[IronicDeadBird]

Hold on now if they said they have a wheeled chassis ready to go I wouldn't tell them to turn back, a strategic 180 or a hard commit in a strange direction I would advise against but it sounds like they have room to take chances, make mistakes, and get messy, so lets not turn them away from it. I would say if you are confident with the wheeled chassis abilities go forth and experiment with tread! Just don't break your back trying to make it work if you already have something that works.
Anyway I'll see what I can dig up for you guys we are working with tread too and so far what we have learned is that tension is misery. Keep an eye on the tension in between tests and matches it'll give your programmers an idea of why things aren't running as smoothly. Without seeing what kind of belt and pulleys you guys have I have no way of commenting on what your odds are off throwing a track off but always expect the worst in a contact game. Along the lines of the belt I would absolutely try and try and bond the tread and belt with ways that involve adding material to the belt or tread, and not taking material away from the belt or tread. That is just a gut feeling though so I could be wrong.
Again I can't emphasize this enough you have the room to treat one chassis as a competition serious option, the other chassis should have the emphasis of an off season "I wonder what would happen" kinda project. Just make sure when the time is right you are focusing on the right one.