Which is the best T34/85 RC Tank Metal Tracks?

[keilau]

My T-34/85 metal upgrade: Metal tracks

The T-34/85 is my second recent HL tank purchase. I got the plastic version after disappointment with the Professional version quality of the German Leopard 2A6.

When I looked at the HL T34 plastic track closely, I found that it is not a single pin design, but a much worse open pin loop. The HL metal and Mato metal track are the same unrealistic open pin. It is unstable and traps dirt easily. The 4 spare links on the front of the T34 is even more an eye sore and I replaced them with realistic looking closed pin links too.


I decided on the Toro tracks sold at the Taigen Tank store. When I installed the Toro tracks, another problem showed up. They are too tight, making the track an U-loop. I found that the Toro track is 2 m.m. shorter than the plastic HL track. The Toro and HL track both have 68 pieces of links on each track. Since the real T34 has 70 links per track, the first thought was to add the 2 missing pieces. Well it did not work, way too long.


Back to the 68 link tracks. I noticed that the T34 HL is very light weight compared to the Pershing and German Leopard. A good operating weight for the HL T34 is about 7-9 pound. The Heng Xin steel gearbox gave the front the right weight distribution. I added 2 pounds of lead weight to the rear and it seems to work correctly. I have a level looking track and a smooth moving tank.


The next post will be on the Heng Xin steel, all bearing, almost fully enclosed gearbox.

[tank_me]

Hearing all these issues with the HL T34, I'm really glad all my T34 based vehicles are using the Taigen/Torro T34 lowers. The Taigen hull is pretty nice and runs well even with all the metal upgrades (tracks, wheels, and sprockets).

[Rubicon99]

Hearing all these issues with the HL T34, I'm really glad all my T34 based vehicles are using the Taigen/Torro T34 lowers. The Taigen hull is pretty nice and runs well even with all the metal upgrades (tracks, wheels, and sprockets).

What issues? Looks maybe, but definitely not functionality. HL T34 is an outstanding running tank and one I recommend all the time. It is nearly stupid proof and exceptional reliable especially the 6.0 and newer versions with metal tracks. I would match all of my HL T34s up against a Taigen version any day and come out on top. Taigen used to be better then the 5.2/5.3 and older HL T34s, but no longer.

[Evan D]

The worse thing on mine are the decals.

[keilau]

The worse thing on mine are the decals.

Second your vote. The HL decal for the T34 is impossible to manage. By comparison, the same type of HL decals for the Leopard 2A6 is much easier to apply.

[keilau]

What issues? Looks maybe, but definitely not functionality. HL T34 is an outstanding running tank and one I recommend all the time. It is nearly stupid proof and exceptional reliable especially the 6.0 and newer versions with metal tracks. I would match all of my HL T34s up against a Taigen version any day and come out on top. Taigen used to be better then the 5.2/5.3 and older HL T34s, but no longer.

I consider the HL both as RC tank and scale modeling tank. The driving quality on rough ground and the accuracy of presentation are equally important to me. I am NOT a skillful painter, just enjoying looking at the beautiful work many other members present here. I can live with HL single pin track link too, but the open pin track is too much for me to accept.

[keilau]

Hearing all these issues with the HL T34, I'm really glad all my T34 based vehicles are using the Taigen/Torro T34 lowers. The Taigen hull is pretty nice and runs well even with all the metal upgrades (tracks, wheels, and sprockets).

Wait until you hear what I have to go through to install the Heng Xin gearbox. At the end, it is worth it. With the 7.0 RC system, it drives very well. The upgraded metal T34 is a world of improvement over the HL plastic version.

[sclui56]

keilau Couldn't you have reduced the tension from the idler when using the 68 links?

[Mdelacruz3031]

I just received my henglong rc tank bulldog and noticed smoke/exhaust not working. I can hear fan working but no smoke exhaust coming from mufflers. Also noticed this model exhaust add glycerin oil horizontally rather than vertically which tends to leak oil. Any advice will be appreciated, thanks

[keilau]

My T-34/85 metal upgrade: Steel/bearing gearbox

I have the Heng Xin gearbox on 4 Heng Long tanks, Leopard 2A6, Pershing, T-34/85 and Sherman M4A3. The Heng Xin gearbox appears to be well made. It is strong, quiet with tight tolerance. It uses a thick aluminum mounting plate which turn out to be a double edge sword. The plate strengthen the tank body to reduce flexibility and noise. But it makes the gearbox mounting a 2 dimensional (up and down, left and right simultaneously) motion. The tight internal space of the HL tank chassis can make this challenging and even frustrating.

The Toucan technical service person assured me that the T34 had sufficient room for the 390 red motor and he was right. But he did not tell me that the Heng Xin case interferes with the tank chassis front panel making it impossible for the gear axel to pass through the motor hole on the side chassis. I have to grid off a lower corner of inside case panel. But the gear axel still cannot pass through the motor hole until I also sanded off significant material from the gear wall of front tank panel. I sanded through one side of the tank panel and had to do some plastic repair. The plastic repair is not difficult, but is a delicate process that I would not recommend to inexperienced plastic modeler.

