Steel wheels?

[beresford]

Since the last update there is an option for T34s to fit all-steel wheels. Why would you want to do that?

[SCG_judgedeath3]

Historic realism, they sound more than rubber ones and in that time period soviets had a severe lack of rubber and materials to do the wheels like before, solution: make them fully metal.

[Voidhunger]

4 hours ago, beresford said:

Since the last update there is an option for T34s to fit all-steel wheels. Why would you want to do that?

Its a nice touch, like the gun shield in the Ferdinand

[beresford]

Thanks. So we think there is no difference except possibly sound.

[LukeFF]

37 minutes ago, beresford said:

Thanks. So we think there is no difference except possibly sound.

 

Correct

[Mmaruda]

Don't have much historical knowledge on the subject, but since I ride a grave bike, I'm gonna say "steel is real" and also pretty cool. This is not a serious answer by the way, but I still felt like I had to contribute some nonsense, just to get notifications - this seems like an interesting topic.

[69th_chuter]

The steel rimmed wheels had rubber isolators hidden internally between the wheel's disc and hub, this didn't work anywhere near as well as rubber tires, however, but significantly reduced the amount of rubber used.  I remember hearing a veteran tanker say (subtitled) how, when at speed on a hard surface, his teeth would buzz very unnaturally (and he laughed).  I thought that was funny; how are one's teeth to buzz "naturally".

[69th_chuter]

It might be interesting to add that the steel rimmed wheels on the T34 were sometimes replaced by slightly larger diameter rubber-tired Panther wheels.  While pictures of T34s with Panther wheels are not hard to find on the web I've happened across an interesting pic showing an abandoned Panther with its outboard wheels removed and a pair of T34 steel rimmed wheels left abandoned alongside it (fourth pic down).

 

https://forum.warthunder.com/index.php?/topic/211938-panther-identification-for-dummies/

 

[LachenKrieg]

3 hours ago, chuter said:

It might be interesting to add that the steel rimmed wheels on the T34 were sometimes replaced by slightly larger diameter rubber-tired Panther wheels.  While pictures of T34s with Panther wheels are not hard to find on the web I've happened across an interesting pic showing an abandoned Panther with its outboard wheels removed and a pair of T34 steel rimmed wheels left abandoned alongside it (fourth pic down).

 

https://forum.warthunder.com/index.php?/topic/211938-panther-identification-for-dummies/

 

I wonder what the pit-stop time for that was.

[SCG_judgedeath3]

Interesting to see those with the t-34 roadwheels, shows how desperate the logistics was on the german side at the end of the war.
But I wouldnt say most of the people writing in that thread knows that much, claiming some of the Panthers being the G model but having the A turret, when its a early G panther as they had the normal gun mantlet, late version had the chinn mantlet. Same for the one where they claim a Panther D with a A turret when if you check the photo is an obvious early A version, the first ones from certain factories made a updated D hull design and after a month retooled to proper A hull(standard production model).

[69th_chuter]

37 minutes ago, SCG_judgedeath3 said:

Interesting to see those with the t-34 roadwheels, shows how desperate the logistics was on the german side at the end of the war.
But I wouldnt say most of the people writing in that thread knows that much, claiming some of the Panthers being the G model but having the A turret, when its a early G panther as they had the normal gun mantlet, late version had the chinn mantlet. Same for the one where they claim a Panther D with a A turret when if you check the photo is an obvious early A version, the first ones from certain factories made a updated D hull design and after a month retooled to proper A hull(standard production model).

 

I really don't think this speaks directly to a desperate logistics situation on the German side* so much as to the Russians being willing to go to a fair amount of work to ditch the T34's steel rimmed wheels whenever the opportunity presented itself.  They just swapped the Panther wheels for their steel rimmed wheels and left their old wheels with the Panther.  Again, there are numerous photos of T34s with Panther wheels.  I very much agree with you on the other photos.

 

 

*Other than lack of fuel or spare parts to keep the vehicle running so it wouldn't be abandoned in the face of a soviet advance.