The old track has 78 and the adjuster was close to end of travel. The new track, which I have just unrolled and checked has only 76 links.... The user manual declines to pick a number due to 'manufacturing tolerances' Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BRDM Driver Posted September 11, 2018 Author Share Posted September 11, 2018 Well despite being short changed on one set of track by 2 links, I managed to change both sides in a day, single handed! I followed Terry's plan of taking off 10-12 links at a time as they come off the top of the sprocket. It does take a bit longer but the track is more manageable single handed. First side took 5 hours, but that did include getting all the right tools sorted out and teaching the misses how to drive forward and backward slowly! (her first time even getting in it bless her!) Second side took 2 hours 15 mins! Not too bad. All toes and fingers accounted for. Tips for anyone else doing this, while it's fresh in my mind: The track clamp is a total bas*ard and will drop off at the slightest provocation even when you think it is on tight. Don't leave anything you value under it (feet, hands etc). In fact I ended up chocking it up underneath to keep it in place as I tightened it. It's not only dangerous, as it's heavy, it's really annoying when you get close to getting the links together and it suddenly just drops off and you have to start again. Make sure you have the proper track pin drift holder and 2 drifts. The short one with the head on and the long one that's pointy. Use the pointy one to help align the track bushes when putting the track pins back in. Learn the exact angle you need to flex the links to get the pins in. It's not as much as you think (13 degrees) so if you go too far they will not go in. When bringing the track together with the clamp, don't clamp it too hard. There has to be a gap of about 2mm so the bushes align properly. If a track pin is hard to get in or out, check the track clamp tightness is just right and that the links are not in line (13 degrees kink). You'll need a decent breaker bar to wind in the track clamp. I wouldn't recommend using any sort of power/air tool to do that as you need to feel if the track links are binding. A battery drill with a socket drive on does make taking up the slack quicker. Sometimes the centres of the bushes can be a little proud and will catch on the track links as you bring the links together so you need to get in there and tap them on the edge gently to get the links to come together. Make sure you have a lot of grease. The tensioners take quite a lot to go from empty to half full. Watch your arms/hands when releasing the tensioner ram grease. The ram can stick and then suddenly collapse bringing the top run of track down onto the wheels suddenly. I found some 432 track clamps useful for joining the old track to the new track as they work on either side of the track (pad or horn side) whereas the CVRT clamp only works on the outside (pad side) of the track. So bringing together track that laying flat with it is a PITA. Get at least 6 lengths of 4x2 and stack them three high on either side of the new track horns as you spool the old track off. They will allow the old track to ride over the new track and not get caught up. Otherwise you have to support the old track as it comes off over the sprocket and it gets heavy after 5 links! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlienFTM Posted September 13, 2023 Share Posted September 13, 2023 On 9/10/2018 at 11:26 AM, BRDM Driver said: So just out of interest how many links should there be on a Scorpion? The old track has 78 and the adjuster was close to end of travel. The new track, which I have just unrolled and checked has only 76 links.... The user manual declines to pick a number due to 'manufacturing tolerances' Sounds to me like your old track was younger. 76 links is the minimum link count for a Scorpion and once it stretches, it's u/s. With 78 links, you have scope, when it's stretched beyond adjustment, to remove one link and adjust. Then repeat later when it's stretched again. At 76 it's stretched to its maximum. I THINK, but it's best part of 50 years since I did B3 Scorpion D&M, new track was 79 links wrong. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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