Track rebuild

First off, I'm grateful for all the postings here about rebuilds and restores and adventures.. great reading that's kept me up too late most recent nights!

I see the typical practice for track rebuilds it to lay 'em standing upright on the ground in an 'S'. TOO hard on my back, so I tried a little different method that may help someone else out- laying flat across a 2x4 slanted down. The side on my Imp was about the right height, but anything chest/shoulder high should work.
The weight of the added grousers helps feed the belting, and having it laying flat at waist height made it a lot easier to assemble, as well as pointing out any bent grousers that don't readily bolt up (turned out ALL of mine were bent- spent a full day with the hyd press getting 'em straight) After they're straightened, they all went together without any struggle at all.
I also found that the frame that holds the front idler on my Imp was square from Thiokol, and had torn up a lot of the grouser back plates (likely from a flat front idler tire sometime in the past.) Didn't get a 'before' pic, but 'after' shows them rounded off. Not sure if that's typical of Imps or Thiokols in general, but it might pay to check yours.

good idea for a d dent track

Hi,

Just checking back in here, Looks like the exact track rebuild I need to do on my machine. What kind of deal were you able to find on the belting material? Did you have to punch all the holes yourself?

THanks!!

If your looking for any kind of track belting just give me a shout. If its 8" I can sell dirt cheap.

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Teeoster said:

Hi,

Just checking back in here, Looks like the exact track rebuild I need to do on my machine. What kind of deal were you able to find on the belting material? Did you have to punch all the holes yourself?

THanks!!

Click to expand...

John, it's not as bad a job as you'd think. Worst part was unbolting all the old belting - most bolts broke off, leaving part of the bolt stuck in the grouser. It also took a full day to straighten all the grousers. Maybe yours aren't as bad, but having them straight made assembly a breeze.


I drilled all the belt holes using an accurate jig I made. A 5/16" drill made a hole that's a good snug fit on 1/4" bolts. I'm lucky to live 10 mi. from Great Lakes Belting, they had some surplus stock that was cheap- about $200/4 belts cut to 8" width. Make sure you get belt material that retains flexibility and strength when cold- there are many different kinds, ply numbers, and thicknesses.


Where in MI you are? I might be able to loan you my jig..


Tom

Hi Tom,

Thank you for the help!

I took the tracks apart a few seasons ago and went thought the same arduous task of straightening the grousers as well. I live in the Detroit area and luckily my friend owns a heat treating shop so he shot blasted them to normalize the metal and heat treated them to a Rockwell 50 or so. I then had them all galvanized from a local place.

Michigan industrial belting is near my work, I checked with them, but the belting they had was really thick, the two ply was 3/8" and the 3 ply was 7/16". This stuff seemed too thick for what it was. What were you able to find at Great Lakes? I would appreciate the opportunity use your fixture if you are close enough. I live in the Utica Area?

John