Problem with Heng Long 3958-1 IDF Merkava metal road wheel kit

[keilau]

Your sharing of similar experiences will be greatly appreciated.

The IDF Merkava metal road wheel kit (3958 Tanks Parts TH23641) that I purchased from Heng Long RC Store on AliExpress DOES NOT work. The kit is only half of the problem. The Heng Long 3958-1 IDF Merkava Mk4 RTR tank from Toucan Hobby Store (TH22634-QC-DZN1) was not designed to work with metal road wheels.

1. I expect that the ball bearing ID to be pressure fit to the swing arm and the OD to pressure fit to the road wheel pockets. They are not. They are both very loose. In another word, the ball bearings are used as loose bushings.
2. I expect HL to use machine screw to mount the road wheels to the metal swing arms of the torsion bar suspension. HL used self-taping screw instead.
3. I cannot remove the screws to remove the return rollers. The screws just keep turning. Not sure how they are fixed to what.

I will like to hear from others who tried the metal road wheel upgrade on the IDF Merkava. Are other HL tank and road wheel kit similar?

I painted the road wheel kit pieces this morning. I guess I will have to write off the loss.

It is not uncommon that HL uses two different metal suspension arms sizes for their tanks. One sized to fit the plastic wheels hubs and one for the metal bearing wheels. Sounds like that is the case here. You would then need to buy the correct suspension arms.

I only buy HL metal wheel upgrades as a package that includes the suspension arms because of this reason.

I spent serval hours searching for IDF Merkava metal road wheel package with suspension arms, but failed to find any. Other tank models do have such package.

I did find 2 sources for Merkava suspension arms, one at AliExpress and one at UK ebay. The ball bearings that come with the road wheel are 5x9x3mm. There is no information on the suspension arm set except that they are metal. I ordered one from the unknown AliExpress seller whom seems to be the only game in town. If the arm works, I may CA glue the bearings to the road wheel.

I am very puzzled by HL's 2 suspension arm approach. From the engineering and business prespective, it would be more economical to make one metal suspension arm. They can easily mold the plastic road wheel axle hole diameter just a hair bigger for rotation.

[Max-U52]

When I did my Abrams the bearings were loose on the suspension arms so I wrapped them in a couple layers of Bare Metal Foil (the arms) and that solved the problem.

Hope that helps.

[keilau]

When I did my Abrams the bearings were loose on the suspension arms so I wrapped them in a couple layers of Bare Metal Foil (the arms) and that solved the problem.

Hope that helps.

What is the material and thickness of the foil that you used? Kitchen aluminum foil just gets pushed away and will not work. Do you have any problem removing the plastic return rollers?

[Max-U52]

Bear metal foil is adhesive backed. It's mainly made for static modelers. Not sure what the exact thickness is, but it's pretty thin. I think I had to put two layers on to make everything fit the way I wanted it to.

[keilau]

Bear metal foil is adhesive backed. It's mainly made for static modelers. Not sure what the exact thickness is, but it's pretty thin. I think I had to put two layers on to make everything fit the way I wanted it to.

Thank you for the tip. I did not think of the modeling foil. Very good idea.

I have only one roll of unknown thickness. I have seen them in 0.03, 0.07, 0.1, 0.2 and 0.3 mm thickness.

https://www.amazon.com/uxcell-Brass-1000mm-x100mm-0-03mm/dp/B0CGXMDJ8P/ref=sr_1_20?crid=3IN5BVEE8HUKA&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.1f2jULpylBzhas_hz0OUQ2Co5n4oot5TduMTfLafzlcH8Bh_JQoOnxCW91KuN2apyKs2FgGOfoqMRvctdtQt-UPtbe4lS4rfVcZU_ZBuhXN8z1GE1quO44sKBoqSsReoRIJUhjdZXKRudT7Q6LGpliWmgncDozxDZLqpSAPVJcxf0Kv-V1aaqRePUfrRDfZChx3G3hV8hLMkobJKAw_Bj6Ce2tuasPiAvU_BuK3RUgUDjVXDvxKWB6Q_42H4Jd2odk-FZ1LswUHC87hh--mxXC6rXqWuQNMB0VyJXL1TsRc.hhylYEs2IRVniZZx-KF79zWLSY5cR6F4gJwWNBe2R9k&dib_tag=se&keywords=bare%2Bmetal%2Bfoil%2Bfor%2Bmodeling&qid=1714146355&sprefix=modeling%2Bfoi%2Caps%2C89&sr=8-20&th=1

[RichJohnson]

Thicker version of the product is hvac foil duct tape available at an hvac supply store.

