There are two kinds of track: live track and dead track. Live track does not compare to the finger-hungry dead track of the carrier.
Sprockets on a UC are another story. It is traditional that you spin the hub after setting up wheel bearings. That is a tradition best done carefully with the carrier as the ice grousers will use your finger as the wedge to stop the momentum of the spinning drum and sprocket.
Robin: Don't discount the infantry for having track knowledge. The majority of my track knowledge came while being attached to 2 PPCLI where there were close to 90 M113a2 carriers at one point. The operators did the bulk of the track maintenance.
With the shift to wheels in the last dozen years, and the few remaining M113s using rubber band track, that knowledge may be getting thin on the newer breed.
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