My Review of the Heng Long 1/16 Scale Challenger II Tank

[nunfre88]

Is that WPL RC? They usualy make 1:16 trucks.

[dai phan]

I am looking for the Challenger crews but cannot find any. Can someone help? Too bad Torro does not make the crew busts for the C. Dai

[dai phan]

Hello all...

My Challenger is here. The problem I have is having nobody to play with ! Dai

[Commander Botha]

I am having a problem with metal track slipping off the metal drive sprocket on one side of my Challenger 2. Can anyone tell me if this is a common issue and can the sprocket with "anti slip rings" help? See the attached picture for what I'm talking about.

[Rubicon99]

It this a 5.2/3 or new 6.0 version tank?

Is it the left side?

Yes the sprockets with track guide retention rings help a lot.

[Commander Botha]

It's the newer 6.0 version and yes the left side.

[Commander Botha]

Does adding the drive bearing also help?

[Rubicon99]

It's the newer 6.0 version and yes the left side.

The left side is usually the side that has most of the problems on the Challenger 2. Can’t say way but IMO it is something amiss alined in the molds that causes the issue. Lot of people have the problem.

Yes hull bearings will help and coupled with the retention sprockets you should see a fair improvement. Also make sure you use the track adjuster(idler wheel tensioner) to take the slack out of the track. The track should be “taught” NOT tight. You should also adjust the last road wheel on each side to the higher spring rate.

The combination of these three things should just about solve the issues. It will still happen from time to time and you will need to watch when and what type of terrain cause it to happen, then drive more accurately for those terrain types.

Hope this helps.

[Commander Botha]

Rubicon99, Thank you for your continued help. The track coming off seems to be getting worse, and I can't run on anything other than the paved road to get any sort of longevity out of the track staying on. In grass and gravel it comes off almost immediately. I have played with the idler tensioner and right now it is screwed all the way in. The tracks do still have quite a bit of slack in it, but it is the same on the right side which has had no issues at all. I was thinking last night about removing some track links and seeing if that helps.

How do you adjust the spring tension on the last road wheel? It seems no one sells the hull bearings for this tank right now. Any idea where I could get a pair. Thought about checking my local hobby shop to see if they have something that might work (unlikely though). I bought a new set of Mato sprockets, but they are slightly too narrow for the Heng Long metal track. I wish I had bought the retention sprocket instead.

I've seen that some people glue a length of metal strip in the hull to stiffen it up. Wonder if that might help with hull flex? I have been reluctant as the tank is so heavy already. I have been in contact with Toucan Hobby about this (and a couple of others problem) who I bought it from and they are shipping me a new hull and chassis to see if that helps.

Don't know about you or others, but I've never been able to get the smoker to work either. The tan colored box get hot and the clear hoses seem to fog up, but no smoke. I've tried varying amounts of liquid that came with the tank and made sure it funneled back to the smoker unit. The motor and piston work, but nothing happens. Kinda wish I'd bought the Leopard that I originally saw and liked. The Challenger is just such a great looking tank though. Sure wish there was a tank club or someone like you around here who were knowledgeable about these things:)

[Rubicon99]

Rubicon99, Thank you for your continued help. The track coming off seems to be getting worse, and I can't run on anything other than the paved road to get any sort of longevity out of the track staying on. In grass and gravel it comes off almost immediately. I have played with the idler tensioner and right now it is screwed all the way in. The tracks do still have quite a bit of slack in it, but it is the same on the right side which has had no issues at all. I was thinking last night about removing some track links and seeing if that helps.

How do you adjust the spring tension on the last road wheel? It seems no one sells the hull bearings for this tank right now. Any idea where I could get a pair. Thought about checking my local hobby shop to see if they have something that might work (unlikely though). I bought a new set of Mato sprockets, but they are slightly too narrow for the Heng Long metal track. I wish I had bought the retention sprocket instead.

I've seen that some people glue a length of metal strip in the hull to stiffen it up. Wonder if that might help with hull flex? I have been reluctant as the tank is so heavy already. I have been in contact with Toucan Hobby about this (and a couple of others problem) who I bought it from and they are shipping me a new hull and chassis to see if that helps.

Don't know about you or others, but I've never been able to get the smoker to work either. The tan colored box get hot and the clear hoses seem to fog up, but no smoke. I've tried varying amounts of liquid that came with the tank and made sure it funneled back to the smoker unit. The motor and piston work, but nothing happens. Kinda wish I'd bought the Leopard that I originally saw and liked. The Challenger is just such a great looking tank though. Sure wish there was a tank club or someone like you around here who were knowledgeable about these things:)

Take a link out of the track and then retention it is the next step I would take.

The spring is located under the suspension arm. You have to remove the arm to access the spring. Once removed there are two wholes. One for soft (stock setting) and one for heavy. Make sure you see which slot the spring is set to as you SLOW remove the suspension arm. The first time you do this it is can seem like a challenge, the second time it is easy.

Wheel bearing supports and bearing can be found on Aliexpress.com. You will have to search for them but they are there.

Hull supports (metal or plastic) will not solve your issues. They are marginal at best with stock tanks and have the most value if you are using them in conjunction with a “magnet” modification instead of screws to hold your upper hull on. This is because the magnet modification largely takes away the “unibody” effect of the screws much tighter hold of the lower hull to the upper hull.

Can’t speak to your smoke issues as I rip those out of my tanks first thing. Just to toy like of smoke and they add complexity that IMO is not needed.

[Commander Botha]

Ok, thank you. I would not have known there were two spring settings. I'll take a look and change that last road wheel. I'll also take a link out. Should I do both sides or just on the left?

[Rubicon99]

Ok, thank you. I would not have known there were two spring settings. I'll take a look and change that last road wheel. I'll also take a link out. Should I do both sides or just on the left?

Start with just the left side track that is giving you the issues.

[Commander Botha]

OK thanks

[SoCalBobS]

Bump:

First stage in my C2 repaint; the base color:





The goal:

[SoCalBobS]

Step two, the camo pattern. Base color is Tamiya AS-14, a USAF Olive Green. Camo is Nato Black. Next is prep for and placement of decals.

[RichJohnson]

First images of the Challenger 2s in Ukraine in the field have been seen on twitter. Plain green color and no added ERA at all.

[SoCalBobS]

All pretty for a parade...we can't have this. Gotta get the grime on.

[MrChef]

Can anyone think of a reason why Bob's pictures aren't loading up on this site for me? I can click on the link and view them but all of your pics are broken on this site. Everyone elses pics are fine. I already closed and reloaded the site.

[SoCalBobS]

Is it real, or Memorex? (A very old reference.)



MrChef, people have had problems in the past. I can't remember the solution, sorry. Sometimes photos don't load for me, I do a refresh (F5) or whatever yours takes.

[tank_me]

F5 doesn't work. They aren't showing up for me either unless I click on the link. So they work, but just don't get the preview of the pics.