Byron
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Byron’s TM1990 Rubber Track Manual for Weasel M29 & M29C
This manual explains how To fit the rubber track kit ready to accept the rubber tracks.
The Rubber tracks are a modern substitute to replace the original tracks. The original tracks weakness are the bands that hold them together. The steel bands are encased in a rubber mould which over time crack and allows water to corrode the steel bands, eventually causing them to break.
To use The rubber tracks, You need to fit the rubber track kit. When the kit is fitted you can continue to follow TM9-772 to fit the tracks in the same way as the originals tracks. I can confirm the track tensioning tools do still work in the same way with no problems.
If you aren’t going through a full restoration, whilst fitting the kit, this is the best time to change any worn bearings or damaged seals.
Refer to the parts manual for the bearing numbers and seal numbers. Most of these part numbers can be crossed reference to modern seals and bearings. “Good Luck”.
In the rubber track kit you have:-
4 Large round spacers:-
The spacers go each side of the hubs at the front return rollers so the front roller wheels space apart to accept the wider track centre guides. See figure 1 & 2. You will need to remove the hub from the axel to enable you to remove inner wheel to then slip one spacer onto the hub before putting the inner wheel back on. You can now refit the hub to the axel.
NOTE - You will need to purchase 16x 5,1/2” x 3/8 UNF bolts as the originals are not long enough to bolt it all together. These are not supplied in the kit.
NOTE - Make sure you Grease the front hubs thoroughly before finally fixing everything together as one of the spacers completely covers the hub grease nipples (This is a slight design fault) See figure 3.
NOTE - Because the idler wheel closest to the hull has been spaced apart with the spacer, this becomes very close to the front carrier arm stub axle nuts, these nuts will catch the wheel if they are not locked off in a good position. These nuts can only be fitted when the wheel is loose on the hub to give you more nut turning space. See figure 4 and 5.
32 Smaller spacers and 16 longer shafts:-
These smaller spacers go either side of the track suspension bogey hubs to space the small idler bogies further apart. See figure 6. The long shafts replace the original shorter ones to allow the extra length for the spacers. These spacers are to allow the wider track guides to run through the wheels. See Figure 7 & 8 NOTE - You will need to keep your original castle nuts and wooruff keys for your new shafts.
NOTE - The oil seal each side in the support assembly now runs on the new spacers so keep these shiny and paint free to seal correctly. Originally these seals run on the smooth face inside of the wheels. See figure 7
8 x Cone shaped washers :-
See figure 9 & 10. These are the hardest part of the kit to fit and require the track guid wheels to be removed from the shaft. You will need to remove all bearings and grease. The wheels will then need to be cut and re welded. The wheel part with the rubber needs to be cut away from the bearing hub part. These cones are then welded to the inside of the wheel part and to the outside face of the bearing hub part to widen the gap for the track centre guides to run through.
See figure 11, 12 & 13. This can only be done on a lathe to ensure they run true again. These welds need to be neat and precise. I did not do these myself, I got a machinist to do this for me.
Once these have been modified you can now refit bearings, pack with grease and fix back onto the shafts.
NOTE - These modified rollers are available as reproduction parts rather than cutting the originals. This may be the most sensible option rather than cutting ww2 parts. I believe these come with one of the different kits as I have seen them on another weasel. I had no choice as our kit did not come with these, we were just supplied the cone washers for DIY.
2 rear drive sprocket :-
To fit these you will need to remove the rear dive hub form the axel, then remove the drive sprockets wheels from the hub. Then re fit the bare hubs back onto the axel. See figure 14. When the bare hubs are fitted back onto the axel just simply bolt the new drive sprockets supplied in the kit to the out side face of the rear hubs. See figure 15.
NOTE - You will need to buy 16x 2,1/4” long 3/8 UNF bolts as the originals are too short.
Extra notes and reminders:-
The rubber tracks are run considerably tighter than the originals, particularly because of how they are made and particularly to ensure the shorter track centre guides don’t let you run a track off unlike the original taller centre track guides. Because of this, It is worth considering fitting a solid 1,3/8” bar inside the front idler stub axels to help prevent these bending.
