I am getting ready to upgrade the wheels on my rolling stock and have ordered new Kadee wheels for many of my cars. Anticipating that many of the trucks will have to be replaced I was going to order some of the Walthers Proto 2005 trucks until I discovered they are being discontinued. In doing further checking I found the Athearn HO Truck, Bettendorf. 33" Metal Wheels readily available. Curious as to what others’ opinions are on these. Thanks!
You might want to consider other metal replacement wheel options besides Kadee. Some complain that the blackening wears off onto the rails and also that the wheels for formed by a sintering process which means they have microscopic voids that pick up dirt more easily than machined wheels.
I also knew a guy who noted his long string of Kadee equpped Intermountain hoppers had a fair amount of drag on them. He changed the Kadee wheel sets (which have plastic axles) out for, in this case, Jaybee wheel sets which had metal needle point axles and it made big difference; much less drag.
Other options include Intermountain and Exactrail wheel sets, both have metal needle point axles.
Welcome! I model modern, so I look for 100 ton trucks, and I use Intermountain Wheel sets, 36" and I do keep 33" around also.
There are many brands out there for trucks. Kadee seems to be a popular brand.
The last trucks I bought was a 150 truck box full of Athearn 100 tonner, from a favorite seller on Ebay. I’m still using those. And I haven’t seen any more from him lately.
I don’t always replace the trucks. Most times, I use the truck that is on the car, unless it’s the Talgo variety, and use a Micro Mark truck tuner to tune it up, and then install the 36" or 33" wheels.
If you want to buy the trucks with the wheels included, that is up to you, or you can look around for other manufacturers, like Kadee, Tichy, etc.
I think the time period your modeling also has alot to do with what trucks and wheel sets you get.
Mike.
For appearance’s sake I use a wire brush in a Dremel tool and remove the blackening from the wheel tread of Kadee wheels. I suspect that same process polishes the treads and to some extent smooths out any microscopic voids.
Dave Nelson
Thanks for the replies guys.
Ordered a small number of the Kadee wheels to start out and can easily switch over to one of the other brands mentioned.
Any thoughts on the Athearn trucks? And if they are poor replacements, what would be recommended?
[#welcome]
You need to check the axle length of the wheels and make sure you replace them with the correct length. Not all axle length is the same. I use 20 compartment organizers for small parts, couplers and wheels. Between diameter and axle length I have 8 compartments in the wheel organizer with different size wheel sets.
I buy the Athearn metal wheels for my Athearn passenger cars and mostly Inter Mountain for the rest.
Mel
My Model Railroad
http://melvineperry.blogspot.com/
Bakersfield, California
[#welcome], your first few posts are delayed by the moderators, but that will end soon enough. Please stick around.
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I ONLY use Kadee trucks and wheels on my freight cars, these products simply perform flawlessly. Your track, wheels, and couplers all need to be perfect. Compromise elsewhere.
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I have used Kadee trucks and wheels in HO for 20+ years, and Kadee/MT in N scale for 10+ years before that. No problems, only easy operation.
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-Kevin
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Now that reboxx is apparently out of the running, where do you get your wheel sets with differing axle sizes?
I’m with you Mel, Intermountain seem to be the most popular metal replacement wheels. Others include Tangent, Arrowhead, ExactRail.
I’ve heard a few also complain that plastic axle wheel sets can get bent - AFAIK, that includes Kadee and Proto 2000.
It’s been a few years since I stocked up on wheels. I try to ke
Right, Mel. I think the OP was looking for recommendations on what he should get to do upgrades. If the options you used to have a supply on hand are not available to new folks, then it’s not going to help them. Just sayin…
Exactly. Since the Proto trucks are basically unavailable (my first choice after doing some research), I am trying to get a take from some of you about another way to go for the trucks. The Athearn ones are available, which is a plus, but I don’t want to “settle“ on them just based on that. If other brands are considered better as well as being in stock, then I will certainly reconsider my decision.
