I thumbed through couple of my photo-albums and clicked through several of my folders and found some AAVs to provide images of their wearing. They faded, stained and chipped without receiving a second look as all the sweat and $$ went to keeping them functioning properly, appearance wasn’t even a factor. The exterior was usually oil/fuel stained because 15/40 (oil) and JP8 (fuel) does not wipe away from CARC, the larger concern was to make sure none of the oil/fuel got or stayed on the deck – ramp, beach or dirt inland for fear of the repercussions should the EPA or OSHA happen across our path; the kitty-litter dance being a well and oft-practiced jig (oil soak looks like cat litter and you have to rub it into the cement to absorb the oil).
I have become less concerned with my finishes being precisely correct and prefer to make them look right; following more the artistic than authentic path I suppose.
This is brand new track- even after sitting for months in the ocean air the track hasn’t rusted yet. They arrive with a thin layer of protectant that has a slightly tan/gold hue and can be scraped away with a finger nail similar to wax.
A couple runs up the beach and allowed to rest on the ramp for couple days and we have a much more familiar sight.
Unlike remainder of the AAV (save for UGWS) the RAM/RS road wheels are steel and rust rapidly given the AAV’s operating environment. The “spokes” on the #1 road wheel are from an excess of anti-seize that was applied to the nuts when the road wheel was installed and the compound had been flung outward while the vehicle was speeding along – this was fairly common when the RAM/RS was first introduced. You will also notice that almost all the paint has been worn away from all of the oil hubs, very common even with the older suspension.
After days in the field and driving along the beach the track still maintains a dull steel finish but the center guide teeth have been shined-up from the constant friction of steel on steel.
Once again the suspension will never compete for beauty prizes, and as can be seen the bow takes a lot of punishment scraping and rubbing away the paint.
The track shroud is frequently removed and as such rarely do the bolts have paint on them, normally being rusted and the areas around their mounting chips away the paint. The hull behind the suspension also gets much of the paint chipped and wore away. The white rims on the road wheels are the primer being exposed from the green CARC being worn away. The inner rim of the road wheels, where the holes for the hub bolts are located, typically do not get painted from new and almost immediately rust once mounted. When new though, they are bare steel, same practice was followed on the older suspension except they were aluminum.
Extreme examples of disregard for the overall finish, but both of these AAVs had been painted with their EAAK mounted and once the armor was removed the previous camouflage was exposed. There were quite a few of these mix/match paint jobs on the ramp after OIF I and none received a new paint job until they were sent for rebuild.
I included these simply because it is rare to find an AAV in this pose. This occurred at 29 Palms, while driving down hill on the recently completed cement path in the rain the track slid off the pad just enough to catch the ditch and wind up on her side. There were no injuries and once righted a couple of the road wheel hubs were replaced and off she went. This was actually the second vehicle to accomplish this pose within the span of about a week, and both were fairly new and looked no worse for wear after the incidents.
