pic: The effect of MSC elims on roughtop tread

[Josh Fox]

loading photo ...

[Richard Wallace]

Blue Nitrile = Highly Recommended.

The defense at MSC was most impressive. Quite a show for the audience, and nerve wracking for pit crews.

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[edit]Post # twenty-seven hundred, seems appropriate.: Your team has one tough robot.

[The Doctor]

Are those rivets easy to replace?

[Tungrus]

Last year Team 4384 had same problem with rough top treads from AndyMark. These were replaced just for MSC and after 2 match treads were peeling off. They replaced with wedge top for rest of the competition. It seems they contacted AndyMark later and AM sent a replacedment as other teams had complained too. Now if it has happened this time, I am begining to wonder if this was manufacturing defect or the conditions at MSC. Last year one side of the pits was warm and humid (where Team 4384 was) and the other side was cold. Could warm humid air cause glue to fail?

[Mike Marandola]

Originally Posted by The Doctor

Are those rivets easy to replace?

Yup, all you have to do is drill them out and the rivet hole acts like a pilot hole.

[Joseph Smith]

We used to have this same problem, but we switched to a different tread. I'm not sure exactly where it came from... but it's black and the "roughtop" cleats are twice as big as standard roughtop tread... We've run it through three competitions now and had no issue with the tread delaminating, but we replaced it after our second competition because the tread itself was wearing down.

[J@GMFlint]

We've used AM Performance wheels and AM supplied treads for many years and LOVED them. Last year, it appears AM got a different batch of material in, or something changed, as the rough-top was wearing out very fast compared to what we'd experienced in the past with similar drivetrains and wheel sizes.

This year, we again bought more AM material and used it at our first event. All of our rough-top treads (4" 6wd modified AM14) failed worse than shown in the picture above, we had nothing but the belting and rivets left and it was only 1/2 way through qualifications at Kettering!

For the last two events, we used a 3-ply blue nitrile- no issues at all, awesome stuff!! Highly recommended!!

[stingray27]

Originally Posted by Tungrus

Now if it has happened this time, I am begining to wonder if this was manufacturing defect or the conditions at MSC.

I think it was a bit of both. If you watched the finals match alone at MSC, the amount of wear and tear of our robot playing defense on 67 was probably equivalent to the wear and tear of the rest of our matches combined.

[Tungrus]

Tread wear is expected, but the problem Team 4384 had was delaminating, just like in photo by Josh. AM rough top treads have done good in other competition, that's the reason I am wondering about humidity at MSC. I wasn't at MSC this year, so I don't know how humid it was inside the pits. In our experience temperature (dry air) itself was not an issue.

Performance wheels with rivets i good as long as you are able to remove the wheels for replacing treads, if not, it isn't easy. Is FlyingToasters taking out wheels like a breeze, with a snap ring.

[jlmcmchl]

Originally Posted by stingray27

I think it was a bit of both. If you watched the finals match alone at MSC, the amount of wear and tear of our robot playing defense on 67 was probably equivalent to the wear and tear of the rest of our matches combined.

Absolutely. The alliances lived up to their merged names: BIG Killer RUSH and Chaotic HOT Pi.

I'm really excited to see how all of these teams do at CMP, I wouldn't be surprised if all of them were in eliminations.

[Joe Ross]

At the San Diego regional, we had to call in a backup robot for the finals (4486). They did a great job playing defense. In just two matches, they delaminated two wheels.

[Matt_Boehm_329]

Originally Posted by Tungrus

AM rough top treads have done good in other competition, that's the reason I am wondering about humidity at MSC. I wasn't at MSC this year, so I don't know how humid it was inside the pits. In our experience temperature (dry air) itself was not an issue.

We too experienced this same issue at both The Long Island regional and Chesapeake as well as on our practice robot so I am unsure about humidity. We haven't seen this problem before this year. We unfortunately have been needing to replace them at least once, sometimes twice per competition. At least our pit crew are champs at it now. Tread swaps are down to just a few minutes w/o removing the wheels.

[Peter Matteson]

I've never seen this even in the roughest defense games from 2006 and 2007 on the tread we use.

After 2 districts and the NEDCMP ours still looks great.

[Matt_Boehm_329]

For those seeing this issue, could you describe the wheel setup you have? We are seeing it on the center wheel of our drop center. In the past we used them primarily as the rear high grip of a 4w skid steer with lower friction wheels in the front. I wonder if it is a placement issue. Also what diameter wheels are you using it on? Ours are 4in and it looks as if the one in the picture is as well.

[Josh Fox]

These are indeed the 4" performance wheels. We're running a 6WD with the performance wheels in the middle and white HiGrip wheels on the corners. All axles are in-line, but on flat, hard ground there is the tiniest bit of rock. Virtually unnoticeable on carpet though.