[keilau]

Did anyone successfully remove the plastic return rollers from the IDF Merkava without crashing them? If you must crash the return rollers, what to expect next?

Do you have experience with removing the plastic return rollers from Abrams, Leopard2 or Challenger2? Did you encounter any problems?

[Rubicon99]

Did anyone successfully remove the plastic return rollers from the IDF Merkava without crashing them? If you must crash the return rollers, what to expect next?

Do you have experience with removing the plastic return rollers from Abrams, Leopard2 or Challenger2? Did you encounter any problems?

On the Abrams I cut the wheel supports down a bit and replace the rollers with metal ones from the M41/M26. Have done this mod now on all my Abrams.

[keilau]

I tried to remove the plastic return rollers from the HL IDF Merkava. I cannot remove the screws to remove the return rollers. The screws just keep turning without loosening. I tried to hold the silver color pole behind the roller with a long nose piler. It did not work. Not sure how the screws are fixed and to what.

Do you have experience with removing the plastic return rollers from Abrams, Leopard2 or Challenger2? Did you encounter any problems?

[keilau]

I tried to remove the plastic return rollers from the HL IDF Merkava. I cannot remove the screws to remove the return rollers. The screws just keep turning without loosening. I tried to hold the silver color pole behind the roller with a long nose piler. It did not work. Not sure how the screws are fixed and to what.

Do you have experience with removing the plastic return rollers from Abrams, Leopard2 or Challenger2? Did you encounter any problems?

The return rollers have hex head screws. I was misled by the road wheel screw and tried without looking closely.

[keilau]

Bear metal foil is adhesive backed. It's mainly made for static modelers. Not sure what the exact thickness is, but it's pretty thin. I think I had to put two layers on to make everything fit the way I wanted it to.

The tip from Max-U52 works wonderfully. The road wheel bearings are standard 5mm ID ball bearings which needs a 5.03mm axle to fit properly. The HL suspension arm axle has a 4.85mm diameter for the plastic road wheel. The metal road wheel should come with its own suspension arms, but they did not. I found some spare suspension arms on AliExpress, but they are the same 4.85mm OD.

I get a roll of 30mil (0.003mm) brass foil. I tried various number of layers. I ended up cutting 2mmx1mm pieces of sticky foil. Remove the backing and wrap the foil around the suspension arm axle. I get the slight pressure fit that I am looking for. The fit is very secure.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/buyagain/ref=pd_gwd_bag_pd_hp_d_atf_rp_3?ie=UTF8&ats=eyJleHBsaWNpdENhbmRpZGF0ZXMiOiJCMENHRjZERENYIiwiY3VzdG9tZXJJZCI6IkEzTkhPQUwxSTc1Q1FGIn0%3D&pd_rd_w=KrzWV&content-id=amzn1.sym.847e5829-7b9f-4dac-b414-6765cc1ef5a7&pf_rd_p=847e5829-7b9f-4dac-b414-6765cc1ef5a7&pf_rd_r=X0AE3S3P08WA0NS66BHW&pd_rd_wg=mRlWX&pd_rd_r=28c11b8b-8560-4a5c-80f7-4ce77ee083d1

[keilau]

The return rollers:

30mil sticky copper foil on road wheel axle:

[Handy Lance]

That should work great. I’ve done it a few times on RC crawlers.

[keilau]

My Problem with Heng Long 3958-1 IDF Merkava metal road wheel kit is solved. I will post future activity to the Upgrade thread and end this thread. Thank you.


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