Hello,
I have the kit of the M1A2 SEP from Dragon (3536) which includes DS tracks.
Does this type of tracks inexorably end up disintegrating ?
If DS tracks need a replacement set, what are the options of T158LL tracks kits which could fit the Dragon kit ?
Bronco AB3522 ?
T-Rex Studio TR85046 ?
Others ?
It is a crap shoot w/the DS tracks. I have built a few of the Dragon M48s which include DS tracks. I have only had problems with one set. A couple years after being built, they started leaching out an oil onto the shelf they were sitting on. I replaced them with AFV Club tracks.
Any current set of AM T158LL tracks will fit the Dragon sprockets.
This is relevant to me as well, because I have the same kit on my stash and I want to get a set of AM tracks. Currently thinking if getting a set of AFV Club workable tracks.
I would recommend either T158LL version (hollowed horns) of Bronco and DEF Model track sets. DEF set included in the latest Academy SEP v.2 Tusk kit is top notch in my opinion. RFM one is good, too.
I don’t recommend the T Rex 3D printed one unless you’d like to torture yourself after taking a big damage to your wallet. Over engineered and a huge pain to put together. As a 3D designer and printer, I was like “this is what NOT to do”.
AFV Club doesn’t make T158LL tracks, with hollow guide horns. Their sets are T158 tracks, with solid guide horns. I would go with the sets James lists above.
Speaking of tracks, different tank: Regarding the T97E2 Track on the M60A1, I’ve Googled, checked a multitude of different books and find either no answer, or a wide variety. Might I ask: How many links of this type are there per track? I find a range of answers: 81, 83, 83…even 87?? (I found 1 internet ref. that suggested one side had more links than the other? If true, why might that be? Does it have to do with offset roadwheel spacing due to the torsion bars? I have some very nice metal/rubber tracks w/82 links/track., but no spares for 83 etc.TIA.
LAC
Unfortunately, there is no definitive answer. It depends on how tight the tracks are, how worn the tracks are, how worn the road wheels are, etc. It was around 80 but varied by a few plus or minus.
On a model, it could be anywhere around 80 as well due to how well the model is scaled, how well the builder positioned the roadwheel arms, how tight the tracks are, etc., etc…
Exactly, torsion bar offset makes one side 1 link longer.
Wow ! What a bad experience !
Thank you very much for your advice.
If you want to avoid the DS tracks disintegrating remove them from their plastic bags and avoid them contacting any of the plastic bags in the kit box. I usually store them inside the instructions manual. Most of the DS tracks react to the plastic of the bags and that is why they start disintegrating.
Best option are the Bronco and DEF tracks as mentioned above. The Bronco tracks fit the Dragon sprockets fine. I have tested the DEF ones on the sprockets and they fit nice as well but I have not fully assembled the tracks on a Dragon kit in order to be 100% certain that they fit as well as the Bronco ones.
Thank you for your answer.
I think I will go with the Bronco Model kit.
Rye Field Models only make T158 as a separate kit.
Thank you all for your answer. 
That is the DEF track
Huh? I don’t quite understand what you are saying about RFM set. It’s an upgrade kit that includes both solid guide horns (for T158) and hollowed guide horns (for 158LL):
Ok, sorry I had not noticed there are the 2 types of center guides in this kit.
Thank you Gino, as always a wealth of info is to be found on these pages.
LAC
This is a myth that is totally untrue, but many people, including tankers, believe. For a tracked vehicle to track (drive) straight, the tracks on both sides need to be the same length, or as close to the same length as possible, on both sides. This is true for any and ALL tracked vehicles. Unfortunately, track wear, track stretching, road wheel wear, etc. tend to mess this up, which is why you have to adjust track tension and sometimes add or remove a track block to try and keep everything even.
It would be like having a car with the wheels on one side of the car 1 inch (or 1 centimeter) bigger than the other side.
Ken
Thank you, so conceptually, if one side/one track has worn/stretched markedly more than the opposite, and all of the tension adjustment has been taken up…then as a last ditch move, removing 1 shoe/link and letting out idler tension could result in a difference in track length/link count?
LOL, at one time (perhaps still) Indy car & oval dirt track racers did have differing size tires wheels/tires R. Vs L. (to compensate for the perpetual L hand “turns”) But, again, that was oval track racing, not tracked mechanicals.
Thanks,
Larry
Sort of. Since the track is stretched out, removing 1 link brings it back to the proper size/length.
Ken
