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Track conversion for older tuckers

I

ikold

New member
I've got a 68 Tucker that we fully restored a year ago. It has the metal tracks and they are in good shape but I wonder if there is a rubber track conversion out there, I would imagine this would lighten the machine up quite a bit and also allow for a higher cruising speed. Would like to cruis at 15mph on groomed tail and I don't like to push the metal tracks that fast.

What are my options if any.
 
one member did this he claims to buy the parts from tucker is cost prohibitive. however i think that new terra track would be the cats asse up here in the summer.just turned down a $1400.00 job yesterday because there isn't enough snow these conditions wouldn't slow down a terra track.
 
How would a Terra Track conversion work ? Can't say I've ever seen one.

I remember there was someone from Ft. Collins who has a similar year cat to mine who recently did a conversion, but I lost his contact information.
 
the terra track is a full rubber continous belt with internal drivers like a snowmachine track and can drive on all surfaces. my guess it would be a bit expensive for a hobbiest i think it would be worth it for some one who works one on a regular basis
 
my understanding is everything from the spindle out has to be changed and could be expensive un less you could find a doner tucker the one that was converted i believe was done with a conversion kit that is now obseleate so i'm guessing one would also have to change from the dodge axles to dana units
 
that was the one i was thinking of didn't you have some kind of kit you had robbed off of a parts rig to do that with the origional dodge axles.
 
dds said:
that was the one i was thinking of didn't you have some kind of kit you had robbed off of a parts rig to do that with the origional dodge axles.
Click to expand...

Hi Don;
No, I had acquired another Tucker 443 that had the conversion done by Tucker. The conversion was offered as a kit for the people that wanted the rubber-belted tracks on their pontoon cats, but the one I had was actually done at the factory when the state owned it. My '53 had the 8.25 Dodge axles and the conversion was only for the 8.75 Dodge axles, so everything below the trunions had to be swapped-out.
 
well its a fine looking rig i would love to have one of the square sedan models with a tera track. but i think to do that would be expensive. but i believe that it would be the ultimate allseason vehicle that way.
 
The Terra track system is a whole different animal from the rubber-belted track system. The Terra tracks run on the latest Dana axles and need to have a pile of boggie wheels under them to support the track on the ground. The belted tracks rely on the track grousers for support. The weight difference between the two systems is substantial and so is the cost. I do agree that the all-rubber Terra track makes a great go-everywhere cat, but the only way for me to make that conversion would have been purchasing something like a Tucker 2000 and swapping the bodies. The frame on my little 443 wouldn't have suported the axles, let alone the Terra track frames hanging off the ends. Then there's the power issue....:unsure:
 
you are right i talked with some one who looked into it and he was just conveting fra dana 60 model with a 318 and it was like the cost of buying a second cat .also you are right some how or another those continous rubber tracks seem to suck up a lot of horse power, mattracks are a good example i drove a truck with them a couple of years ago and as amazed at how even on hard packed snow how it had to be in 4x4 to move. bv 206 tracks also seem to suck up a lot of hp .also they are heavy but for an all surface rig, if you can afford to keep it running the bv 206 is a pretty impresssive rig.
 
I had seen these on Craigslist this summer and thought they would be a great start to a conversion, maybe some one on this site got them?

http://www.forumsforums.com/3_9/showthread.php?t=58036

I also remember seeing a 2000 series project Tucker last year that had the newer style track carrier but not the terra type. It was just a cab and the undercarriage without the tracks for $2000 as I recall.

I remember several years a go seeing a picture of a tucker that had been converted using Thiokol Spryte(or similar) sprockets, boogies and tracks. It was very nicely done and looked pretty simple in design.

I think it would be a fun project to convert a older Tucker but even if you found some good deals on tracks and parts I think it wouldn't be worth it. $5000-$10,000 is what I would expect to spend in parts doing my own conversion.

There is a friend of mine here in Alaska that has 3 sets of brand new tracks that fit the BR 180s/BR 275/Br400s for $4300 a set FOB Seattle. One set would probably do all 4 tracks on the Tucker?

I agree weight would be a real consideration.
 
I vaguely remember a conversation with Jeff Godard at Tucker a couple of years ago....

The topics jumped around a bit but at one point he told me about a customer in Utah that had done such a conversion. If my memory is right, that customer was a mining company and they spent close to $60K converting their Tucker to the Terra Tracks.

That sounds ridiculous, but if you do the math on buying all new steel grousers for the rubber belted tracks on a 1600 series machine you're over $20K (about $170 for a new grouser times 124).

That doesn't include the four carriers, the 36 spindles the 24 idler wheels the 12 damper wheels or the eight sprockets, etc.

There's a company called Hans Hall that makes rubber tracks and I think they offer some products for Tuckers. I don't know how pricey they are, but I'm quite sure it won't be inexpensive.
 
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