How Bad Was The M60?

The 105mm Gun Tank M60 was a MBT (Main Battle Tank) developed during the late 50s and fielded from the 60s to the 2000s. Though it is considered to be an all around reliable vehicle these days, it did suffer from some mild mechanical issues. The M60A1 RISE (Reliability Improved Selected Equipment) fixed most of these issues to some degree. The M60 proved to be a rugged and lethal vehicle despite initial setbacks, and continued to be used well past its introduction date.

Check the channel "About" section for the link to the creator of my profile picture.

Sources:
“Laser Rangefinder/Tank Thermal Sight Integration Study”
“Diesel-Powered Equipment Properties and Activity Database for DoD Off-Road Sources”
“A Study of Selected Problems in Armor Operations”
“M60A1, M60AI RISE, AND M60A1 RISE (PASSIVE) SERIES TANKS, COMBAT, FULL-TRACKED 105-MM GUN UPDATE SYSTEM ASSESSMENT”
"Product Improvement Test of Hard-Coated Aluminum T142 Track For M60 Series Tank”
“Single Hydraulic Fluid for Army Ground Combat and Tactical Vehicles and Equipment”
“EVALUATION OF PREPRODUCTION SHOT, APDS, 105-MM, M392A1 FOR M68 GUN (U)”

Songs used (in order from first to last):
Subnautica - Into the Unknown
Halo 3: ODST - Rain (Deference for Darkness)

Sound mods:
Epic Thunder (Pre-release)

Reddit: /u/spookston
Discord: See my Patreon page.

#warthunder​​​​​​​​​​​​ #tanks​​​​​​​​​​​​ #tankhistory

[Spookston]

I wasn't able to record for a while so this video was written and voiced by Thinky, my friend that's been a guest before.

[SilentButDudley]

M60 is one of my favorite tanks due to the variants mostly. The Israeli and Middle Eastern modified tanks are awesome, albeit not as effective as other modernized tanks.

[lencao]

Man I got overwhelmed by both the topic of this video and the voice

[andyfriederichsen]

I never knew the M60 tank had so many problems.

[edxcal]

My Dad was in 3rd armored division from 83' till 89', he was on M60A3's till 88' and he liked them. By then though, he said the wear and tear on the the tanks were showing. He said they wouldn't go past 30mph or go up hill to well. But the targeting computer on the A3 models were actually newer then the M1A1's he'd later get as the M60A3 was a rushed stop gap design till the M1's could get into more units, so it's computer, well based on the M1's, was newer.

[redbasher]

I think you could have this guy record for more in depth information, just get him a proper mic for the setup, and he would be great for it. He isn't monotone, and he speaks clear.

[Metalpanzerwolf]

Good video. I learned some things I did not know about the history of the M60. I served on the M60A3 TTS for a couple of years before moving on to the M1A1. It was a pretty reliable tank for the most part. You could blow half your engine or one of your oil jugs and still keep going. The 60s were slow though, and going up a steep hill you were lucky to hit 10mph. Top speed on flat terrain averaged about 32 mph, 35 if you had a newer engine. We had pulled the turbo chargers off to increase reliability but that came at the cost of power. It was roomy inside for a tank. The main gun could do the job, and could be reloaded faster than the Abrams due to no ammo door. Of course if we got penned the ammo was gonna detonate resulting in a crew wipeout. The armor was an issue for us, but we knew the 60s were getting phased out so we never got any ERA, although I believe the Marines M60A1s had it for Desert Storm. We were trained to make good use of cover, and by my time we would have been relegated to infantry support or dug in defense. We had the FRH for the turret hydraulics upgrade in ours. I will say the suspension was an ass breaker. The Torsion bars loved to bust for no reason. I had one bust just sitting in the motor pool one day. They suck to change. The track was ok, but much easier to throw than the Abrams and required more maintenance. It was easier to fix without track skirts in the way though. You had to be careful going at speed in rough terrain lest you break a torsion bar or blow a road wheel, sprocket or comp idler arm. The idler arms were much weaker than the Abrams in my opinion too. The Thermals on the 60A3 (TTS) were actually better than the Abrams TIS of my day. Bigger screen and better resolution. The FCS and ballistic computer worked well, and laser rangefinder did its job as long as you did not overheat it. The stabilization was pretty good but not as good as the Abrams. The 105mm was dead nuts accurate, and could be fired on the move. Over all I loved the M60A3, but I was glad that I served on the Abrams come Desert Storm. I have a friend in the Bosnian Army that is a crewmember on the M60A3, and it sounds like they are going to get an APS at some point, as well as some other upgrades. Maybe some ERA. I have seen other upgrades that look pretty amazing. We will be seeing this tank used for another 20 years for sure.

