I have, and will have several AHM/Rivarossi Passenger Cars in the future, I want to replace the plastic mounting pins and trucks that perform better than do the plastic ones, (I’m body mounting all the couplers w/jaybee 112s).
Where should I look for aftermarket trucks and what do I need to replace the plastic truck mounting pins?
Acad " Hunter " Glade
You might try the IHC trucks, if you can find them, or check out eBay for Central Valley trucks. Personally, I would stick with the stock trucks. If you put Kadee or Reboxx, or Intermountain 36" wheelsets in them, they will be super-free-rolling…
As for replacing the pins, the old trick of filling the hole with plastic, then drilling/tapping for an appropriate mounting screw will work… I’ve never really had to, though.
I would strongly suggest the new Walthers trucks they put on their passenger cars. These are available seperately from Walthers and usually at a good price in their monthly “sale” flyer which is available in print or online form.
I sold all of my Central Valley trucks and replaced them with the Walthers trucks, the Central Valleys were the “tops” in their day, but…their day has long since passed and they are very much obsolete. I just bought another dozen of the Walthers 6 wheel standard passenger trucks for $7.98 a pair “retail”, a very good deal in my book.
As for mounting them in the Rivarossi cars, either a wood “dowel” forced in the huge hole and cut to length or, and this is what I would suggest, a piece of “Plastruct” plastic tubing glued in the hole then drill it to accept a 2-56 screw for mounting. I think you will find this works very well and is quite quick and simple to do, and the Walthers trucks are very free rolling as well.
I would also suggest adding some weight to those cars, some sheet lead cut to fit in the center section of the frame works quite well and places the weight at the lowest part of the car for good stability.
I weighted all of mine not only for better electrical pickup but also for better tracking, both of which were much improved by this.
Mark
i just installed kadee metal 33" wheelsets in mine and body mounted the couplers to the correct height. that way i didn’t have to fiddle with the brake gear to get the wheels to clear. a few ounces of lead weight and they were ready to go. run great on 36" curves. i do not use diaphrams.
grizlump
I replaced the sloppy snap in plastic truck mounting pins with 6-32 pan head machine screws. The screws allow me to set the truck tightness, just right. The screws cut their own threads into the plastic car bottoms. I tighten them until the truck won’t swivel and them back them off. One truck gets an extra 1/4 turn of back off to allow it to rock from side to side and keep the flanges down on uneven track.
I replaced the plastic wheels with metal ones from the car manufacturer (IHC) for looks and to allow electrical pickup for car lighting.