Very bad...

[Anonymous]

Was working on few cars for the new RR..I started by putting the wheels..Son was wacthing with eyes popped out of his head..Next thing I knew..snap..I was pushing to hard on the screw driver and pop..broke the cars frame..Very up setting!![V][oops][:-^]

[nfmisso]

Darren;

I hope that your son is wearing safety glasses.....and it is a very good idea for you too; ....it is very easy for parts to go flying......

[Anonymous]

Thats something to look into...Has anyone else every done this??

[nfmisso]

Darren;

No it is something to get BEFORE doing anything else, blinding someone is not something you want to live with...

[ndbprr]

I'm not sure I understand what you were doing. Were you installing wheels in the trucks or installing the trucks on the car? If you are working in HO or N you just spread the truck with your thumbs and the wheels drop right in. If you were installing the trucks on the car it seems like you were using way to much force. they should just be snugged up and then the screw backed off about 1/4 to 1/2 turn.

[Anonymous]

Yes I was putting the truck onto the car..The screw was very hard to get going..Then snap...Boy I learned alot from that!

[Anonymous]

You might be able to fix this with standard polystyrene cement, depending on how bad the damage is. I've found the best way to avoid this (and to make installing trucks less fiddly) is to put the screw into the bolster without the truck (to cut a thread) then remove it, fit the truck, and replace the screw. When using self-tapping screws in plastics it's a good idea to back off the screw (think one turn clockwise, then a quarter turn anticlockwise) every so often to allow cut plastic to clear - this helps avoid rounding off the screw head or splitting plastic parts.

[dknelson]

With some cars the screw that mounts the trucks is virtually creating its own threads in the plastic the first time -- it is easy to jam it and send the screw flying (I have yet to break a frame -- perhaps you should use a smaller screw driver?). If you remove the trucks several times you will begin to notice that there is less and less holding the screw in place each time. Eventually it can just flop out.
Dave Nelson