See figure 16. By pushing a solid bar through as a tolerance fit will also confirm that you do not have a bent stub axel as the bar will simply not go though. If you have a bent stub axel, the weasel will continuously steer to one side. The inside of the tube may need a slight hone to clean ready to accept the solid bar. Like wise the bar may need a slight skim on a lathe to give you the correct tolerance fit.
Remember to grease the front hub well before you put the spacers over the grease nipples
Remember to tighten the nuts for the carrier arms before tightening the wheels to the hubs.
I have now personally driven 50 miles with the rubber track kit and I have not had any concerns. We have previously owned another weasel, which come with rubber tracks fitted when we bought it and we had no issues with these. I have been in communication with a few guys that have run these tracks for years and I have mostly received positive reviews and it has kept their weasels running.
WARNING - Some Weasel owners do not like the look of these tracks as they do not look original, which we can not deny. Expect to take some friendly banter but be confident your tracks will outlast the originals.
PLEASE NOTE - I have tried to make this manual helpful for future people like myself who only has pictures and friends help fit these tracks. If you believe I have made an error with a description or are not happy with how I have described something please PM me so I can correct rather than fill the comments box with my mistakes.
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Then the next problem, the radiator has decided it’s had enough of life..... this weasel had been sat in a barn for 35 years and not moved. I have had the radiator pressure tested and flow tested but after putting some miles on her, the radiator has formed Crack. It’s currently out and at the repair shop.
this is where she broke down
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Hi guys, I’ve not posted for a while... I don’t want it to seem like the weasel is all singing and all dancing because that would be an untrue story from most restorations...
I’ve had two break downs recently, but luckily very close to home. I can confirm a weasel toes behind a modern vehicle very well!
I found the first problem very quickly, starvation of fuel unless I left the fuel pump running for a while, I’d get another 30 seconds of driving again until the carb had emptied. The fuel pump was still humming but only a very small trickle of fuel. The internal pipe from the pump to the top plate had collapsed not letting fuel pass. This was evident only after I’d taken the whole unit back out the tank.
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Hi Will, it’s taken me 6 months to complete this weasel....... but is it finished..... debatable as I’m still having teething issues now. Radiator had a melt down and decided it had had enough, it cracked last weekend. Previous to that, the fuel pump pipe inside the fuel tank decided to collapse. All these things are 70+ years old and after being put under use after sitting around for a long time they are starting to show their age.
the rubber tracks are great. I am making a TM manual on how to fit them just for fun. I’ll post shortly.
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Hi Patric, water pumps are Available but they are quite expensive. We bought a spare after we were having troubles with our pump. Believe it or not the repair kit was 2/3rds of the price of an entire new pump.... it made No sense
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Nice machine.
have fun.
cheers, Byron
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On 3/13/2021 at 5:38 AM, OZM29C said:
@5280Beltfed I picked up my new 160F high flow thermostat this morning. It has the bypass hole in it. Note the packaging, it says “performance”😄
I’m really keen to know your thermostat outcome John when youve tried it.
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Also Patric, your rad doesn’t have the whole for the winch shaft. This won’t be a problem if your not going to have tanks. John needed this whole for his winch
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13 hours ago, Patrick Tipton said:
@OZM29C Thank you John. I have been wondering about those reinforcements - is it just human nature to pull too hard on those arms or are the forces reasonably light if everything is well adjusted? Every Weasel I have driven has had pretty high stick forces, but I have never driven one that was fully restored. How hard is your steering?
One other thought - I purchased that Hossfeld tube bender and could pretty easily (I think)..bend a new arm and just weld them in (both of mine have repairs and one side is thin in a couple of spots). Jeep windshield arms are the same diameter tubing and they are doubled with a smaller tube inside of it. I happen to have stock...was thinking about doubling and bending one up. If I leave the doubler short 4 inches or so...never see it.
