Greetings,
I have a pair of track-related questions for you fine people. If you could help answer them, I'd appreciate it.
1 My first question is about track slack. It seems to me---and I believe I read this on one of your very helpful build reports---that having some slack in the track of a suspended vehicle allows one to "store" extra track length in the upper part of the track for use when the suspension travels. (If the ground surface is uneven, the path along the road wheels will be longer than it would on a flat surface.) Most modern tanks have skirts that make it hard to see if there is slack in the track, or if they use "return" wheels. Do modern, suspended tanks have slack tracks?
2 I've noticed that full-scale tracked vehicles can be
either front-drive or rear-drive. The engine seems to be always at the same end as the drive wheels, but I'm not sure whether, in general, the engine location determines the drive-wheel location or vice versa. (I did read once that the Merkava is front-engined, and thus front-drive, in order to provide additional protection for the crew from frontal assault.) It seems to me that, if you want to have slack in the track---see previous question---the track system will work better FOR FORWARD TRAVEL if the drive wheels are in the rear. I say this because the drive wheels cannot push the track, only PULL it. (Is that comment clear?) Anyway, does anyone have anything to say about this topic?
Thanks again for any help you could provide.
M