TheAmericanPatriot Posted August 23, 2020 Share Posted August 23, 2020 So the other day i had taken my FV103 Spartan for a couple mile drive around my town to a friends house and on the way there i had lost the rubber on THREE of my roadwheels. All of the rubber lost was on my right side track and im very new to heavy vehicles so i was wondering if you guys had any idea what the problem is or had experienced this before. Putsing around my field i had no issues with this and didnt lose anything on my roadwheels but apparently those few miles of road driving did the trick. If you guys have any advice at all please do let it on me cause i got wide ears ready to learn. Thanks guys in advance, Wyatt Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
john1950 Posted August 23, 2020 Share Posted August 23, 2020 Does one side usually stand with sunshine on it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheAmericanPatriot Posted August 23, 2020 Author Share Posted August 23, 2020 8 minutes ago, john1950 said: Does one side usually stand with sunshine on it? I would say both sides get about the same amount of sunlight, but i dont believe that is the problem as the roadwheel rubber was in great condition cracking and dry rot wise. I dont think it would have collected that much sunlight to cause the rubber to come off yet Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sirhc Posted August 23, 2020 Share Posted August 23, 2020 Welcome to CVRTs... the rubber will fall off your best looking wheels, and stay on the scabby horrible ones forever. Age, manufacturer and how they have been stored all play a part, but you can never tell when the rubber is going to come off. I once had the rubber come off on a bend, I turned and it went straight on. The solution to your problem is to keep plenty of spares in stock and buy the newest ones you can find. Chris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Herbert Posted August 23, 2020 Share Posted August 23, 2020 The problem is really the age of the rubber and the amount of use that it had already had. When you were in the field you would probably not have been doing the sustained speed that you did on the road and also the field would have been softer than the road, putting less of a washboard type load into the tires from the transition from link to link. As a stationary tire is loaded the rubber spreads in all directions and would recover to its original shape if the load was removed. However, when driving, the rubber in front of the contact point becomes the next bit to be loaded which has the effect of trying to push the rubber around the wheel in line with the direction of movement. With the addition of age and heat from the flexing and the weather it is not uncommon to lose rubber from what seemed to be perfectly good wheels. Any army tank depot will have piles of wheels with detached rubber waiting for re-rubbering. You may be able to find a company within reach that can re-rubber them or it is possible to do them yourself with polyurethane but you will need to make a mould and have a vacuum chamber to remove the bubbles. There are lots of videos on YouTube that could give you inspiration. I would strongly recommend polyurethane over natural rubber but it comes in many grades of both hardness (you need between 70 and 90 Shore A scale) and also toughness. You could have a look at the thread here of Jon Morris who is building a replica Pz2 from nothing and has just been rubbering his wheels. This is not a cheap process so if you can get some NOS spare wheels that could be more cost effective but you will certainly need some spares anyway. This is all part of the fun of tank ownership. Good luck. David Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andym Posted August 24, 2020 Share Posted August 24, 2020 Jobell Engineering in Cornwall have re-rubbered several FV430 wheels for me. The prototype pair has now done over a hundred miles on the road without incident. They will need a decent or new one to make a mould. Andy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sirhc Posted August 24, 2020 Share Posted August 24, 2020 23 minutes ago, andym said: Jobell Engineering in Cornwall have re-rubbered several FV430 wheels for me. The prototype pair has now done over a hundred miles on the road without incident. They will need a decent or new one to make a mould. Andy Hi Andy, I suspect Cornwall might be a bit far for TheAmericanPatriot to send his wheels! Chris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andym Posted August 24, 2020 Share Posted August 24, 2020 8 minutes ago, sirhc said: Hi Andy, I suspect Cornwall might be a bit far for TheAmericanPatriot to send his wheels! Chris I did wonder that, but if people don't complete their "location" field ... 🙂 Andy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Diana and Jackie Posted August 24, 2020 Share Posted August 24, 2020 Some info came my way about a batch of CVRT wheels that the MOD bought. The only way to put rubber on a CVRT wheel, or other armoured tracked vehicle wheels is vulcanising. It would seem some bright spark decided they would press the tyres on the wheel of a batch the MOD bought from them, not long after these tyres started dropping off. I wouldn't be a bit surprised if some of these wheels were appearing here and there. Diana Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheAmericanPatriot Posted August 24, 2020 Author Share Posted August 24, 2020 21 hours ago, David Herbert said: The problem is really the age of the rubber and the amount of use that it had already had. When you were in the field you would probably not have been doing the sustained speed that you did on the road and also the field would have been softer than the road, putting less of a washboard type load into the tires from the transition from link to link. As a stationary tire is loaded the rubber spreads in all directions and would recover to its original shape if the load was removed. However, when driving, the rubber in front of the contact point becomes the next bit to be loaded which has the effect of trying to push the rubber around the wheel in line with the direction of movement. With the addition of age and heat from the flexing and the weather it is not uncommon to lose rubber from what seemed to be perfectly good wheels. Any army tank depot will have piles of wheels with detached rubber waiting for re-rubbering. You may be able to find a company within reach that can re-rubber them or it is possible to do them yourself with polyurethane but you will need to make a mould and have a vacuum chamber to remove the bubbles. There are lots of videos on YouTube that could give you inspiration. I would strongly recommend polyurethane over natural rubber but it comes in many grades of both hardness (you need between 70 and 90 Shore A scale) and also toughness. You could have a look at the thread here of Jon Morris who is building a replica Pz2 from nothing and has just been rubbering his wheels. This is not a cheap process so if you can get some NOS spare wheels that could be more cost effective but you will certainly need some spares anyway. This is all part of the fun of tank ownership. Good luck. David Thanks i really appreciate the information. I'll look into that process and see what i can do with it. Would you say that losing the rubber all on one side was just a fluke scenario most likely? