Metal wheel swap?

[Trainman203]

Intermountain axle points are thin in comparison , sometimes makes the trucks sit lower and can cause coupler issues.

[dragonbusa]

I agree with Jeff. Because of the tighter curves that have to be dealt with, most HO freight cars use 33" wheels, whether the prototype did or not, to clear the underframe. Most HO passenger cars use 36" wheels, with the notable exception of IHC & Rivarossi, which used 31" wheels. They can be replaced with 36" wheels if you carve off the brake shoes, or you can get 31" metal wheels from these guys: http://www.ihc-hobby.com/product/4355-H36
Thats the attitude that keeps a lot of people from getting into this hobby. Model railroad snobbery at its finest.
Len

36" minimum visible radius and 30" in staging.  Wheel sizes are no problem unless you are using toy train track radii.  24" or less.

Cheers

Roger T.

[Trackbump]

You have to measure the length of the stock axles and match that measurement with the replacement axles to get to the point of your question. Most replacement wheels sets will give you the measurement so you can match them to the trucks correctly. They sell digital calipers for a accurate measurement pretty cheep these days . If the original wheel sets are loose in the trucks ,better off replacing the trucks with the wheel sets included in your favorite rolling stock.

Adam

[rich1998]

Over the years I have used a dial caliper and measured the wheel diameter. Real easy. Dial calipers are not expensive.
I usually used Intermountain machined metal wheels.
A few times I used Reboxx machined metal wheels when I was concerned about axle length.
I also tuned the plastic trucks with the Micro Mark truck tuner.
The club I use to belong to required all rolling stock to have machined metal wheels. No Kadees.

Rich

[jward]

I agree with your club. No Kadee wheelsets, or any other brand with plastic axles.

[J3a-614]

I don't have a lot of cars with Kadee wheels, except for some log cars and disconnect trucks, and one box car (they were the only metal wheels handy at the time).

What are the difficulties with them?

[Trainman203]

Kadees are definitely the best looking wheels out there.