[lukaso]

love this video
also who kidnapped spookston

[maggot]

I drove an AVLB while in the US Army. It's basically a revised m60 chasis with a bridge on it for combat Engineer operations.
Our main concerns (aside from hydraulic leaks from the giant bridge on it) were constant engine leaks, transmission and most importantly braking issues.
It is an absolute pain to disengage the parking brake since you have to exert a stupid amount of PSI on the brake pedal to get it engaged or disengaged.
Also funny enough each AVLB had a different 'stance' some leaned forward or more back even without the bridge and we could never figure out how to get that adjusted even if we tightened up the track with the grease.

But yes, getting out the escape hatch was very hard, even without gear on. We never got to practice because it took mechanics to lace the escape hatch with a metal wire once the hatch was released. They never had the time or tools to do it so if a fire happened it was jump out of the cupolas instead of the hatch.

[asap]

I never knew the M60 was supposed to have composite armor. I can only imagine if they had done that the first tank with composite armor would have been the M60 not the T-64...

[HGunner]

I love this video. Your friend's voice and how it's recorded goes soooo well with the old M60 footage at the intro.

I love it! It's like watching those old documentary videos.

[Michaellensherr]

I live for tank explanation videos that are 10+ mins long. Perfectly allow for background consumption during any activity, from eating to quick chores.

[cmsIGauffahrgestellPanzerkampf]

Even though I like the European mbts like the t-55, t-64, leopard, centurion and chieftain a little more, I can see why it's a solid vehicle, which speaking of the centurion and chieftain, any chance you could do a video on them? I barely hear a word of them or how effective they were other than them pioneering in apds and hesh.

[larrycapps]

I served in the United States Marine Corps from 1983 to 1988 and our armor support was the M60A3 with the 105mm M68A3 gun. Those guns were wicked accurate with their rifled barrels. I loved those tanks.

[jonskowitz]

After serving in the M1A1(c) for three years and reaching my National Guard unit I was amazed at how cavernous the M60A3's interior was. Never operated one though as they left just as I arrived so we received a slew of M1-IP tanks as replacements for a few years before transitioning again to the M1A1 a few years later.

[brain]

Hey spook! This is one of my favorite tanks, so I'm super happy about this video! Are u doing alright? You sound different in this video.

Edit: just saw that it was his friend. Cool👍

[sampanyofella]

Damn listening to Thinky give us this short, concise lecture is a real treat. Cheers bud!

[DK-edbe]

M60A3 Master Gunner here. First, AOS was introduced in 1972. Second, no stabilization system of that era was worth a crap, they certainly didn't afford the ability to shoot on the move with anything more than a wing and a prayer of hitting the intended target. Most of us at the time during tank gunnery would opt to fire from a short halt unless ordered to use stabilization. For US tankers it wouldn't be until the M1 series that stabilization became something to be looked forward to being used.

[pattyboi]

Yo spookston think you might have a cold, should probably pop to the doctor to get that checked out.

[TheArklyte]

Was it bad? No. Was it weird as it was created after T-64 and Chieftain? Yes, definitely yes. It's as if soviets instead of T-64 decided to upsize T-55 one more time like they did with T-62.

Though nowadays it's modernization potential almost turned useful. Almost because country that needs modernized M60's with applique composite, new electronics, new engine and suspension and 120mm gun is Taiwan. And no one is ballsy enough to sell it to Taiwan:(

P.S.: weird off topic fact brought to my memory due to music choice - in C&C Generals, Crusader tank is a stand in for modernized M60 project and is a callback to M60's final service on the frontline for US troops in Desert Storm. Meanwhile Paladin tank is a stand in for M1A2 and not for SPG that it stole a name from.