American Flyer 303 should have sintered iron truck sides not sheet metal truck frames. These are press fit onto the sheet metal truck frames and often come loose. Bending or spreading will just make matters worse in most cases. There are several ways to handle repairs on these, but mostly a little two part epoxy and a toothpick are in order. Coming around from behind to keep the epoxy hidden and making sure to "tweak" for alignment first. Do all this with the wheel sets on. If the truck sides are spread too far apart you can move them by using a strong pair of needle nose pliers (larger ones) and grab the truck frame on the inside behind the sintered iron truck side.
Lover of all things Gilbert, truly a man ahead of his time.
More than likely the truck side frames are slightly spread apart. Gently spread the sideframes enough to take both wheelsets out, then squeeze the sideframes together until they are parallel. Reinsert the wheelsets into the sideframes while very gently spreading the frames apart to get them in. (Yes, you have to squeeze them together, then spread them apart again just a little).
Larry
My AF 303 tender rear truck wheels are loose and want to dislodge from the axle block. Can I tighten up the block and if so, how do I perform the operation?
Thanks,
Skip
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