LP2 wheels

[Tom Millward]

Happy New Year to you all!

A question to any LP2 gurus...A friend of mine has an LP2 carrier, the wheel rubbers are pretty shot, but he has some NOS UK/Canadian carrier wheels which he is planning to fit to it. Apart from the fact that they are not the correct looking wheels (a shame as I was hoping to trade them with him for my Mk1*), will they fit? Are the axles the same size, bearings etc? Is the LP2 track the same as UK/Canadian track?

Also his steering needs major adjustment, does the axle cross shaft have the same concentric rollers as the Canadian Carrier for adjusting the cam plate mechanism?

Cheers,

Tom

[Lynn Eades]

Tom, No. The Lp2 wheels are wider at the rubber / rim. The hubs are the same and use the same axles and bearings. They could be used but the tracks wont be stable. The track links are the same except that the horns that guide the track are wider on the Australian carrier. The LP2 and LP2A used track that was similar to the Vickers Light Tank Mk6B (The Aust. track has a short pin located with a lead plug and had a small hole on the opposite side only to enable removal of the pin. The VLT had the same pin arrangement as your Canadian carrier)
On the side rollers. The Australian casting that mounts to the hull sides, make no allowance for the angle iron at the floor in you carrier, and the holes are positioned differently.
The pin through the roller has a BS thread while the LP2 has a UN thread. The Aust. LP2 also is drilled with a grease nipple while the Brit / Canadian carrier has a vague "dribble" arrangement that relies on "hope" (actually I think the bushes (2 each side) are maybe "oilite", or sintered bronze that were pre soaked before assembly and relied on a bit of residual oil from the grease that drops on the roller and cross shaft. The roller its self may fit.
The cross tubes are different lengths.

[Tom Millward]

Thanks Lynn, I will pass the info onto my colleague. Useful to know that the rubber And track are a different profile than the UK/Canadian wheels. I’ll suggest he gets his wheels re-rubbered to the correct profile.

Cheers,

Tom

[David Herbert]

I would add that Windsor Carriers also have the wider rims and tires and track horns wider spaced to suit. I am not certain that they are precisely the same dimensions as the LP2s but they look the same. However the Windsor wheels and track are the same style as other Canadian / UK carriers, and look exactly the same unless you know to check the width of the wheel and spacing of the horns.
T16 carriers use the narrow format wheels but in straight spoke (similar to UK / Can), curly spoke or pressed disk designs.

David

[Lynn Eades]

Hi David, I have never seen Windsor bits, but believe the track would be dimensionally interchangeable with the Australian carriers. It is my opinion that the Australians that came up with their design made great improvements in many areas, (except that I love the classic style of riveted carriers) The adoption of the wider rubber and track horns from the later VLTMk6B along with the higher track guards made for a quieter and much more stable track that leaves me wondering why it was not universally adopted.
I can only imagine national pride being the barrier.

[David Herbert]

Hi Lynn,
I agree with all of the above but bare in mind just how desperate the situation was in the UK at that time. There was a huge pressure to not mess with anything that worked and as a result we were behind where we should have been in many fields. Canada and Australia and NZ were tooling up from scratch and so only inherited what we forced on them.
In my view the T16 was by far the best of the WW2 carrier family in terms of its driving and mobility qualities. There were teething troubles but once they got them right they worked well and continued in use post war until that class of vehicle became too small and under protected.
The Windsor in contrast I find under powered and extremely hard work to drive as the track warping phase of the steering just makes it crab as the two bogies move out of line with each other rather than creating a curved track path as in a UC. I am sure the Windsor owners club will disagree but everyone to their own !

David