Is it possible foe a M4A4 hulled M50 to have a one piece cast final drive, or was the M4A4 hull only take the three piece? Thanks in advance for any and all help, Joel.
Absolutely, Joel! The M50 conversion line tore the tanks down to bare hulls & turrets and re-manufactured them. Differentials of all types were fitted, so A4s could get a cast diff cover. An M4 Composite-based M50 was seen early in it's career with a 3-piece diff. The 3-piece covers seem to become less common as time went on; presumably they were replaced with the stronger cast covers whenever possible. The M51 only appeared with cast covers, though at least one had an early E4186 rounded diff cover.
"You could probably use some armor. A Sherman can give you a very nice...edge!"
I'm actually in the very early stages of a cast cover -A4 hull M50, still waffling on making it an early diesel-engined conversion or not.... The discussion runs both for and against such a tank, but I may do it anyway, just because I have all the parts. I'd have to use an MP Models turret, but I really don't mind doing that, done it before.
And just to add a little more clarification: If we're talking about an IDF M4A4T, with the radial engine retrofit from France, those would have 3-piece diff covers. When torn down to become M50s, it's possible that the diff could be replaced at that time. Almost certain that the transmission & diff were replaced when the tank was torn down again to fit the Cummins engine, HVSS, and stowage arrangement we're all familiar with.
"You could probably use some armor. A Sherman can give you a very nice...edge!"
It's like mixing Legos and Lincoln Logs, but not quite.
Almost! The 3-piece diff was superseded because of structural weakness; flexing of the separate elements under load could cause the gears to bind...to say nothing of the shot traps that resulted from the shape of the thing. If the US Army wasn't enamored of that and preferred the cast covers, it's certain that the IDF felt the same way. The IDF, however faced the twin challenges of restricted budgets and arms embargoes, so obtaining the better parts took considerable time. And since it's a fairly major operation to remove the differential & transmission, it wouldn't be done unless necessary. I'm sure that some were replaced at unit level in the late '50s, since the IDF tended to keep a limited number of tanks operational for their reserves, rotating units through using the same tanks as their annual service came due. Those tanks saw a lot of wear and tear, and inevitably there would have been transmission failures. The tanks kept in depot storage, though, wouldn't be subject to that...typically run only a few hours a year and not on operations.
"You could probably use some armor. A Sherman can give you a very nice...edge!"
Sounds good. I'll poke through Gannon's book again, see what vibes I get before I go any further with this one. If I do decide to go to a 3-piece cover and to the redial engine M50, I've got to come up with a usable 3-piece cover, and one that fits. I originally started to use the Dragon parts, but jacked them up pretty good trying to get the fit right. I'm using the later ShermanV/C kit, and the final drive covers place the drive sprockets too high. I did get everything lined up nicely using a one-piece FDA from the spares, so I may be stuck with it.