I just noticed, with a name like yours, we should be asking YOU! [(-D]
Mike.
Many of the recent truck offerings from Kadee are of the “self-centering” variety. This isn’t a problem in most cases but for an instant swap you may find that there’s a little more work involved as the mounting boss (bolster pin) has to be cut or filed flat in order for the Kadee centering device to do its thing. You usually have to use the Kadee screw as well so be prepared to tap a 2-56 hole for the threads.
Like Kevin, I like Kadee products and have never had any operating or quality issues with them. Most of my rolling stock used the Kadee wheels and once the blackening has worn off the tread takes on a nice silvered patina. I can’t relate to any contribution to dirty rail deposited by the wheels. Maybe there’s a little more drag in the plastic axle but I haven’t found that to be an issue.
I probably have a hundred or more of the original Proto (Life-Like) and Walthers Proto cars and wheels and trucks. The Proto wheels seem to be sintered metal, then plated. Many of these have lost their plating over the years. Some were poorly finished to begin with. I’ve found more defective wheels, like poorly formed or pitted, with the original Proto trucks/wheels. Maybe Walthers had improved on this in later runs.
For some reason the Protos are quite a bit noisier than most. I recently finished a bunch of new “old-stock” Mather box cars that came with the plated Proto wheels and I was reminded of just how much noise these things make compared to a Kadee sintered or other brand machined wheel. As the plating wears off I suppose this noise quiets down since I don’t notice it as much on my older Proto cars.
I keep a few boxes of the Intermountain wheel sets around, too. Sometimes the finer needle point doesn’t sit well in certain plastic truck sideframes. I use kind of a trial and error method and if one wheelset doesn’t have the rolling qualities I’m looking for I swap them out for others.
Walthers certainly has
Assuming you’re OK with the appearance (understanding that trucks have a lot of variation in sideframe pattens, and that one design wouldn’t necessarily be realistic for use on every car), the Athearn trucks can be a good option. I have quite a few Athearn RTR cars with the stock machined wheels, and no complaints about how they run.
I used to apply this logic too, but my Kadee wheels finally collected so much crud that I’ve given up on them. The polished treads didn’t slow the process like I thought they should.
I’m replacing all of my Kadee wheels with machined types that are tending to stay clean. As a bonus, metal wheelsets with needlepoint axles resist axle wear and also roll more freely than the Kadee plastic axles.
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I had an interesting experience with older Proto-2000 wheels.
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I have a Union Pacific 50 foot automobile boxcar, probably one of the original models. It sat on my alluminum display shelf for years.
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One day I went to move it, and it was stuck.
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When I finally got it loose, big pieces of the metal plating from the wheels stuck to the alluminum rails. They were like welded in place. I had to knck the loose with a hammer and cold chisel.
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I have no idea what caused such a reaction.
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-Kevin
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Dissimilar metals, Accelerated Galvanic Corrosion. Aluminum is the worst!
Mel
I asked Sam at Kadee about sintered wheels and he replied that their wheels and couplers are all die cast zinc.
Mark Vinski
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Yes, Sam has stated many times that their wheels are NOT sintered, but still, that one just persists and will not die.
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I gave up a long time ago.
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Uh-Oh, I have four alluminum HO scale display shelves. Kadee and Athearn wheels do not seem to have been effected.
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-Kevin
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I have replaced about 70 old trucks with new Athearn trucks of various types: 70 ton roller bearing, 100 ton roller bearing, friction bearing of different types, and they have performed flawlessly. I have tried Kadee, Walthers, and Atlas trucks and find the Athearn to be my favorites–nice performance and easy to apply a surface mount resistor across the insulated gap so that they are detectable by my signal system.
The nomenclature isn’t all that important at the end of the day.
What is important is performance over the long haul.
Between the dirt build-up and the axle wear, I’d rather not be in the position Rob reported of having to replace Kadee wheelsets down the line. It seem wiser to start with wheelsets that are machined and have metal needlepoint axles.