robin craig Posted December 9, 2011 Share Posted December 9, 2011 Can anyone tell me what length an individual link of either of these two types of track should be new vs worn? Is a worn track link physically stretched or is it the bushings that get worn? I have the opportunity to buy some track that is part used and need to gauge what life they have before I commit to a deal. Any help appreciated R Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
landyandy Posted December 9, 2011 Share Posted December 9, 2011 stretching depends on wether its drive cog in track or on outside Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andym Posted December 9, 2011 Share Posted December 9, 2011 That's actually a very interesting question. I've always assumed the links stretch, but perhaps it makes more sense for the bushes to wear? The FV430 Maintenance Instructions give the following wear limits: "Guide Horns, side face: 3.2mm (1/8") on either face, Forward driving lugs of sprocket apertures: 4.8mm (3/16"), Track pad well: remaining depth 7mm (5/8") minimum. Inspect links for cracks, especially in bush bore areas and side faces of guide horns. Check bush bores for elongation and other malformation." A more pragmatic test may simply be the number of links remaining, a new track is 90 links and the BLR limit is 86. If you've still got 90 links per side it's a pretty good bet there's lots of life left? Andy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robin craig Posted December 10, 2011 Author Share Posted December 10, 2011 Andy, good info there, as to how those dimensions are measured would be interesting to put against a diagram of a track link. I know what you are saying about links left on a vehicle, but what I'm going to see is links in stillages! R Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andym Posted December 10, 2011 Share Posted December 10, 2011 Unhelpfully, there's no picture in the manual, just the words. Even if the tracks are in a stillage, is there still a chance of counting the links? It seems logical that if there's the full 90 per side or close to it, the tracks can't be that worn. If there's only, say, 87, you know they must be pretty far gone as the other links will have been removed to achieve the correct tension. Just a slightly lateral thinking way of addressing the issue. Andy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robin craig Posted December 10, 2011 Author Share Posted December 10, 2011 Andy, your not understanding what i'm writing! I'm going to see MANY tons of the stuff R Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Pearson Posted December 10, 2011 Share Posted December 10, 2011 Andy, your not understanding what i'm writing! I'm going to see MANY tons of the stuff R In the old days, speedometer turning back was common but people that did it never replaced the pedal rubbers or the drivers seat springs so it was relatively easy to spot. Why not use the same process? 1. Look at the bushes in the end of the links: if they are loose then link is scrap anyway, even if it is only 10 minutes old! 2. Look for marks/wear patterns from the sprocket contact 3. How worn are the rubber trackpads or have they been replaced? All three together should give a good idea of previous use and thereby remaining life. You are wasting your time with measurement systems in my opinion. The steel of the link does not stretch past it's elastic limit so with no load it will be the same whether used or not and under tension I cannot imagine the stretch is measureable. What is commonly called track stretch is in fact the accumulation of small amounts of wear at each link joint. With dry track (eg Centurion) you can see the ovaling of the holes and steps in the pins but in rubber bushed track (432, Sherman etc) there is almost no pin wear and wear in the rubber is hard to spot although you might see some ragged edges perhaps? One last thing: rubber bushed track is usually described as "live" which means that laid flat on the ground, the ends will curl upwards. Any lengths that don't lift have rubber bushes that are loose either in the link or on the pin bushing. The affected link joint is "dead" and just flops flat with no tendency to lift up. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andym Posted December 10, 2011 Share Posted December 10, 2011 Andy, your not understanding what i'm writing! I'm going to see MANY tons of the stuff R Aha - you didn't say that! :-) Andy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robin craig Posted December 10, 2011 Author Share Posted December 10, 2011 Dear John, Thanks for that input, that was my spidey sense as far as it having a natural curl to it but as I don know everything I thought I would throw it out there to see what you wise men would say. Im guessing I will spend a day humping through the track as best I can. The signs of wear at the sprocket contact point will be a big clue as to why the track was "CAST" in the first place. As surplus track it must have been disposed of for a reason and thats why i'm on high alert as to what I will be looking at before buying it. I have experience of some CVRT track and that is what was guiding me. Many thanks R Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
exrock Posted December 10, 2011 Share Posted December 10, 2011 CVRT We started with 64 links for a new track and when it got to 62 a new track was put on, I crewed CVRT in the RAF Regiment for 15 years, you'll find links stretch , a natural habit for metal under stress. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FourFox Posted December 11, 2011 Share Posted December 11, 2011 Must have been the shortest CVRT built. My Scorpion was built to have 80 links per side (Non turreted variants had even more). In practice I managed to remove 2 links of new track during fitting, but it is still very tight without much pressure in the tensionners. I make that 78 links per side! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
exrock Posted December 18, 2011 Share Posted December 18, 2011 one stands corrected........it's been nearly 20 years since my last track bashing!!!:-( Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robin craig Posted December 19, 2011 Author Share Posted December 19, 2011 Apparently there are only a few CVRT links for me to view on thursday, rest is all 432 track. R Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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