Having recently purchased a Walthers EMD SD-70ACe, i noticed while running it that the last axle on the rear truck was wobbling and upon further inspection it appeared to be somewhat bent. Although this doesn't seem to affect the locomotive as far as i can see, should i be worried about it and order a replacement axle/truck?
I would. The axles' ends will eventually wear the truck bearing and it will get sloppy and noisy. Explain what you have found, ask them if they'd like a video, or show them a still of the axle, and I'm sure they'll offer to help.
Could also be the axle is straight and the wheel isn't mounted completely square on the axle. I've seen that more than a few times.
Mark.
¡ uʍop ǝpısdn sı ǝɹnʇɐuƃıs ʎɯ 'dlǝɥ
Mark R. Could also be the axle is straight and the wheel isn't mounted completely square on the axle. I've seen that more than a few times. Should i be worried about it? Mark.
Could also be the axle is straight and the wheel isn't mounted completely square on the axle. I've seen that more than a few times. Should i be worried about it?
Upon some more inspection i believe that is the case. Only one wheel seems "off" and the other wheel on the same axle seems fine.
I still have one like that as well. Won't hurt anything, but it does give the truck an annoying wobble. I'll get around to replacing it one of these days.
BayCoastLimited Mark R. Could also be the axle is straight and the wheel isn't mounted completely square on the axle. I've seen that more than a few times. Should i be worried about it? Mark. Upon some more inspection i believe that is the case. Only one wheel seems "off" and the other wheel on the same axle seems fine.
Those should be half axle's, inserted into the drive gear so the wheels are not on the same axle. The half axle's are pressed into the wheels.......one not pressed in perpendicular. Wheels, axle's should be an easy replacement. I believe the Walthers Proto wheel axle assemblies are a direct fit and are sold separately.
Take Care!
Frank
Just to give you an idea of what a "half-axle" looks like:
Proto_gear-2 by Edmund, on Flickr
These use inside bearings, some new models use a bronze strip on the outside of the axle contacting a small projection for power collection. As mentioned above, the wheel may not have been pressed squarely into the gear bore or there was a slight defect in the molding of the gear.
Good Luck, Ed
Yup! What Frank posted, and the pictures from Ed.
Mike.
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