I bought a N Scale Kato F7 B unit from ebay, it had rapido couplers so I side to change the the couplers to knuckle couplings. On doing so I broke off the knuckle mounting from the truck. I got incontact with Kato and brought a new truck from them but on inspection the truck is the new type and the B unit is a older type. So would the new truck fit on to the older B unit.
The new truck will not fit the old non-DCC ready frame. Kato actually made 3 different trucks for the F unit…the original truck looked like this-
The revised truck…
The DCC friendly truck for the new mechanism…
The first 2 will fit the early non-DCC ready mechanism, but have been discontinued by Kato. The third truck fits ONLY the new F units.
Photos from Kato’s website.
Hope this helps!
I’m a body-mount fanatic and before I bought a replacement truck from Kato – or anyone else for coupler replacement – I would have thought 'body-mount.
I know this doesn’t really address your question and if the truck won’t fit the truck won 't fit. I’ll be willing to wager dollars to donuts, however, that had you addressed this issue over on Atlas some mechanical genius has probably encountered the same problem and bashed the old frame to fit the new truck. I’m sure it can be done.
It’s very difficult to body mount on the Kato F unit, because of the bulk of the truck, and the lack of a surface to mount to.
Your best bet will be to head over to one of the N scale forums that include a swap meet or trading post column. A lot of times when I’m looking for an old part, I put up a request and it doesn’t take long for someone to reply.
Good luck!
Lee
My bet is you have never had one of these apart. There is absolutely no way that the new truck will fit the old frame. I have had a whole bunch of these apart over the last 20+ years, so I know a little bit about it.
If you can do it, I’ll be in awe.