Sd.kfz. 254 - Saurer wheeled/tracked armoured car

[Dave Ward]

I'm considering building this shortly:-

I'm thinking of showing it on its' wheels, as the boxart. The question is, why do the tracks not sag? I would have thought that the weight of the track would make it drop away from the road wheels. It doesn't, as any pictures show ( reference & discussion only )
Were there straps that held the tracks up, or was the tension of the suspension/idlers enough to keep them tight?
It's not going to make any difference to the model, but I'm curious.
Anyone any thoughts, ideas?
Dave

[Guest]

If I had to guess, I’d say that the roadwheels (the ones in the track, not the pneumatic ones) get pushed down by their springs because they’re not supporting the weight of the vehicle, which leads the front and rear roadwheels to pull the track tight around the wheels.

[Dave Ward]

Jakko,
yes, that's my thoughts as well. I wonder how it went from tracks to wheels - powered jacks, manual wind down? - I've seen pictures on tracks, and on wheels,but not the transition
Dave

[Mikerf]

I've always thought that the steering on the road wheels must be limited by the track mechanism. There doesn't appear to be much room to pull a tight turn.

[Dave Ward]

Michael,
The front ( rubber ) road wheels have a wider track than the rear pair, giving some clearance for steering..................
Dave

[Mikerf]

With the emphasis on 'some', I think.

[Guest]

yes, that's my thoughts as well.

I would expect the front and rear bogies to be angled, not level, because of the track tension, but as they’re obscured by the pneumatic wheels it’s difficult to tell whether they are. The middle bogie would be level, though: if the second and next-to-last roadwheels get pushed down further than the first and last, the wheels in the middle have more room, and because they’re on a common spring, both would get pushed down equally. Probably only far enough to just rest on the track without deforming it.

I wonder how it went from tracks to wheels - powered jacks, manual wind down? - I've seen pictures on tracks, and on wheels,but not the transition

I’m not sure about that either. There’s a large bar connecting the lower suspension arms on each side of the hull, but I suspect those to be torsion bar springs rather than part of a mechanism to crank the arms up and down.

[Guest]

Hi Dave have you seen this one Sd.Kfz.245 mit Kran (crane truck).


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Pete.

[JR]

Dave.
Well what ever the thoughtS on the tracks/wheels I ve never seen this before so will pull up a seat.
Russians had a tank BT 5 that could run on wheels, once the tracks were removed , the front wheels were able to turn for steering.

John.

[Dave Ward]

John,
this is high in the 'to make' pile, but not at the top! - I'll start a proper blog for it - there's the starter set GB beginning on the !st April, and I want to build one of my stalled build TKS tankettes, as well.
Dave

[Gary MacKenzie]

Photo for discussion purposes only.

Shows steering at work

[Mikerf]

Well, that's more than I thought but still not much lock. Wouldn't like to try a 3 point turn in that

[Mikerf]

I notice that the Notek doesn't appear in any of the pictures.

[Guest]

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[Mikerf]

Well, that's me proved wrong again. Interesting that it's in a different position from the box art.