Brilliant work Patric. I love learning all the time with these things and your pictures are very detailed for other people to work off.My last weasel had reinforced tillers and I was happy to leave it. This weasel I have nearly finnished does not. To be honest, I have to apply very little pressure to make the weasel turn nicely. I found using only two fingers means I don't pull too hard and make the weasel snatch into a corner. Light pressure and I feel those bands start to grip. Throwing the weasel into a corner doesn’t feel nice as I’ve experienced recently.
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20 minutes ago, F-D Zernia said:
Byron, it sure looks like there is some good history near by you. You give us a history lesson too. Thank you for that.
On the sub axle pivot tube reinforcement I wonder how deep into the hull you would recommend the extra solid bar. Yesterday I took mine apart to clean and measure and it seems there could be a few schools of thought. I’m thinking of installing bar stock into the hull but where to stop. If it extends into the hull as much as it is in the external stub it should give it plenty of strength. If it bends in the middle I think that would have been a serious accident.Good question, to be honest, the price for the complete length was only £42 and I was happy to make mine fit as one peace. This also told me that both external stubs were straight and lined up together with how nicely it went through as a tolerance fit. I completely agree with you, if it bends in the middle of the weasel...... we hit a tree smack on.
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2 hours ago, Will Dodge said:
Where did you find your tracks?
Hans Louis in Belgium. They are available if you want them. It comes as a full kit
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On 3/12/2021 at 11:09 PM, F-D Zernia said:
Hi Byron, the videos looked like your enjoying the ride. She sure sounds different with those tracks. It reminds me of studded snow tire hum on the pavement.
I’m including a picture of the stay rods on our machine before disassembly. It was a mod to about the last 1000 weasels. Maybe a weakness was noticed on the final drive. Thats why I posted about the cracks or casting marks on the webbing of my final drive case. It certainly would beef up the back like you strengthen the front snubs for the idler. Especially if you tighten the tracks more that usual.
Fred
Thank you for posting this. This is the first time i have ever seen these in action. I like the idea. I bet these are rare
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On 3/12/2021 at 11:50 PM, 5280Beltfed said:
Run the engine in the dark to see if you spot any plug wires arcing. Mine did that on the speedo. Drove me nuts....
porter
Thanks mate. I tried lots of fault finding and it was the condenser was loose in the retaining clip. After I found this it sorted the problem with no hesitation.
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Today has been a success 👍
The engine Miss was due to an aftermarket condenser being a very loose fit in the holder that secures it to the dissy base plate. The book clearly states it needs to all be clean for a good ground.
After making sure the condenser was a tight fit in the holder, the engine purrs like a kitten.
It did take a few process of elimination tests before we got to this.Another 15 miles completed today around our local area including down to Brixham breakwater slipway. This was one of the largest slipways purposely built in 1943 to accommodate 3 LST’s for loading and unloading ready for Operation Overlord. A house at the top of the slope down to the slip way was taken down to get the heavier vehicles around the tight bend. The B&W Picture is of Brixham slip during the war.
Taking Mum out in the weasel really made her
Mother’s Day, she loves itThe next trip will be Slapton Sands where operation Tiger was carried out to get a picture next to the Sherman tank memorial.
A few more jobs completed including changing the thermostat from a 180f to a 160f, fitting some more data plates and another full grease.
I want to do a few more miles before fitting the last Center plate to enable easy adjustments. We are looking forward to fitting the new seat covers and bases from Allied Forces Jim Clark
Hope you’ve all had a good weekend
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On 3/10/2021 at 10:50 PM, OZM29C said:
@ByronHi Byron, the photos better show what I was describing. I was outbid on ebay years ago for these. Cheers
They are interesting John. This weasel or the last two didn’t have these. If I’m honest, I don’t even know how they work.
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On 3/10/2021 at 3:26 PM, Patrick Tipton said:
Very cool - congratulations Byron! Fantastic work.