When mounted properly, the Heng Xin gearbox work as well as on the bigger tank. The 390 motor gives it very good scale speed for the T34. Is it as good as the Taigen/Torro lower metal chassis. Probably not, but at 1/3 the cost, I see nothing to complain about this metal upgrade. I will post some picture of the finished tank next time.

[keilau]

keilau Couldn't you have reduced the tension from the idler when using the 68 links?

The idler wheel on the stock HL is not adjustable. I consider purchasing the Mato tensioner, but did not do it. The T34 runs well now, but the look of the track is not ideal. Comparing to the real tank, my track is still too tense even with the added weight.

[Rubicon99]

The idler wheel on the stock HL is not adjustable. I consider purchasing the Mato tensioner, but did not do it. The T34 runs well now, but the look of the track is not ideal. Comparing to the real tank, my track is still too tense even with the added weight.

The idler wheel on the newer 6.0 and 7.0 T34s IS adjustable. I can see that yours has the feature from the photo you posted. You have to remove the idler wheel to access it.

Idler adjuster components circled in red.

[keilau]

The idler wheel on the newer 6.0 and 7.0 T34s IS adjustable. I can see that yours has the feature from the photo you posted. You have to remove the idler wheel to access it.

Idler adjuster components circled in red.

You are right. I will have to take the T34 apart and try again. The question is whether an 70 links track is possible? Or I will have to stay with 68 links. I will test it out.

[Zippersnapper]

I just received my henglong rc tank bulldog and noticed smoke/exhaust not working. I can hear fan working but no smoke exhaust coming from mufflers. Also noticed this model exhaust add glycerin oil horizontally rather than vertically which tends to leak oil. Any advice will be appreciated, thanks

Best practice that I have found for adding smoke oil is to simply remove the tank cap. 4 tiny phillips screws. What has happened I'm guessing, when you added more oil the exhaust tubes are clogged with oil. Pop the tubes off, clear them out with a Q-tip. Over filling with oil will not damage the heater contrary to what you may hear or read. It simply wont produce any smoke until the excess is burned off. You want the cotton well saturated, but not swimming in oil. The silica wick surrounding the coil should be just ever so slightly in contact with the cotton. The oil is thick, and can easily clog the tubes-all it takes is a drop left in the tubes, and no smoke. Thats why I dont fill the reccomended way.

FYI: When asking a question or posting a problem, do so in a new thread. This thread is a discussion about the T34/85 & metal tracks.

[Mdelacruz3031]

Thanks. I also found out that because the bulldog model exhaust runs horizontal, tilt the tank left/right on its side to ensure oil drips correctly, in other words let gravity do its thing

[keilau]

My Heng Long line up as of November, 2022:


The Sherman is a new acquisition undergoing metal upgrade. More picture of the finished T34. I will try adjusting the T34 track tension in the next few days while waiting for the Sherman motor to come. The T34 looks fine and runs well as of today.

[SoCalBobS]

Regarding track issues, I encountered a new one with my T-34. It had been runing well for a couple of years, but recently developed a tendency for the track to come off the rear sprocket. Looking at it, I saw that it wasn't lined up with the road wheels, specifically the gap between the inner and outer road wheel. Long story short, I placed an M4 washer with the existing one to achieve a better alignment, and all is good now. I attribute the misalignment to wear and tear; I drive this tank a lot in battles and don't remove dust and dirt afterwards.

This wasn't the first tank this occurred to. My T-90 exhibited the same issue, and a wise tanker I know recommended the fix of moving the sprocket wheel out to align the track teeth with the road wheels.

[quitcherbitchen]

I built a plywood jig to cut the small blocks from a 1"x1/8" rubber strip. It is cheap and easy, but still took a few hours. I will detail what I did at the Pershing post.

The rubberized HL track works very well. It is strong and quiet, but I can do nothing to the HL track's ugly look. The Heng Xin all steel/bearing gearbox is driven by a pair of Tamiya 380 standard motors.

Where did you get the rubber? Craft store?

[keilau]

Where did you get the rubber? Craft store?

I got a roll of Neoprene Rubber Sheet, (1" Wide x 1/8" Thick x 10' Long) from Amazon.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Cutting the small rubber blocks is not as easy. I tried scissors and shear cutter. They do not work because they compress the rubber. The pieces do not need to be precision cut, but I do want them to be reasonably uniform to fill the cavity. I cut them slightly undersized and let CA glue to fill the gap around them. I built a small jig using plywood and used fresh sharp zeto knife to do the cutting. It took 2 days. But I like the results for this very old 2005 HL tank.

[quitcherbitchen]

Thanks. I tried the RTV Silicon and did not like the results. I might try your method, but I might use old squeegee rubber that I have laying around instead.