New Halftrack Track Issues

[JamieM5halftrack]

Hi Guys,

Is it just me or are others having issues with newly manufactured tracks?

I’m not naming names or manufacturers, I would like to get a bigger picture to see if it’s just me?

Since fitting a set of new manufactured tracks in April 2022 I have had nothing but problems with them.

Unlike most halftrack owners, I drive my halftrack everywhere and have done 1200 miles on the road since April 2022.

In this time I have had issues with guides and now the rubber itself.

Any feedback would be greatly appreciated.

[8683jb]

What are the issues with the rubber? Is it wear, cracking, both? 1200 miles in a year and a half is a pretty respectable amount of driving. What do you typically drive on? I drive mostly on asphalt and it's pretty rough on my late-'80s Israeli tracks. The faces of my mud flaps have a thin layer of black powder thrown onto them from the tracks. The rubber on the lugs on the sides of mine are pretty well chipped in a lot of places from driving it off road, which I expect. I don't know how the Israeli material compares to the new tracks, though.    Jon

[JamieM5halftrack]

Hi Jon,

Thanks for your reply.

1200 miles is a hell of a lot of miles for a halftrack, especially in the timescale.

I am mostly driving on asphalt/tarmac roads at 35/40 MPH and stopping every hour or so just to have a check on the tracks and the guides.

On my last trip out which was around 30 miles I could smell rubber burning.

When I pulled over there was smoke coming out of the side of the track and melted rubber on the guides.

I gave them a few days to cool and now there is a hole on the inside of the track about 2” by 1” and 1/4” deep. The track tread has also deformed which makes me think the rubber is delaminating inside the track.

I have gone back to the manufacturer to try and get some kind of feedback but I have had nothing and this was 2/3 weeks ago now.

[8683jb]

I'd think that's certainly a material defect. Wear is one thing, but they shouldn't ignite! They sure wouldn't have used such a track when the half-track was in service. Sorry for your trouble with the supplier. Please keep us all posted as to their response/remedy. Best of luck!    Jon

[JamieM5halftrack]

Hi Jon,

Thanks for your support, I will keep you updated on progress.

Currently I’m stuck with a halftrack I can’t use which kind of defeats the object of fitting brand new tracks!

[8683jb]

Now that I made the brilliant observation above, do you think one of the components in your undercarriage may have been hot enough to burn the track in that spot after it was parked? That seems more likely than the track having an isolated bad spot.

[JamieM5halftrack]

Hi Jon,

I don’t think anything in the running gear has got hot enough to do any damage.

It had a complete new set of road wheels, bearings and seals when I restored it.

There are no signs of leaking oil or grease out of the hubs and the rubbers are all still intact.

But a very good suggestion.

[8683jb]

It was just a thought I had after I immediately condemned the track. Is it feasible to drive it a short distance and check temps around the undercarriage with a temp gun? My first thought is a top roller.

[JamieM5halftrack]

That wouldn’t be a bad thing to try out. I am open to any ideas or suggestions.

The thing I’m worried about is if the track is starting to delaminate from the inside out, I don’t know how much longer it’s going to last?

I mean do I continue driving and see if it goes bang?

I have already had a 1960s track snap on the road, that was a frightening experience in itself.

[8683jb]

I think breaking a track at 30 would be spectacular, at the least. Even worse if it happened in traffic. Whatever you decide to do with the current track, you still have to find & fix the cause of its damage. Best case is that it's something on the undercarriage that you can fix/replace and the integrity of the track hasn't been diminished so you can run it out. I don't know how you determine that. If you think the cables inside haven't been compromised, it might be easier to decide. It might shed a little rubber but shouldn't break. Maybe someone else on here has had some similar experience and can advise. Good luck and please let us know what you find out either way.

[Jesse]

I think the seller should take care of that. Their delaying shows bad faith in their business practices. It’s not hard to figure out who the seller is. There’s only 2 on the planet, and one has already chimed in.

[8683jb]

I absolutely agree if it turns out the problem is the track and not something on the half-track that caused it. In that case, I'd be on the seller with both feet until they made it right. Either way, no response by the seller is unacceptable. I'm hoping he'll post the seller's response so we'll all know who and how they handled it. Good or bad.

[WayOffTrack]

Is this the track that is provided with new drive flanges? If so did you install them?

[JamieM5halftrack]

Yes, the tracks came with new drive sprockets and flanges.

Yes, they were fitted to my halftrack when the new tracks were installed.

[JamieM5halftrack]

The story so far goes I bought a new set of tracks due to breaking one on the return from a road run in 2021. I had done over 500 miles on the tracks and being 1960s dated, it was only a matter of time before they gave up, and gave up they did.

We bought the new set of tracks in March 2022. I first contacted the manufacturer on 5th of April 2022 regarding issues with the guides. I had a guide come off and go through the track on the first 20 mile trip I done with my halftrack. When you dipped the clutch, there was hardly any free running, it was grinding to a halt and the noise was terrible. I also found when backing up on left or right lock, the running gear would try jumping over the guides lifting the whole halftrack. I sent pictures and videos of the issues and the response was my halftrack was worn and it had nothing to do with the tracks. No I wasn’t doing this to be a pain, I was doing it to help and work with the manufacturer to solve the problem. I then explained that I restored my halftrack from the ground up over 13 years with all new bearings, seals, runner gear wheels etc so I knew there was no issues with my halftrack. I had also done 500 miles on my old tracks with no issues. In fairness to the manufacturer he did supply me with some new guides to replace the one that got damaged while going through the suspension. In the end, as I work as a design and development engineer as well as a manual machine operator, I solved the issue myself with so experimenting.

On the 25th of September this year I contacted the manufacturer with the issue I have now. The messages have been read but as of yet I have had no response. I have sent pictures of my findings and again was happy to work with the manufacturer but how long do you give someone before enough is enough? I know if it was a part I manufactured that didn’t fit or was faulty then I would want it back to sort the problem out straight away.