I have 12 older Rivarossi passenger cars which I have the wheels changed out of with newer steel ones. The diameters of the new wheels are correct, however the axles seem to short and the wheels sometimes drag or pop out[:0] Oh the humanity!
Does any one have any suggestions. The passengers are getting restless!
If you tell me to change the truck, who makes a compatable, free wheeling, yet affordable one?
What wheels did you replace with? I replaced mine with 31" wheels from IHC and have had no problems. My cars are from the sixty’s. The Rivarossi trucks had play in them even with the original wheels on mine.
The only trucks I looked at were from IHC and they were too expensive I thought.
If you used Altas wheels, I had problems with them being to short even on freight cars, got a whole bag of em taking up space now.
Fergie;
Get out your calipers, measure the axle length of the wheels you removed, measure the axle length of the new ones… there is your problem.
If you don’t have calipers, get some: http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/Displayitem.taf?itemnumber=47256 )
(and if you don’t have a multimeter: http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/Displayitem.taf?itemnumber=30756 )
Kadee’s have longer axles than Intermountain, which have longer axles than P2K (by my measurement, your results may vary). NWSL offers three different axle lengths, Reboxx offers dozens.
Pennsy: what is the length of the Pennsy axles ??
I made that age old mistake, I assumed!
I assumed axle lenghts would be all the same, NMRA standards and all. Thanks for the info I will probably look at Pennsy58’s suggestion and replace everything with IHC wheels. I had seen these in the catalogue but didn’t know if they would be the old style that don’t free wheel. The original wheels might as well be glue in place.
The IHC replacement metal wheelsets are a drop-in, as are newer Rivarossi metal wheelsets, and they roll quite well. In both cases, however, they’re smaller in diameter than scale. Kadee passenger wheelsets also have axles that are a good fit, and the wheels are a scale 36" in diameter. If you use them, though, you’ll usually need to trim the brake shoes a bit so that they don’t drag on the treads.
Terry
I replaced the wheels on my old AHM/Rivarossi passenger cars with Kadee 36 inch wheels. They would not turn at all because the cast on brake wheels rubbed against the wheel treads. Those cast on brake wheels had to be ground down a little but once I did that the wheels turned fine. Note that this also made the cars sit a bit too high so the bolsters needed filing down a bit
Dave Nelson
I’ll get back to you on my axle lengths. Soon as I find my calipers. But as a note, IHC sells two different wheels at 31". Make sure you select the ones that specifically mention Rivarossi wheel replacements. ( AHM same animal) For reference look at them on their web site. www.ihc-hobby.com
And yes, I agree they are arguably smaller than scale, but they are the same size as original from Rivarossi. Go, figure???
Sorry to post over but forgot an issue. Fergus, the IHC wheels I used spin like a top. They please me as well as proto2000 wheels I’ve been putting on my freight. Since my pass. cars were so old, I also cleaned the gunk out of the sockets, and added a tiny bit of oil. Very smooth runners now.[:D]
Excellent and thank you for the come back, happy railroading in 04’