Abrams shedding left drive sprocket. Track tension?

[HotDiggity]

So, my new Abrams seems to be shedding the left drive sproket. It’s happened on both initial runs now. I have now put some blue locktite on the bolt. Will test tomorrow. I’m wondering if this might have something to do with track tension. Out of the box, the tracks were super loose. I moved the tension mechanism behind the idler a notch or two and now it seems adequately taught. See image of hang. Does this seem right? This is the same way that my Leopard is set up and it has no issues (even without locktite). Just wondering if I’ve overdone the tension and it’s causing that sprocket bolt to break loose.

ON another note, My two boys had their first battle today and had a blast (I did inform them that these were MY toys though :). The Leopard seemed to score consistently more hits than did the Abrams. Not sure to what this may be attributed but my 11 year old commanding the Abrams was getting pretty torqued at my 8 year old commanding the Leopard. More testing needed to see if there a problem or if it’s just bad piloting. :)

[Rubicon99]

So, my new Abrams seems to be shedding the left drive sproket. It’s happened on both initial runs now. I have now put some blue locktite on the bolt. Will test tomorrow. I’m wondering if this might have something to do with track tension. Out of the box, the tracks were super loose. I moved the tension mechanism behind the idler a notch or two and now it seems adequately taught. See image of hang. Does this seem right? This is the same way that my Leopard is set up and it has no issues (even without locktite). Just wondering if I’ve overdone the tension and it’s causing that sprocket bolt to break loose.

ON another note, My two boys had their first battle today and had a blast (I did inform them that these were MY toys though :). The Leopard seemed to score consistently more hits than did the Abrams. Not sure to what this may be attributed but my 11 year old commanding the Abrams was getting pretty torqued at my 8 year old commanding the Leopard. More testing needed to see if there a problem or if it’s just bad piloting. :)

Do you mean the track is coming off the sprocket? If so inward toward the hull or outward toward the skirt? Or is the sprocket coming off the tank? Dose the sprocket wobble when running?

Regardless the first thing to check is that the sprocket is assembled on the tank correctly. It is a two price sprocket and both halves must line up correctly. Also the screw holding it on and together must be snug (not overly tight).

Your track tension looks about right so don’t worry to much on that right now.

The reason the Abrams does not seem to score hits as easily is largely do to the cheap IR receivers supplied with the tanks. They are really only good indoors and then still have dead spots where they do not read IR signals. A quality aftermarket IR receiver like the LegoDEI ones many here us will solve the issues. These do require some minor installation work (not plug and play). Also there is a delay between when the tank sound fires, BB launch, tank recoils and then finally IR bulb fires. The delay does often cause missing until one figures out the timing.

[HotDiggity]

Hey, Rubicon. I mean the sprocket falls off. Yes, I noticed that the sprocket halves are keyed and only fit one way. Both times it’s happened, all was in place and tight. Not sure why the leopard doesn’t seem to have this issue. I do notice what appears to be a pretty nasty bit of flashing on the outer sprocket wheel in both sides of the Abrams. Almost big enough to hit the skirt when it passes by. Not sure if this is a contributing factor or not. Will do more testing tomorrow.

[Rubicon99]

Hey, Rubicon. I mean the sprocket falls off. Yes, I noticed that the sprocket halves are keyed and only fit one way. Both times it’s happened, all was in place and tight. Not sure why the leopard doesn’t seem to have this issue. I do notice what appears to be a pretty nasty bit of flashing on the outer sprocket wheel in both sides of the Abrams. Almost big enough to hit the skirt when it passes by. Not sure if this is a contributing factor or not. Will do more testing tomorrow.

Ok then the issue is the drive shaft screw whole being poorly thread taped. Try changing the 3mm sprocket screw with another. Do not use RED locking adhesive, BLUE at most. Also you can add a retaining/crush washer which will help keep the screw tight. Sometimes HL has these already installed sometimes not. Well most of the time not....LOL, but they do use them when there not being cheap.

[sfcfury]

I bought a M1 Abrams for my nephew, took it for a test run and having the same issue out of the box... The halves are really loose on the left side.