A high speed half tracked truck using a new type of core metalless rubber track for traveling and carrying both on- and off-road was developed. In this application a conventional metal embeded rubber track was examined in a first step, and was found to be unapplicable because of its chain type structure. Then a new type of positive drive metal embedless rubber track with endless spiral cable reinforcement was developed to meet all of the desired performance, i.e. low driving resistance, low heat build-up to flexing, low noise, low vibration, light weight, good flexibility, low wear, etc. The development of this track, along with the use of properly matched undercarriage and suspension, has renewed interest for the use of half tracked truck. This truck is based on a conventional four wheeled drive dump truck of two tons payload converting its rear wheels into rubber tracks. Both high maneuverability off-road and traveling speed faster than 60km/h on-road are obtained without detracking of rubber track from undercarriage. Therefore, the truck is capable of transporting its load between on- and off-road without transshipment. And an identical driver's license for the same category as the original truck has been granted by the Japanese Ministory of Transportation since '92. In this paper, the structure of the truck, the core metalles rubber track developed especially for high speed traveling, the test results and some market applications are reported.
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