Traction tires and MPC diesels

[3railguy]

How do you guys thread new traction tires onto the wheels of MPC diesels without removing the truck side frames? (they are staked to the motor frame and I would rather not remove them). I did this years ago and for the life of me, can't remember how.

[dougdagrump]

John,

I used a heavy duty paperclip and bent a hook on the end, kinda like a shepherd's hook.

With the engine upside down in a cradle, loop the new tire down and over the the wheel, hold one side in place with a small screwdriver then using the hook catch the tire on the opposite side of the wheel from the screwdriver with the hook. Work the hook up and around the wheel laying the tire into the groove, unfortunately working space between sideframe and wheels varies a lot regardless of model.

Hope this helps, seems like it helped aleviate some of the Blue Air when I have to replace some.

[3railguy]

Thank-you. I will try the paper clip. I think I was attempting what you say with a dental pic but the hook is too big to slip down there.

[3railguy]

Success! The hooked paper clip worked. The bad news is the replacements are twice as thick as the origionals and rub somewhere up in nomads land. I will try another source. However, I am running my MPC sweetie with no traction tires at all on Lionel Fastrack and it runs better than ever before. Unlike tubular, the railhead profile of Fastrack is just perfect for this. I miced the inside dimension of the wheel slots and got .144. The thickness of fastrack rail is .138. A perfect fit! Lots of surface area is getting contact for decent traction. Amazing! Sadly it bounces on switch frogs.