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Originally Posted by Matt Reiland
You are right Cory, we spent a literal fortune on the tracks last year and it would make me think twice about doing it again (Can't remember if it was seven or eight ripped belts). As Cory stated above the self aligning pulley's were $100 each ($400 total) and the belts were close to $150 for serrated and almost $300 for the solid center. As for shipping them, Brecoflex ran pretty far behind in getting us replacements, and our use for them is way out of their design parameters as far as Brecoflex was concerned. Our gearboxes may have been too much for them last year. Also, don't think that because you have treads you can climb anything, it all depends on the type of treads and their orientation compared to the chassis (Look at most tanks and the front has a steep angle instead of a big pulley)
I haven't checked with the company that Andy Baker posted but they may be better price or delivery than Brecoflex and they sell self aligning tracks there also.
On a side note, we noticed no difference in the tearing between the regular Brecoflex belts with the serrated center rib and the solid core which cost twice as much. Our failures started on the edge of the tread and continued across the belt and appeared to have nothing to do with the center. Many teams also had de-lamination problems with the tracks.
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I've seen a lot of team have those similar problems with Brecoflex belts.
You can get belts with the same backing from Mectrol (
www.mectrol.com). The lead time is roughly the same. We've never lost a belt, and we've loaded them as much as anyone. The belts we used were kevlar reinforced, which is probably why we haven't lost one. I believe the Brecoflex belts are not reinforced, but I don't know that for sure.