I have 2 Athearn dummy F7As, 1 dummy S12 and 1 dummy GP7 i would like ot replace the plastic wheels with metal ones. Is it a complicated deal putting metal wheels into Athearn dummy locomotives?
I don’t know the degree of difficulty in replacing wheels on those particular locomotives, but you are smart to replace plastic wheels with metal wheels. Better performance, less gunk on the rails.
Rich
It’s a very simple job to do. Get yourself some Proto 2000 Tune Up kits, these are replacement wheels and gears for the infamous GP’s that have the gear cracking issue. Simply pop off the cover on the truck and remove the old plastic wheels. Next just reinstall the Proto wheels and your all set. NWSL has wheels as well that will do the trick but they are a little more money and you will still need to get a gear to hold the wheels. It’s not even a 5 minute job.
You can also use BB “powered” trucks out of a BB powered unit. I’ve done this with a few of my non-powered units. They roll a lot better than the plastic ones. Remove the bottom plate of the truck, take the plastic wheels out then replace them with the metal ones. Don’t even have to remove the trucks to do this.
Gord
VERY IMPPORTANT - you will (probably) have to isolate one of the trucks or you will cause a short. There are 2 kinds of trucks- an A and a B if you will. Most of the Dummies had two of the same and when they reversed them (getting the couplers facing in opposite directions) you get power pick up from each rail and the metal frame completes the circuit. This wasn’t a problem on the dummies since they had plastic wheels and thus no power pick up.
You can tell the difference between the two types of trucks as one will be a flat bar across the top with pivot hole and the other will have a large “C” of metal that would go over the motor. Most of the dummies came with two of the flat bars.
What I have done is replace the metal tab with pivot hole with a bit of 0.40 styrene and a little Goo to hold it. Drill in the hole and glue it on. You have to have it centered to line up so I cut mine a little long and trimmed it to fit
ratled
Every one has assumed that the engine has the trucks like the powered ones. I have run into a few that had plastic wheels like on freight cars with a mounting system like the old bachman and tyco press to fit in a hole type. If that is the case just replacing wheels with ones from a powered truck system or replacement proto 200 set will not work.
This is true, It would be a waste to just try using metal wheelsets on those “dummy” plastic trucks anyway. The powered truck less the worm does a far better job in tracking and running a dummy unit.
But if you have these trucks anyway, why not just add a motor and shafts and power it Better yet, locate a powered chassis and switch out the shell.