my wheels (plastic) keep falling off my equipment while running, thus causing derailments. I’m changing plastic to metal, but sometimes, the wheels are too tight to turn properly.
Is there a tool available to enlarge the small holes that the points of the wheels go into?
Ed Dalton eddalton03@yahoo.com
Thanks
Amazingly there is a tool specifically for this purpose; its called the Reamer I believe and you can get it from Micromark.com
It almost sounds like the spacing in your trucks is too great, or your axles are too short. The tool railfan mentioned does CLEAN out the axle holes pretty well (I have one)
You didn’t mention your scale, but this is for the HO trucks. It’s called the truck tuner.
http://www.ares-server.com/Ares/Ares.asp?MerchantID=RET01229&Action=Catalog&Type=Product&ID=82838
I have a lot of 40-year-old cars which were cheap even back then. They were made in Hong Kong and imported under the brand-name “Crown.” The axle ends on the plastic wheelsets are actually cylindrical, not conical.
I went to the hardware store and found a cone-shaped bit for my Dremel. When replacing the wheels, I just pull out the old ones and hit the trucks with this Dremel bit. It only takes a couple of seconds (plastic trucks) and then I’m ready to re-install the wheels.
Actually Mr.B, what puzzled me was what he means by “my wheels (plastic) keep falling off my equipment while running” Wheelset falling out of the truck? Wheels coming off the axle?
I have one of these and it is the best ten bucks I ever spent. Mine is called “The Tool” and I didn’t get it thorugh Micromark, but it the exact same thing. You should use one of these on all your plastic trucks. I was amazed at how much better all my cars rolled after using this thing.