Greetings,
I'm trying to get good pics on the steering gear of the BT-7. I want to do a model with the tracks off and the wheels articulated. The mechanism seems simple enough, looking at the Tamiya parts, a tube that moves left or right from steering inputs and moves bellcranks attached to the inner hubs of the #1 roadwheels. i'm confused by the mounting point of the bellcrank to the hub, as it's in the center over the axle, not to the front or rear, which doesn't seem like it would move the wheel around the pivot point, which i assume is the center of the axle.
Any ideas?
Thanks
Mike

Hey, Michael
Can you post a picture to show what exactly you are looking for?

I'll have to make a drawing, the parts are too small, and I don't have a macro lens.
I'll try and get something done up tonight.

Will blueprint of a steering wheel suspension help?

yes indeed!

cheers

To add to what Mauro had posted here are several more images that might help you with that suspension. They are from different modifications of a tank, but it will help to understand how it worked.

BT-2




BT-5




BT-7




The blueprint is much bigger than Armorama alows to show, so to see it in full you will need to right click on the image and click on "View Image" (in Firefox) or "Open image in a new tab" (in Chrome).

http://bronetehnika.narod.ru/bt-is/bt-is.html

http://tankimira.ru/country/sssr/ligths/BT-7









You posted stunning references alex

Cheers

This is great stuff guys. Questions regarding the steering system of the BT(-7) pop up often enough that I'm wondering if one of the mods can just make this a sticky?

Thanks, Mauro!
You got some interesting stuff too. I didn't know about Tank2.ru site. They have some interesting photos.

thanks to all who replied with the pics and diagrams. All it took was a good view at the full size hardware, makes sense now! Tamiya has molded the ends of the #1 roadwheel mounting arm incorrectly apparently, unless they were replicating a later BT-7 as I read that they had eliminated the steering gear; maybe they changed the rounded pivot point to a blocky shaped end?

doh! after looking at the kit again, I can see the reason for the blocky end on the support arm: Tamiya has a poly cap that goes in there.