Re: [HOE] road trains

["Steve Davidson, RN" <goofazoid@earthlink.net>]

Abdullah Oblongota wrote:

> A note about treads that would've been nice to see in Junkman Cometh or
> Road Warriors:  Treads break...A LOT.  They can get a vehicle  over any
> type of terrain, but they're put to a lot of abuse because of that, and
> wear out fast, even travelling across roads.  There's no way a treaded
> trailer would work out; they'd break treads more often that real trucks
> blow out tires (the drive to Origins taught me that this happens all the
> time...either that, or Indiana just doesn't know how to clean up their
> damn roads)
>
> From Whom It May Concern,
> Rich A Ranallo

Well, I disagree. I was a armor vehicle crewman for almost 5 yrs and properly
cared for tracks do just fine. I will grant that when they do break, or god
forbid come off, they are a royal pain in the ass, but I can count the number
of times that we had tracks break or come off on one hand. (I will add that
driver skill,  the move to support roller suspension from Christi suspension,
and armor skirts all play a part in the # of track problems)
Also, while I wish that they would go any terrain, that's just not true. Some
hills are too steep (unless you are a real nut and are willing to back up a
hill) and some times the water is too deep ect. (Also "Black Ice" on roads
converts a Bradley into a 34 ton toboggan! YEEHA!)
Just for overkill...
here are some links to phots of tanks that show the different types of
supension: (note the photos are rather large)
support roller (M60A3) http://armorfoto2.homestead.com/files/M60aapg.jpg
Christi type (T620) http://www.homestead.com/armorfoto1/files/T62bapg.jpg
support roller & skirt type (M1A1)
http://armorfoto.homestead.com/files/M1bapg.jpg
--
-Steve
"No good deed shall go unpunished"