I bought a couple of athearn bb cars from ebay and replaced the old plastic wheels with metal ones. But one car the trucks are so worn out the wheels fall out. I tried searching for replacements trucks, but it is a nightmare.
I'm not concerened about prototypical, or any of the other crap, I would really just like to replace the darn trucks. The factory ones work.(except this one).
They are simple screw on trucks, with needle point bearings, is there a bolt on replacement? If not, who makes the closest simple replacement, and what brand/model? (ie..I know accurail, walthers, kadee, etc, all make trucks. But which ones fit?)
Your best bet is probably the most obvious - parts from an old junk car. Look for a local train show or a nearby train club; you should be able to find a pile of used trucks and other spare parts for the cost of buying one new one.
Cannibalizing parts from old equipment was prototypical on real railroads; why not model railroads too?
This car stops at ALL railroad crossings!
Hi taz_78!
Welcome to the forums!
I'm going to guess that you are in HO scale.
I have purchased trucks from Tichy Train Group and I am quite happy with them:
https://www.tichytraingroup.com/Shop/tabid/91/c/trucks/Default.aspx
They are quite inexpensive. You can do each car for about $1.50 if you buy the 10 packs. They have quite a variety so all you need to do is compare your side frames to the pictures. Their trucks should be compatible with almost all rolling stock.
Sometimes there is a bit of flash on the side frames but it only takes a few seconds to clean it off with a #11 blade.
Cheers!!
Dave
I'm just a dude with a bad back having a lot of fun with model trains, and finally building a layout!
to the MR Forums.
As mentioned, Athearn trucks will certainly fit, but many other brands could easily be substituted without any modifications to the trucks or your freight car: Accurail, Walthers/Proto, Atlas, Model Die Casting, Tahoe, and likely many others would be a straight swap with the defective ones. Beyond those, there's also a wide range of trucks available that, with some modifications to them or the car, will also fit.
Wayne
Use Kadee #500 "Bettendorf" 50 ton sprung trucks. Seriously, it will be an upgrade you will be happy with.
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You will need to trim off the small protrusion from the underframe that centers the original Athearn truck, but this is easy with a #11 blade.
-Kevin
Living the dream.
taz_78But one car the trucks are so worn out the wheels fall out.
With Athearn trucks, this can happen even if they're new. Some of them have very deep journals. If you want a cheap-o replacement, Accurail trucks work great with most brands of metal wheelsets, and can be had without wheels in bulk packages http://www.accurail.com/accurail/parts.htm . They also drop right in place of the stock Athearn trucks.
As has already been suggested, you could also swap in trucks from a car that you're not using. Walthers, MDC, newer Athearn, and several others can often work on Athearn cars with no modification.
Rob Spangler
SeeYou190 Use Kadee #500 "Bettendorf" 50 ton sprung trucks. Seriously, it will be an upgrade you will be happy with. You will need to trim off the small protrusion from the underframe that centers the original Athearn truck, but this is easy with a #11 blade. -Kevin
While Kadee trucks will certainly work on Athearn cars, you'll get better performance from them by leaving that protrusion on the frame's bolsters, and instead enlarging the hole in the truck's bolster. This makes it easier to achieve the so-called three-point suspension accomplished by fastening one truck fairly snugly and the other somewhat less-so. It also lessens the chance that the trucks' rotation will back-out the screw which holds it in place.
Athearn sells replacement trucks..Why not go that route and save the hassel of guessing?
As a side note Walthers trucks will not fit a BB car.
Larry
Conductor.
Summerset Ry.
"Stay Alert, Don't get hurt Safety First!"
I keep a small stock of Wathers Proto trucks on hand. They fit everything that have tried them on. Sometimes the screw hole needs enlarged.
If you buy them from modeltrainstuff, they are on sale until 3-19. Enter 10CLEARANCE at checkout for 10% off.
Hello all,
My rolling stock is comprised mostly of 1970's Tyco 34-foot operating hoppers.
I initially replaced the Talgo trucks with the sprung Kadee's. In the process I also body mounted the couplers.
Because of the laden weight versus un-laden weight of the cars I noticed derailments at certain turnouts.
I posted this thread to the forums: http://cs.trains.com/mrr/f/13/t/249039.aspx.
After that thread I used CA to "lock-out" the sprung functions of the trucks.
I have now begun to replace the sprung trucks with Kadee's Split Bolster trucks with great results!
These trucks mount with a 2/56 screw and are an easy upgrade.
I would also suggest getting a coupler height gage and some spacers to fine tune the new truck installation.
Hope this helps.
"Uhh...I didn’t know it was 'impossible' I just made it work...sorry"
I was looking at these, but unsure if they would work. Sounds like they will. Thanks to everyone for there posts.
I use the Tichy trucks and Intermountain metal wheel sets. The trucks are Delrin plastic and the arrive black in color. I spray them with rust brown primer, then brush with weathering powders, and finally coat with flat Krylon clear spray. Before putting in the wheels, I apply the Micro-Mark truck tuner. I do the whole package at once so I've always got a few trucks waiting for the next time I need an upgrade.
It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse.