I have added some new metal wheels, kydee’s and removed the truck mounted horn hook and added some extra led but the older cars still seem to derail
I have worked for hours on these just to try and get them road ready with no luck these cars still like’s to jump off the track
what did I do wrong
am I missing somthing
or is there no hope for older ahm and tyco type cars
some are so cool extra large tank cars some flat cars
I also have a few rocko b&m gon’sthat are similar
K[8D]
The only problem I can think of, is that the coupler trip pin might be too low. The only way to fix that, is to gently bend it upwards with either the Kadee tool, or a pair of pliers. I ran into this problem with a pair of Bowser open hoppers, and did the same things you did–replaced the couplers and wheelsets, and even added some weight. But, once I “saw the light,” and bent the trip pin, all was well 
Do you have a NMRA track gauge to check the track and wheelsets with? Maybe the new wheels you installed are out of gauge. There is also available from Kadee a coupler height gauge. Also another cause could be that you have attached the trucks too firmly (no play) or too loosely (too much play).Being that you live in a heavily populated area you might try to find someone who can look at the cars in question and determine what the problem is.
Is one truck free to rock, or are they both rigid? Some older car kits tried to imitate prototype side bearings on the body bolsters , resulting in a car with the characteristics of a four-legged table. Even almost invisible vertical rail misalignment will cause such cars to derail. Freeing one truck to rock converts the ‘table’ to a three-legged stool, which is much more tolerant of minor track defects.
Make sure you have tight fitting but freely moving trucks, and make sure your couplers are bent to a position that completely clears the entire track. Also, make sure you have a smooth track and have filed down all of the uneveness in the track joint connectors. Good luck!
Same problem here, on a set of Model Power Overton passenger cars.
I tried everythng, and was still tearing out my haircouplers, weight, redoing sections of track… Then one day by accident, I discovered that there was a full eighth inch of play in every axle, both end-to-end and up and down.
I swapped out the axles, and the new ones are very tight in the trucks, so tight it affects how they roll, but they stay on the tracks now. I have a set of new trucks for them, but haven’t put them on yet.
Did you replace the trucks, or just the wheels? I’ve been doing the same thing to my old roster of rolling stock, and I have a lot of trouble with one or two cars. To save money, I just bought a pile of wheels, and I’m replacing the old wheels with new ones. Mostly this works pretty well, but a few of the don’t work well after the replacement. For those, it’s a trip to the LHS for new trucks.
I’ve got one old reefer that I remember as a “problem child” from 40 years ago when my layout was new. I found that the frame was cracked and the truck mount points were broken. The trucks weren’t much good, either. I’ve re-built the frame and replaced the trucks with some other, cannibalized from another car, and still it derails. I think it’s haunted. It sits on the end of a siding now.
Budliner, I have upgraded several of the Tyco/AHM/LifeLike/Roco cheaper freight cars with good results. I tend to use the P2K metal wheel sets, am careful about NMRA weight and also check all my Kadee instals with a height guage. Some of the cars needed the truck journals to be honed using a Micromark truck tuner tool. Jerffers_mz may well have hit on your problem.
I do think its the track, most likely the benchwork. as in a few spots I did have to cut the size of the track plan, it was by a foot on each end, but all the proto 2000 locos and cars run fine, I did change the trucks with some of the cheeper model power or athearn ho trucks, they were like $6 for 4 pc. I did have one truck kind of lose and the other was firm but free, kydee’s are fine, I think it has to do with the center of gravity,
I tryed to place it near the end of the train. still these few cars dont seem to hit anything
just like to pop off. I did get the ho gauge for $10 and did a few checks but nothing seems out of whack
thanks for brain cramming guys
kenny
One thing that comes to mind is to make sure the truck mounting screws are tapped at 90 degrees from the frame of the car. I have seen several times where one was drilled at a slight angle and the truck was not sitting square on the track. More weight was on one axle than the other.
Jim
I found a problem with the plastic wheels mounted on metal axles. the wheels were in guage, but werecloser to one end and rubbbing on the truck sideframe. I centered the whells on the axle with a digital caliber and the problem was solved. I’m trying to convert everything to metal wheels because they track better and help keep the track cleaner. Here is a pretty neat conversion/upgrade for the tyco 3-dome tanker with six wheel trucks. I took an underframe for the 62" Athearn tanker and mounted the Tyco tanker on it. It fit almost perfectly. You must remove the rib that hangs down from the tanker. I used 100 ton roller bearing tucks(4 wheel) and the new shelf type couplers. On a second conversion, I removed the ouside domes and built a platform around the middle one. They turned out pretty good. I wish I had pictuyres, I still don’t have a camera.