"The Tool" Free Rolling part II

Went to a train show yesterday and picked up a little gizmo known as “The Tool”. I’ve seen it advertised in MR and was curious if it actually worked. I have to say I’m impressed as it does make a difference. For those who don’t know what I’m going on about, it’s a reamer used to smooth out wheel bolsters. The seller also said it would also take the wobble out of wobbly cars. I have yet to see this part but will confirm it first opportunity.

I will say this, once you use it do not put your cars on the bench without stopping them off. They’ll take off on you! You’ve been warned[:D]

Regards
Fergie

Fergie, Is this the item sold by Micro-Mark, that reams the pointed bearings in the truck sideframes? The tool I’m thinking of has nothing to do with the bolsters.

Mark

[#oops] I didn’t mean bolsters[:I] Yes it’s the one in Micro Mart and though I paid $16 CDN, it is proving to be worth its weight in gold.

If you want to add the icing to the cake as far as free rolling is concerned, check out this product I discovered after getting ‘The Tool’ (which absolutely works as promised) …these EZ Rider washers are easy to install and also work as advertised …

I ordered this product from the Proto 87 website:

http://www.proto87stores.com/p87stores/

Cost is $2.95 for 8 pair (enough for 8 cars) …

Here’s an e-mail that I sent to Andy R. after trying the product …

" I installed all the washers per your instructions and took a bunch of cars so equipped to our club layout yesterday … since the original layout was modular, and now permanent, the trackwork is not up to par in several spots and would provide a good test of the system …

The EZ cars rode smoothly and surely and one could see the difference immediately by noting which cars were stable and which weren’t … made a believer of me and several of the club members who were watching …

Low speed performance was equaled by high speed performance … the cars tracked better, rode better and didn’t have that ‘model railroad lurch’ to them … rock solid stable …

Consider me sold !! … I gotta figure out how many cars I have and will place an order for more of the washers" …

So, if you still have some ‘herky jerky’ cars, this is the solution …

Pepper Kay
Garland, TX

PS I have no affiliation with Proto 87 except as a customer …

[#ditto] I, too, recently purchased the “The Tool”. I’m very pleased and have been using it while converting all my rolling stock to metal wheels. I recommend it! [tup]

Gads, I paid $9 for the tool and thought it was a bit steep. Really works on the axle sockets, but doesn’t do a thing for the bad wheel wobbles.

Wheel wobbles can also be caused by axles being too short and by out-of-round plastic wheels.

At the risk of being a curmudgeon the washer idea is a very expensive fix. If they are .010" thick why not just glue a strip of .010 styrene across the mounting hole? the idea makes sense but it shouln’t be that hard to implement at a much lower cost.

Man, Pepper, you get around!

Looks like you’re really impressed with these things. Glad they’re working out for you.