Track pins

[Ron Pier]

During the course of my motorcycle restorations, I invariably have to harden and temper the ends of the clutch push rods. These are made from silver steel, the ends are heated cherry red and quenched, then heated to straw colour and quenched. How would this process relate to track pins? Would silver steel be to costly? Could the process be used on the whole length of the pin? Ron

[RichardT10829]

another thought to consider is are the ends not left soft so they can be peened over ?

i have contacted a local Foundry in Durham about track, about 30mins ago,they have just rang me (bloody prompt excelent service !) they have a partner firm with massive military contracts who state this type of track should not be a problem for them to re produce at reasonable costs, but i wont have a reply until after tuesday as the chap is overseas on business........... as a carrier family we should definately pull together and put an end to this problem.

Nigel may give the acurate figures but iam sure the track usually looses a link every 500 miles, they dont last too long at all.

[Ron Pier]

Not according to the NOS pins I have Richard. One end has a fairly large domed mushroom head. The other end has a hole for a split pin, with washer first of course. Ron

[RichardT10829]

is that not to put the sections of track together ? so a 20 link section would be put together with that type of pin, and each indevidual link within that section is fixed with the end of the pin being peened over as stated ?

Rich

[Ron Pier]

Yep! your right there Richard. I've just been looking at my track, which has a mushroom head on one side and a sort of pressed formed head on the other side. Must have been done in the factory with a large press? I would think that any pin removed in the field would be replaced with a split pinned link pin. Interestingly the 3 foot length of track that I just disassembled had all split pinned pins. That's what through me off track( No pun intended) Ron

[Alex Blair (RIP)]

Originally Posted by RichardT10829

is that not to put the sections of track together ? so a 20 link section would be put together with that type of pin, and each indevidual link within that section is fixed with the end of the pin being peened over as stated ?

Rich

Richard...
You don't want hard track pins..you want"soft" track pins...You want the pins to wear..not the track..If the pins are harder than the track ,the track will wear and then you WILL be in a world of hurt..Keep the track pins tough ..but not hard..

[RichardT10829]

agree with your comments Alex but it must be a fine line, too soft and as soon as a hard turn is made "PING". i have a theory discussed at length with an engineering lecturer at local university we agree'd the way forward is hard track pin and track as is but the lugs machined out and threaded to take a soft insert which can be unscrewed and replaced when worn. in theory saves the pin and saves the main body of the cast on the track. problem was we didnt have any examples to see if there would be enough material on the lugs to do this, but it was non the less a good idea in my humble opinion.

Rich

[Lynn Eades]

The track pins with the double heads, are designed so that a few blows with a hammer will cause the heat to fall off, allowing the rest of the pin to be driven out with the track pin punch. This only works on one end, as the heads on each end are different. This pin would then be replaced with the joining pin, that is retained with a washer and split pin.

[tankbarrell]

There are other things to consider in this problem. Manganese track work hardens so the pin holes will not wear as much as might be thought after settling in.
Much of the hole and pin wear is to do with the grit getting in and acting as a grinding paste. Relative hardness is less important than a tough pin.

There is not much material in the link to fit a bush and I would have thought the work involved initially as well as at the point of fitting new bushes would be greater than having new track cast.