Need help in replacing plastic wheels with metal

[Frankv]

I've noticed my Silver Series cars roll a lot better than my older stuff with plastic. I'm thinking of slowly going to metal wheels over time. Questions:
1) wheel sets are listed as 36" or 33". What do I measure on a particular car to determine which is needed? Cost to go this way would be $3-4/car.
2) Will simply popping metal wheels into plastic side frames give the smooth running of my Silver Series, or should I swap entire trucks?
3) If answer in 2) is new trucks are needed, any problems in attaching new trucks to old cars? There is a bewildering variety of trucks available. Which to pick? Also cost is now approaching cost of new car on Ebay.
4) Should I just bite the bullet and buy new cars slowly. Also I am not very handy, and I've noticed on past projects fiddling with old plastic produces breakage. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks guys.

[Len]

Generally speaking freight cars use 33in wheels and passenger cars use 36in wheels, although there are exceptions. Intermodal cars that carry double stacked containers may have 28in wheels to lower the overall height due to clearance issues.

Model passenger cars by IHC have 31in wheels, which can be hard to find metal replacements wheels for. Trimming off the brake shoes provides clearance for 36in replacements though.

A 'truck tuning' tool will greatly improve the rolling performance of your plastic trucks. It's basically a reamer with a 60deg point that cleans out burrs and gives the axle socket proper clearance for the axle end.

The can be had from Micro-Mark:

http://www.micromark.com/HO-TRUCK-TUNER,8241.html

And Reboxx:

http://www.reboxx.com/Tools.htm

I have both, and haven't noticed any real differance in how the work.

You don't need to use a lot of force to spread plastic trucks for wheel removal or replacement. A small screwdriver can be used for a bit of leverage when removing old wheels.

Replacing trucks can be simple or involved. It depends on the type of car, type of original truck mount used, and type of truck mount on the new truck.

For freight cars I normally use the appropriate KD trucks, mounted with 2-56 screws. You can get them in bulk fairly cheap from Micro-Fasteners http://www.microfasteners.com

On old Tyco, Life-Like, Model Power, etc. cars that have talgo type trucks with prongs that snap into a large hole in the car, I use a 7 step process:

1. Remove the old trucks.
2. Fill the holes in the car with epoxy (I prefer J.B.Weld 4 Minute)
3. After the epoxy sets, file it flat to the bolster, then drill and tap for a 2-56 screw.
4. Install body mount coupler/draft gear boxes of your choice.
5. Install trucks of your choice.
6. Check coupler height and trip pin clearance, adjust as necessary.
7. Return car to service.

I use the same general process for cars with trucks mounted using oversized sheet metal screws.

For Con-Cor, AHM, and IHC passenger cars that use a plastic pin to hold the truck in place, filling in the hole and drilling/tapping as above is the way to go. You'll find the trucks have less tendancy to fall off.

Len

[CNE Runner]

Frank - I have replaced the wheels (and sometimes the entire trucks) in virtually all my rolling stock. Plastic wheels have no place on any of my layouts ('has to do with physics and dirt). Len did an excellent job of illustrating the procedure of replacing cheap trucks; or those with truck-mounted couplers. I follow essentially the same procedure.

I have yet to find a freight car with anything other than 33" wheels (although I do not have any well cars). My personal preference is Kadee because they are blackened and frequently go on sale. If you are 're-wheeling' a car from the turn of the century (20th) or before; use 33" ribbed back wheels. More modern cars use smooth back wheels as ribbed back wheels were outlawed some years ago by the 1:1 roads.

Len's suggestion of the Truck Tuner is spot on. A further suggestion is a 'puff' of Kadee # 231 Greas-em graphite powder on the bolster bearing surfaces and king pin areas. Greas-em is a must use in coupler draft boxes as well (just a little). Greas-em can be had from Discount Model Trains (http://www.discounttrainsonline.com/HO-Scale-Accessories-Kadee/HO_ACC_380_1.html) for $1.89/tube. I have been using the same tube for years.

I hope you find this helpful,
Ray

[jerryl]

  The best wheels are Intermountain. To my knowledge these are the only metal wheels that are actually machined or turned. The others, including Kadee are cast from softer material & may not be exactly round. Kadee also uses plastic axles that can warp. You hardly ever have to replace the trucks. Try the wheels after you ream them & only replace them if you can't get them to roll freely.   Jerry

[Robertj668]

To Len
Great information! I would love a truck tuner. I really should get one.
Robert

[Stephen D. Richards]

Frankv,  I use Intermountain wheels!  Metal axels, insulated and really nice running metal wheels.  0.58$ each at Wholesale Trains.  I buy in bulk.  I use a method that Sheldon(Atlantic Central) came up with and used his data.  Very detailed.  I've made an almost 35% increase in the amount of rolling stock I can pull per locomotive!  I do use plastic trucks as well!  No exception for a good truck tuner(reamer).  Gene Cox (steamgene) also has some very good data on extending rolling stock performance.  Both excellent resources.  Hope that helps.   Stephen

[the nitro man]

has anyone tried using the TRUCK TUNER on old tyco/bachmann car trucks? i've cut all the talgo truck couplers off & installed kadee couplers, now i'm wanting to put metal wheels on the factory tyco/bachmann trucks. unless i can buy trucks cheap (real cheap).

[Frankv]

Thanks guys, really helpful stuff, just what I needed. This forum has provided so much helpful info for me in the past year. Thanks also to Bachmann for hosting the forum.

[jerryl]

 You can use the truck tuner on any plastic truck.  Don't know if it's hard enough to use on cast metal trucks.  Looks as if it would be hard to resharpen if you dulled it on metal trucks & it would have to be very sharp to cut the soft plastic.    Jerry

[Len]

That's why I have both tuners. Tried using the Reboxx on what seemed to be fairly soft die cast metal, and it sort of worked. Problem is it dulled the edge too much for getting the plastic right.

Then I got a Micro-Mark sale notice that included their version, so I got one from them for the plastic trucks, and kept the Reboxx for the softer die cast ones. A hard Arkansas slip stone keeps the edge of the Reboxx tuner shaped up enough for that.

And I'm with Jeryl on the Intermountain wheels. With a few oddball exceptions, that's all I use when I upgrade.

Len