Profile of nee

There's the issue of realism (re what Sherman ought to be compared to how they were in BoB) and the issue of balance, which can utilize realism but in pretty much all cases with Relic does not.

Given that Relic tends to gravitate towards just stat changes that brings desired performance rather than performance you expect in real life, I'd expect a more consistent change towards this issue is simply buffing Sherman;s AT ability...assuming it needs one in the first place.

I mean the results of a 76mm upgrade idea is just AT buff, so all Relic really needs to do is change penetration stats, not add some fancy upgrade for every Sherman tank. It's easier to do, makes handling a common USF unit less micro-intensive, and doesn't require spending more resources to turn a shit unit to actually useful unit.

Then again, I don't have problems with how it performs. If you want a go-to AT unit you already have 57mm and Jacksons, after all. Giving lots of special treatment to a medium tank would risk trivializing those units whose specialty is AT work.

well i meant as replacement to healing

its not a bad idea ... vcoh shermans had this through vet , but i don't remember in what the sandbags really helped.

Last I read, it was only cosmetic feature.

Axis tanks are the only vehicles that actually gain more armour through veterancy, I personally think, at least through a commander unlock, Shermans could get this feature, through something like only Vehicle Crews can give it to them, or as part of a Hull-down sort of commander ability.

In terms of what this can do through gameplay effects, some ideas can be the typical increased HP, reduced penetration change, reduced critical hit change, or even make units repairing the vehicle less likely to take damage.

And yes, the logs were carried so they can used it to unditch vehicles that got stuck in mud and steep ravines and such.

I personally think Ram should be reworked so it's basically vet0 Blitzkrieg but will collide with any enemy vehicle like how Ram works as-is, and/or collides with things like breakable walls or trees.

This way, their low HP is compensated by the ability to move faster when its used, as well as retaining the Ram feature.
Sure it's more or less a ripoff of Blitzkrieg, but besides the fact that OKW also rips off Blitzkrieg, this is slightly different in that it still overheats engine, liable to hitting the wrong vehicle, shorter duration, and tank's lower health and AT performance compared to panzer4. SO what you have is a tactical ability to outmanouver stronger Axis tanks (compared to how Ram works how, it's a direct charging attack that disables weapons AND breaks the vehicle, or stuns the vehicle if it misses), preferably by using more than one T-34 at a time.

You need to look at it from the perspective of bigger picture and end result, Big Red 1.

End of the day, your idea is simply "better AT capability". Which you have to admit, can be solved by simply buffing the M4's main gun in terms of penetration and/or base damage.
Never mind whether it makes Easy Eight redundant, the idea you propose results in just that. So you wouldn't actually need something superficial like an unnoticeably longer gun barrel that is expressed as a 60-90 munitions upgrade (that takes up time and resources to dom and also becomes a burden to keep alive).

Question then, is whether your idea for 76mm gun upgrade is merely a matter of balance considerations ("more offensive capability"), or just a matter of getting something that just/ also looks it? Because if it simply a mater of M4 needs better pen, then you just increase their pen, you don't need to get convoluted with a whole side-tech upgrading that you'd need to do with every tank. We're not talking pintle MGs that only deal against infantry and anti-air here, we're talking a drastic change to the main medium tank of this faction to increase its base firepower.

In any case, having it as non-doctrinal also makes Easy Eight less useful of a commander option. You'd have to make E8 much more powerful (which is unreasonable) to make it a viable alternative to spamming M4s, and also means every USF player would just spam M4s than risk making Jacksons.
So what would happen is thus:
-players don't bother choosing Riflemen Company and just spam M4s
OR
-players do choose Riflemen Company, and never bother with this upgrade ever.

EDIT: While we're on that subject, what exactly is different, stat-wise, with Easy Eight compared to M4? Obviously the 76mm gun, but what else, does it move faster, higher health, less accuracy penalty when firing on the move?