That spark issue is strange. Coils tend to be pretty binary in my experience...work or don't so I don't think that is your issue. Condensers seem generally poorly made these days so I would try that first - I would also try at the spark plug end and see if you are getting regular spark at a couple of cylinders just to verify what you observed with the cap off....
Thank you Patric for your thoughts. Well without reading your post first, I’ve gone and change the coil first...... whoops.
Put it like this, if the coil doesn’t fix the Miss, I’ll be coming straight back to the condenser. In my opinion it’s either the coil or the condenser.
im enjoying you videos. I can’t wait to see paint on your beast
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6 hours ago, OZM29C said:
@Byron Byron, does your weasel have the late production rear axle hub stay rods. That mod would also definitely help with the Staaman tracks.
I don’t think so, would you mind showing me a picture of what they look like please John. And how do they work please?
6 hours ago, OZM29C said:@Byron Byron, does your weasel have the late production rear axle hub stay rods. That mod would also definitely help with the Staaman tracks.
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Super happy to be posting these videos.
The weasel ran amazing for her first main test run.
She’s had a couple of backward and forward shunts on the drive previously but after that it was time to hit the open road with a tow vehicle behind following. (Dad) Peter KayShe ran amazingly for the first 9 miles but for the final mile, she was missing terribly and I decided to get toed back the rest of the journey rather that to do any damage to the engine.
She drove straight and turned with little effort.
After getting home I had a good check round. No oil leaks, no water leaks and the tracks kept their tension.
Compression tested each bore ranging from 125psi to 145psi
The engine ran at a constant temperature of 180
Oil pressure at 15psi on idle and 40psi when driving.I believe I’ve found the problem last night why she was missing so badly:- I took the dizzy cap off and turned the engine over with the ignition on. We are getting a spark between the points maybe once in every 3 turns of the dizzy. I think either the coil or condenser is breaking down. Any thoughts please?
I’m also proud to say mum did 1 mile of driving on country roads 💪👍
I still have a few more jobs on her until I’m completely satisfied. The stencils and canvas will be a nice summer day job with dad and a cold beer
A small peace of history:- Those two concrete tracks I’m driving on were laid for the 10th armoured division where they were based ready to deploy for the Normandy invasion.
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On 3/6/2021 at 2:01 PM, F-D Zernia said:
Hi Byron, I like the steel bar in the front stub axle to keep it straight. Is this area a known weak point. I never gave it any thought. It makes sense that if I drive into something or up a steep embankment undue pressure can be placed on that point.
Your cowling turned looks like it should. Great job.
FredThanks Fred.
Yes, I believe those sub axels pivot tubes are known for bending when hitting bums hard. When one is bent, the weasel will forever pull to one side so you will need to keep straightening up the weasel by pulling on a tiller. How annoying!as you may know, I am running the Staman tracks, and these need to be run super tight as the centre track guides are half the height of the originals so the tracks are more likely to come off. By running the tracks tighter, reduces this risk.
hitting a bump with the tighter tracks is more likely to bend those stub axels.
father previously had a bent stub axle on his old weasel and it wouldn’t steer a straight line. Doug is also going through this problem currently both are/were running Staman tracks.
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Great work John. You’ve mentioned a couple of interesting points there, my weasel has a 190 thermostat in her and I think she’s getting too hot to. I’ve ordered a 160. Any ideas how your going to lower the thermostat into the head some more?
I also had the problem, when draining all the water from the engine 4-5 times on the engine stand due to the problem with the water pump. The head obviously had an air lock and the engine got super hot before the thermostat would open for the first time each time I emptied the water. Father mentioned it may be an idea to drill a small whole in the thermostat to let just a small amount of water through so the air pocket gets filled each time I empty the water. What’s your thoughts? Did you encounter this?
I also went for a semi gloss OD, just for easier maintenance and less scratch resistant.
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Your doing a great job Patric! I enjoyed your pioneer compass video the other day. Some interesting facts in there. Thank you
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Byron’s TM1990 Rubber Track Manual for Weasel M29 & M29C
in Headquarters
Posted
FIGURE4