Plastic Track Experts needed

[zoood]

I am going to go with stainless steel rod if the pins are 1/4", the cost would be peanuts. A 12' lenth is only around $12.00

Lunnex, Just what grade SS rod you obtaining? I found this Multipurpose Stainless Steel (Type 304) and it's not a dollar per foot. Better look into the grade your talking about. By eliminating corrosion you may be inviting weakness. I chose not to use SS. The movement or hinging on the rod will keep the rod clean as long as I do the maintenance of cleaning and lubricating my machine.

I’ll throw my 2¢ in. Maybe it will give you some help. My experience with tracks pretty much begins and ends with tanks but I’ve thrown and broken a few tracks and had to adjust them and every year had to replace the whole thing, pads and links for SQT training like every other tanker.

I don’t know if the wall thickness exists on a plastic track (never looked that close at the few tracked AATV’s I’ve seen ) but if you are having hole wear then that’s effecting the mechanical strength of the track and creating a damaging environment for any new pin installed.

If it can be done with existing wall thickness you might consider installing a sintered bronze bushing the full length of the hole and epoxying it in. Those are pretty cheap and can be bought in about any length or can be bought in sticks and custom cut on a lathe or good bandsaw and fitted with a file.

On the pins I would recommend going with an ISO grade 8 plated rather than stainless. They would have equal corrosion resistance and are much stronger than SS.

The lubrication might help you too. When I was in the deserts of Iraq I saw many tracks fail due to that moon dust wearing the pins out. The maintenance guys switched from the normal #2 grease they used to a #.5 grease. ( 5th wheel grease) It was thick enough to stay in there and act like a seal keeping crud out.

mudNmallards, thank you for your 2cnts. Im not having hole wear issues on my tracks. More like rod corrosion build up by lack of preventative maintenance by the previous owner. The sintered bronze bushings are a good idea and I'll look into that, if I what I plan on doing doesnt pan out. After I run a drill bit through the rod holes in the track links to remove any embedded rust that may hinder the pivoting of the links on the rods. Before installation of the rods. Ill get grease in there and then slide the rod in. Like I mentioned before I think the biggest problem with plastic tracks is maintaining them. But that applies to any of our aatv's. You have to clean it and re-prep it again after every use. Or you'll be entertaining corrosion.

zoood

[mudNmallards]

heres another thought based on what you just said

If this would work and you could access it on each track where the pins run through

You might want to install needle fitting grease zerks ( if you have never used them- you put the needle like a football needle on your gun and the zerk is completely recessed)

That would allow you to grease/purge your tracks after each use without having to break them down

If corrosion is your major problem that might be the best permanent fix after you repair everything

[zoood]

that grease needle idea would be nice but theres like 14 knuckles that mate each other between two links and that multiplied by 60 links. Thats way too much work. Besides. I run mine in swamp water, not salt water like the previous owner. I had just tried the 1/4" drill bit out through the knuckles of the links and sure enough. There is rust embedded in the plastic. I'm not making the holes bigger. I'm basically using the drill bit as a reamer. I can now push a rod in there without great force and by hand. With lube it will fit nicely.

[mudNmallards]

that grease needle idea would be nice but theres like 14 knuckles that mate each other between two links and that multiplied by 60 links. Thats way too much work. Besides. I run mine in swamp water, not salt water like the previous owner. I had just tried the 1/4" drill bit out through the knuckles of the links and sure enough. There is rust embedded in the plastic. I'm not making the holes bigger. I'm basically using the drill bit as a reamer. I can now push a rod in there without great force and by hand. With lube it will fit nicely.

guud lawd- yeah I would agree thats WAY too much work. I believe I would run a good bore brush through them and pack them full of 5th wheel grease and let it go

[lunnex]

I work in the metal industry, and 304 S.S. is cheap as could be. I work wit it every day, even 316 would not be much more. Mudnmallars is correct on the grade 8 being stronger but I would think the plating would wear off quickly and just be bare steel in no time. Stainless Steel would never rust and there is no way that you could create enough force to shear it on an 6x6 or 8x8.

[zoood]

Well you found better pricing than I found for the SS. I just went with the steel rods. If your rods have corrosion like mine have. Do yourself a favor and ream the holes. You'll a lot easier time at getting the new rods in.

[lunnex]

Good advice about the reeming. i hope mine arent as bad as yours though. thats amazing hope much they can swell and still hold up.

[zoood]

I rebuilt the tracks on one side. Took the better part of two days. I didnt have enough play to put tracks on with the removal of one of its links. Even with the tires totally deflated. So it has to remain at 30 links per side. I dont care for the sound that the plastic tracks make. Sounds like a loud pop, though the tracks arent coming apart or cracking. I had to run the tires with 10lbs in each. I did find 4 tires, knobby type off an atv that will fit. The ones on there now are the rawhide III 21x11x8. The atv tires are 22x11x8. They just dont have the tread for swimming. I tried my hustler down in the swamp again. The swimmers I made are only on two wheels and though they helped. It was just too little of them to swim with the tracks on. I plan on putting swimmers on all six wheels. The knobby tires will ensure the aatv will not swim. I need it like that to experience the out-come of the swimmers I made to see how well they will propel me through the water. With the tracks on and down in my swamp. It was cool as all hell to travel where I never dreamed of going through. I got stuck on a submerged log. the length of the log was caught up under the length of the hustler. It took some rocking and what not to get it free. About an hours worth. But the linkage adjustment on the T20 on one side didnt engage, allowing only one side to move in the forward direction. So I had to wrestle with that awhile till I could get it out of the swamp and back to the garage. I havent torn into it. I'm hoping its just an adjustment and I dont have to pull the tranny. Im looking at probably selling the plastic tracks and saving for the adair tracks. I will be keeping the 5" spacers. With the wheels extended out an additional 10"s. I like how more stable the hustler is in the water with them on.

[lunnex]

I finally got the ss rod today, I had to cut out all the old steel ones as they were completly siezed. i got the rods at a locale metal supplier, $3.28 for a 12 foot rod, = .27 cents a foot. For that price I would be crazy to but steel.