How can I adjust the height of a coupler?

[grayfox1119]

I am new at MRR and am having a terrible time trying to get an Athearn dome passenger car with knuckle coupler (Kadee #22) to couple properly with my other cars (box cars). The box cars have #5 couplers and all couple perfectly with exact height. The passenger car in question couples, but is high by 1/2 a knuckle height. The passenger car has a truck mounted gear box. How do I adjust the height short of heating the long shaft from the truck and physically bending it??

Grayfox1119

[tpatrick]

Kadee has replacement couplers that should do the trick. I can't cite the coupler number, but look for one with an overset shank. That should lower the knuckle by just about enough for you. If you view your couplers from the side the shank will meet the coupler hand in the rear center. The overset shank will meet the back of the hand at the top, producing the lower knuckle. They also make an underset version. Be careful to match the coupler shank style, too. They vary in length as well as mount.

[Anonymous]

http://www.nmra.org/beginner/couplers.html
http://www.kadee.com/conv/list.htm
http://www.kadee.com/htmbord/page120.htm
http://www.kadee.com/htmbord/page160.htm

[grayfox1119]

Thanks for all the excellent info from all. Accordin g to Kadee, the #22 coupler is the proper one for the Athearn dome passenger car, it did lower the knuckle, but not enough. As I cannot apparently go any lower than an overset shank ( super overset?), I did the next best thing, I placed an underset on the mating box car which brought the alignment to an acceptable position.
Grayfox1119

[nfmisso]

Do you have a Kadee #205 hieght guage? If not, get one.

http://www.kadee.com/htmbord/page120.htm

Make sure ALL of your equipment matches it, read the instructions.

[Anonymous]

What is the minimum radius of your curves? I hate talgo(truck mounted) couplers. They do not perform as well as body mounted couplers. On all my passenger cars I body mounted the couplers using the longest shank available. My minimum radius is 30 inches and I have no problems except coupling together on curves. Even the prototype has to align couplers on tight curves, so I think it is a good trade-off. I don't have curves or sharp turnouts at my passenger stations and coach yards

[grayfox1119]

Hi Nigel, thanks for the info on Guage, I bought one yesterday (early Christmas gift from wife). I need to check the old box cars ( 70's vintage ) to see if they are in spec, they appear by sight to be too low with old horn style couplers, which I intend to change over to knuckle style.

Tweet469, I have not built my RR yet, my last son & family just moved out to new house, so after 44 years I have a room downstairs (split level home) 11x26 that I can use. Right now, I have an "L" shape Dept 56 New Enland Village set up in the Family Room that my wife and I have obtained and added to each year. It has 4 4'X4' plywood tables in on one wall and 2 the adjacent direction. I have an HO guage train running all through the village and up a rise across a mountain scene and through the mountain also. I have tried to match some old cars from my boy's sets from childhood (70's) and some new cars as well. All the old cars have "horn" style couplers.
I agree with your statement on truck mounted couplers, you can't do much with them. I was considering cutting the shaft off and mounting (as you do ) body mounted couplers. I'm happy to hear that I am not the only one to feel this way.
Have a very Merry Christmas guys...hey Nigel, how cold is it in Mn right now? We hit 59 yesterday here in central MA, then it plunged to 18 last night and due to hit -8 tomorrow morning ( no white Christmas though darn it, and we had 6" on the ground Monday before the darn rain came yesterday.
Grayfox1119 ( ***)

[grayfox1119]

Tweet, I forgot to mention, in the village on the 4' wide plywood tables, I am using Bachman EasyTrak because we take the village down at end of January, so I need something easy to put up each year, I wish I could mount the tracks permanently, but mating the tracks together sounds like a "bear" of job on 3/4" plywood tables 4'x4'.
The curves are 18" section track curves.

Grayfox1119

[fec153]

greyfox- you can also adjust {lower} the couplers by using washers where the trucks mount to the body.
Flip

[grayfox1119]

Hi Flip, The truck mounts into a nipple. I am going to try using a large enough washer to fit over the nipple but not so small as to slide down the sidewall of the nipple. Damn I wi***he manufacturers would wise up and make all mounts to the body, and standardize!!!!

Thanks Flip, I will try this.

grayfox