T16 T101331 restoration

[horsa]

Do you only need the front wheels or do you also need the brackets that support the front wheels?

[eddy8men]

hi david
i only need the wheels as i managed to scrounge a idler bracket from shaun (cheers mate) and i'm having another fabricated.

[horsa]

OK, just checking since I have a set of left and right brackets in with my strategic spare parts. Wasn't really looking to get rid of them but if it helped get another carrier on the road, we probably could have worked something out. Glad you don't need them as shipping costs would be a killer from Texas to the UK.

As for wheels, we'd wondered about two options to your problem since idler wheels are tougher to source in good condition. One is to put a road wheel on a lathe and turn it down an inch. The other was mounting a road wheel as is since they are identical in every way other than outside rubber thickness. Not sure if it would push the track to close to the fender or not. Would sure help with worn track though as you wouldn't have to remove as many links due to age.

[eddy8men]

hi david
thanks for the offer of the brackets but like you said i'm glad i don't need them as i'm sure the shipping would have made my eyes water.

i didn't know that t16 idler wheels were 19" i had assumed that the americans would use their production prowess and fit 20" to keep things standardised, by the way does anyone know why the idler is 19" and not 20" ?

for what it's worth unless i can find 2x19" i'll fit normal road wheels, if i hit any probs i'll let you all know

[Lynn Eades]

Its just that the rubber is thinner,(the wheel is the same as the 20" ones) and basically its about keeping the track on. Under side load the thicker rubber would allow the track to tip over more, making the track more likely to fall off. I haven't read this anywhere. It's just my reasoning.
The manuals won't tell you why. Just that it is.
You could have the rubber turned down in a lathe, to make a slightly damaged 20" into a good 19" wheel.

[horsa]

Turning down damaged road wheels to make good iders was my thinking as well since they are harder to source.

The road wheel tyres are marked 20 x 3 and the idlers are marked 19 x 3 for both Firestone and Goodyear. There are also unbranded tyres so at least one other company made them during the war.

[eddy8men]

managed to pick up a nice suspension unit from a chap who replied to a message on another forum. we got chatting and it turned out he used to own my centaur that i sold on to kevin. it's a small world !

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