Who manufacures good ball-bearing wheelsets ? (HO)

[Anonymous]

I wonder what manufacturers make ball-bearing wheelsets.
Has anyone had experience with any ? I want to put some into my Kadee trucks sincte the stock wheels are making quite a resistance even lubricated.

[chutton01]

QUOTE: Originally posted by dimastep

I wonder what manufacturers make ball-bearing wheelsets.
Has anyone had experience with any ? I want to put some into my Kadee trucks sincte the stock wheels are making quite a resistance even lubricated.

Not entirely sure if these are what you had in mind (since they don't have a picture), but Intermountain seems to make them:

http://www.intermountain-railway.com/ho/hoacc.htm Mid-way in the list, W40058 and W40059

[cacole]

I replaced all of my Kadee trucks with Proto 2000, Kato, or Atlas and got much better rolling qualities. Kadee has not kept up with advances in metallurgy and their trucks do not roll was well as other brands on the market today.

[brothaslide]

No manufacturer makes ball bearing trucks (not that I know of anyway). All trucks have either a needle bearing at the end of the axle or an axle bearing (i.e. Athearn Genesis). Ball bearings for this size of wheel set would be cost prohibitive and difficult to manufacture.

[cacole]

As brothaslide said, no one makes ball bearing wheelsets in HO scale -- I think you possibly meant to say "Roller Bearing Trucks" instead of ball bearings? Kato makes roller bearing trucks with an actual rotating bearing cap, but few people ever notice these because they are so small, recessed under the rolling stock, and difficult to see.

[Jetrock]

Intermountain makes something called "ball-bearing wheelsets" but I'm not sure what sets them apart from their regular wheelsets other than that they are more expensive.

Personally I'm fond of Intermountain semi-scale wheelsets and won't let a piece of rolling stock on my layout without metal wheels in some form.

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by dimastep

I wonder what manufacturers make ball-bearing wheelsets.
Has anyone had experience with any ? I want to put some into my Kadee trucks sincte the stock wheels are making quite a resistance even lubricated.

Just how much of a roll do you want? I remember seeing a post that KD was having trouble with their KD cars because of the way the box was package for shipping.
First, Go to the www.kadee.com site click on company contact and their e-mail reply form pops up.
You will send it to Sam Clarke, coupler conversion specialist and tell him all the details about the excessive drag. Sam has heard this story before and if it's defective, he will make good on it.
Sam will want a full car description and date of purchase.

We have a modeler who went from KD to intermountains and back to KDs because of too much roll.

As far as the Kato roller bearing, SLICK http://www.walthers.com/exec/productinfo/381-31602 Put the truck on a track and just blow on it and it will take off.

I own both the IM 36" ball bearing and non ball bearing and the BB are $20.00 for only six axles.
Yes, they are more free moving than the non BB but pricey. Their's no need to hurry up and get the BBs.
First try out the non BB and maybe you can save some big bucks.

[Anonymous]

Been away for a couple of days...
Anyways, Kadee trucks are the only choice for me since I only model with sprung trucks.
Too bad noone makes locos with sprung trucks.
Now, the problem with Kadee wheels is they have plastic needle axles. Using dry lubricants isn't an option, it appears such lubricants don't stick to plastic. My only resort is a bit ot while grease which makes things better but not very lasting.

Placing IM wheels, even those metal needle-point won't work because Kadee trucks are metal and thus will short rails.

My only hope is if roller ball-bearing IM wheels have ends isolated from wheels i.e. won't cause short.
Can someone who owns any check how the axle is built on them. Money isn't an issue since you get what you pay for - I've learned it sometimes the hard way in this hobby :)

[ckape]

Intermountain's metal wheelsets are designed so that one of the wheels has a direct electrical connection to the entire axle, and the other wheel is isolated from the axle. I've used them in metal trucks just fine, the trick is to make sure that all the wheels that are connected to the axle are on the same rail.

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by ckape

Intermountain's metal wheelsets are designed so that one of the wheels has a direct electrical connection to the entire axle, and the other wheel is isolated from the axle. I've used them in metal trucks just fine, the trick is to make sure that all the wheels that are connected to the axle are on the same rail.

Huh, maybe I made that mistake when experimenting with non ball-bearing wheels ? I'll give it another try !
Are ball-bearing built the same way ?

[ckape]

I haven't had the opportunity to use the ball-bearing wheelsets, but I'll just follow up what I said erlier and mention that the insulated wheel of the IM metal wheelsets can be identified by looking where the axle meets the back of the wheel. On the insulated wheel there will be a bit of black plastic at the junction, and on the non-insulated wheel there will just be a metal shoulder the same color as the axle and the wheel.

[cacole]

I stand corrected -- Intermountain lists HO scale "Ball Bearing Wheel Sets" on their Web site, priced at $19.95 for six "sets" -- but they don't explain whether a set is one axle, two axles, or 12 axles. They provide no details at all other than a stock number.

[Anonymous]

Hey guys, thanks for helping me out. I found some IM wheels I had and placed them into Kadee trucks making sure they are oriented properly. There was no shorting. And they roll great, better than stock Kadee wheels. Wait till I apply some graphite to make them roll even better !

Now, here's the million-dollor question - what's the cheapest place to buy about 200 IM wheels ?

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by cacole

I stand corrected -- Intermountain lists HO scale "Ball Bearing Wheel Sets" on their Web site, priced at $19.95 for six "sets" -- but they don't explain whether a set is one axle, two axles, or 12 axles.

Six axles to a pack, Pricey and they are a tad more free rolling than the non BBs. Both sets are 100% metal and add approx half ounce +.

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by locomotive3

QUOTE: Originally posted by cacole

I stand corrected -- Intermountain lists HO scale "Ball Bearing Wheel Sets" on their Web site, priced at $19.95 for six "sets" -- but they don't explain whether a set is one axle, two axles, or 12 axles.

Six axles to a pack, Pricey and they are a tad more free rolling than the non BBs. Both sets are 100% metal and add approx half ounce +. Here's a Walthers' picture http://www.walthers.com/exec/productinfo/85-40059

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by dimastep



Now, here's the million-dollor question - what's the cheapest place to buy about 200 IM wheels ?

This is old news but try www.tomstrains.com They were the cheapest on the non bbs a few years back.
Take a look at MB Kline www.modeltrainstuff.com and Caboose hobbies www.caboosehobbies.com