new metal trucks on ho cars

[Anonymous]

Please help. I am trying to upgrade my less expesive train sets to metal wheel trucks and kadee couplers. When putting a screw through the new truck and using a small nylon nut on what is the inside of the bottom of the of the car their is too much play. I need a peice of tubing of some sort that will go through the truck and the bottom of the car so that it will not shift and then put a screw in to keep it together. At this time I have been unable to find anything such as a plastic peice of tubing or brass (copper) that will work. All of these still leave too much play between the new truck and the bottom of the car. Any ideas would be appreciated. For a quicker response please e-mail me at
[e-mail] thank you.

[Pennsy58]

A thought occurred to me that you might try metal rivits. If you find the right size, disassemble the unused rivit from the shaft and slide it down through the car floor.

[ndbprr]

First of all why are you changing the entire truck? Most of us buy Kadee or other metal wheel sets and just replace the wheels. If you want to replace the truck why not use the same screw that was holding the truck to begin with. If you are converting really cheap cars that have press fit trucks try the wheels first and then if you need to fill the hole with styrene and plug it then drill it for a 2-56 screw or something similar.

[Anonymous]

One other option, and cheaper, is replace the wheel sets in the current trucks with metal wheeled wheelsets. Manufacturers include Life-Like P2000, Intermountain, Reboxx, Kadee, NWSL, and Atlas. Any of these should be readily available at your LHS. The differences will be some will have plastic axels others metal axels and axle length. Inexpensive dial calipers can be had for as little as $7. This is important as some manufactures are using trucks that are narrower the the wheelset commonly available. The narrow issue is not a show stopper as Reboxx and NWSL (NorthWest Short Line)offer wheelset with different lenght axels. Rough guide is 33" are freight, 36" are passenger and modern freight (70 ton and 100 ton trucks), ribbed backed wheels were legal upto mid/late '50's for interchange service. Plain back were available in the 40's and beyond.

[IRONROOSTER]

If I understand you correctly, the mounting hole for the trucks is too big a diameter for the screw holding the truck on. The solutions are a casing such as you tried, but did not work for you. You could also fill the hole with epoxy and then drill a new hole after the epoxy sets. For boxcars and other similar cars you could glue a piece of plastic across the hole and then drill this piece for the screw you are using.
Enjoy
Paul

[Anonymous]

You might get more responses if you post this question in one of the modeling forums rather than in the prototype information forum. Try the general forum.