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheAmericanPatriot Posted August 24, 2020 Author Share Posted August 24, 2020 21 hours ago, sirhc said: Welcome to CVRTs... the rubber will fall off your best looking wheels, and stay on the scabby horrible ones forever. Age, manufacturer and how they have been stored all play a part, but you can never tell when the rubber is going to come off. I once had the rubber come off on a bend, I turned and it went straight on. The solution to your problem is to keep plenty of spares in stock and buy the newest ones you can find. Chris Thanks for letting me know i really appreciate it. Well thats a relief off my shoulders then if all it most likely is is just the condition and age of the roadwheels rather than the vehicle doing it to itself. Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Herbert Posted August 24, 2020 Share Posted August 24, 2020 Well done for filling in your location, it makes it much easier to advise. I think that losing three tires all on the same side was probably a fluke but it is possible that the first one lost its tire and that got between the horns and the other tires and pushed them out sideways but there is no way to tell. A classic mistake is to tow the tank without the tracks on and to try to turn it. That makes the wheels skid sideways and often rips the tires off. Please let us know how you get on as this is going to be a problem that many people will have. David Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheAmericanPatriot Posted August 26, 2020 Author Share Posted August 26, 2020 On 8/23/2020 at 12:38 PM, sirhc said: Welcome to CVRTs... the rubber will fall off your best looking wheels, and stay on the scabby horrible ones forever. Age, manufacturer and how they have been stored all play a part, but you can never tell when the rubber is going to come off. I once had the rubber come off on a bend, I turned and it went straight on. The solution to your problem is to keep plenty of spares in stock and buy the newest ones you can find. Chris Thanks Chris i sincerely appreciate your advice, i love listening to what all you guys have to say and im quite thankful there are more experienced guys than me floating around willing to shed some light and help guide the inexperienced like me Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheAmericanPatriot Posted August 26, 2020 Author Share Posted August 26, 2020 On 8/24/2020 at 4:57 PM, David Herbert said: Well done for filling in your location, it makes it much easier to advise. I think that losing three tires all on the same side was probably a fluke but it is possible that the first one lost its tire and that got between the horns and the other tires and pushed them out sideways but there is no way to tell. A classic mistake is to tow the tank without the tracks on and to try to turn it. That makes the wheels skid sideways and often rips the tires off. Please let us know how you get on as this is going to be a problem that many people will have. David If i find anything that i think was a direct cause of the rubbers coming off, i will 100% list it here to help anyone else if they think they got issues with their roadwheels or track Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SirLanceUK Posted September 12, 2020 Share Posted September 12, 2020 When i first started driving, I lost my first road wheel doing a "tight" left turn, shortly followed by the rubber from the left hand middle wheel parting company. It was the first time i had driven it more than 20 yards, Wheel replaced Thanks to Chris. Next time was doing a tight turn in a car park and lost the middle wheel from the opposite side but the rubber was completely shredded this time. Another wheel fitted , Chris again to thank. My wheels are mainly old and not in good condition, which i don't think helped , but taking it easier on the turns i have not lost anymore. On the down side I was talking to someone who knows a lot more than i do about military vehicles in general and he was saying that he loses wheel rubbers regularly, so I didn't feel so bad. I also found that someone is getting CVRT wheels re "rubbered" with a new substance and reckons there so much better he has got his 432's done the same way and has yet to have a failure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
terryb Posted September 14, 2020 Share Posted September 14, 2020 don't laugh, but some time ago I acquired a spartan that someone had done a civvy diesel conversion on, and noticed some gook on the road wheels-turns out 7 had shed their rubber complete as doughnuts, do he scuffed up the wheels with a grinder and araldited them back on! don't laugh-as far as I know they're still on there! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheAmericanPatriot Posted September 14, 2020 Author Share Posted September 14, 2020 11 minutes ago, terryb said: don't laugh, but some time ago I acquired a spartan that someone had done a civvy diesel conversion on, and noticed some gook on the road wheels-turns out 7 had shed their rubber complete as doughnuts, do he scuffed up the wheels with a grinder and araldited them back on! don't laugh-as far as I know they're still on there! Thats quite the story haha, makes you wonder how many alternative methods are out there to fix em rather than just buying all new road wheels. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andym Posted September 14, 2020 Share Posted September 14, 2020 Are we allowed to say "Gook" these days? 🙂 Andy 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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