My M60 from TongDe

[DavidN]

I ordered the metal version; however, the retailer only had the plastic version. They sent me the metal upgraded parts on the side. So I kinda gained all the plastic parts, heheh. I play with the plastic parts for now. When the parts get used up, I will switch over the the metal parts.

[DavidN]

[DavidN]

[DavidN]

[keilau]

This is the M60A3. Its towing cables are wrapped around the turret. The extra towing cables at the back should not be there.

[DavidN]

This is the M60A3. Its towing cables are wrapped around the turret. The extra towing cables at the back should not be there.

Thank you for letting me know. I am not into post WWII tanks much. I bought this one just to have it. Those extra towing cables you mentioned came with the tank and was shown in the manual. If I don't put them on, there will be 4 holes unused at the rear of my tank :-) Oh well! I don't mind having them there.

[keilau]

That may be the correct location to mount them for the ERA equipped tank, but there is no way they would be routed through that lifting ring. A) the end connector probably wouldn't fit through the lifting ring, B) the cable would be too stiff to route it that way, and C) you want to be able to access the cables fast in a combat zone. Any fiddling around trying to get them through a lifting hook would be time you don't have when you are being shot at or need to move fast. Tow cables on an M60 or any modern US tank are HEAVY and rough. You want to handle them with gloves and usually more than one person. The cable itself will cut your hands if manipulated ungloved.

My mistake was pointed out by tank_me in an earlier post. So I corrected it. It is about historical accuracy of appearance only. No impact on the running of the tank.

I had an early production M60A1 that came with many problems. Rubicon99 review and upgrade of the M60A3 was a wonderful roadmap for my metal upgrade. One of the biggest problem is the pinion gear of the TD drive motor. I replaced them with Tamiya 380 standard motor from e-Tamiya.com, better than the HL Blue 380 and cheaper.

Removed the left gearbox and found the reason for the jamming. The motors pinion gear has "flat" gear teeth that are not able to fully and smooth mesh with its corresponding gear. I replaced the stock 380 motors with HL blue 380 motors as these have more torque and a much smoother fit/mesh. See photos below.

TD stock 380 motor pinion gear mesh up. As you can see the mesh is not very good and as such would "catch" and cause the motor to stop turning.


Heng Long blue 380 motor. You can see how much better the pinion meshes with its corresponding gear.