Patent ID: 8398182

Claim:
A wear ring system for a tracked vehicle with a plurality of wheels and one or more tracks that cooperate with the plurality of wheels, the system comprising: a plurality of wheels with each wheel having a side surface facing a track guide of a respective track; and a wear ring associated with at least one of the plurality of wheels, the wear ring including two or more wear ring segments, the two or more wear ring segments being deployed around a common axis, each of the two or more wear ring segments having a proximal end and a distal end, at least some of the two or more wear ring segments being directly attached to the side surface of at least one of the plurality of wheels such that the proximal end of at least one wear ring segment is juxtaposed to the distal end of at least one adjacent wear ring segment so as to form a wear ring with a substantially uninterrupted wear surface, the wear ring being capable of burnishing during use on the tracked vehicle, thereby creating an interfacial layer that connects adjacent wear ring segments to form an uninterrupted wear surface.