Large Scale Central

Changing wheels on Delton Cars

Has anyone changed out the plastic wheels for metal wheels on Delton cars. I am trying to put the Bachmann wheels on a few Delton cars that currently have plastic wheels. The trucks do not have screws to take the frames off. There are 4 springs that separate bolsters. When I take the springs out I still cannot get the frames off of the bolsters. Any help would be appreciated.

Its been a while since I have messed with Delton trucks, but as I recall, after taking out the springs, the lower spring board needs to come out, then the bolster can slide down the side frame slot to the wider part, where the side frame will come off the bolster. Its a project that, if I remember correctly, would have been easier if I had a third hand.

Push up on the lower part with the brake shoes attached. Kept level, it will slide inboard. Before you set the springs free tie a thread to them, easier to find them after they flee. I also use thread to compress them during assembly, snip and pull out thread to set. Be careful on the bolster, the ears that hold it together are fragile. I have a broken truck where they sheared off. The fit is tight so remove the springs from both sides to protect the old fragile plastic.

Hope this helps.

John

Well unless some of the trucks or more brittle, I have never taken any of them apart to change wheels the side frames are flexible enough to flex them far enough to pass one axle end and remove the wheel set. Reinstall the same way. totally dismantling the trucks to install new wheels is just torture. I have built up quite a few of these from parts obtained on Ebay and know getting the springs in can be a test. That said the Delton trucks are my standard truck on my layout.

I agree with Gary. I’ve changed out a lot of them and never disassembled them. Remove truck from car (1 screw), carefully spread one end of the side frames until you can remove the axle, repeat for second axle, insert new axles same way.

To disassemble I don’t remove the springs. Just squeeze them tight at one side frame, then rotate the side frame 90 degrees and it will pull off easily. To assemble I place the springs first, then push on a side frame with axle ends top and bottom, then rotate 90 degrees to lock in place.

Thank you all, I tried Gary’s suggestion and it worked. One car completed, 3 to go. Taking the springs out just did not seam like the right way to go and what a pain it would have been if I lost one. Again, thanks.

Glad you figured it out. I am always reluctant to spread the side frames, I have broken a few Aristo trucks that way.

Gary Buchanan, FOG said:

Well unless some of the trucks or more brittle, I have never taken any of them apart to change wheels the side frames are flexible enough to flex them far enough to pass one axle end and remove the wheel set. Reinstall the same way. totally dismantling the trucks to install new wheels is just torture. I have built up quite a few of these from parts obtained on Ebay and know getting the springs in can be a test. That said the Delton trucks are my standard truck on my layout.

So far I’ve only broken one truck this way out of about a thirty or so…and I was getting a little overt confident and probably not paying enough attention. I wonder if heating the trucks up a little with a hair drier would make them a little more flexible and less likely to snap?

I was able to change the wheels out on the 4 Delton cars I recently acquired with no problems. A couple of the plastic wheels were a little hard to remove because the axle had shifted and I was trying to take the long side out first. Once I realized that the axle was shorter on the other side it was easy to remove them. It did take a little effort to install the new wheels since I have arthritis in both hands, but I eventually got it accomplished. Thanks everyone for the advice.

If you heat the plastic it could stay in the new position and the axle will shift back and forth more, or even fall out.

I have changed out plastic wheel sets on many 2 axle freight trucks and have never broken one by just forcing the side frame

wider. I have done this with Aristo, Bachmann, Delton, HLW, LGB, Trainli, and USA Trains.

Dan the ones I broke where Aristo Bettendorf trucks cast in gray. I wonder if the gray plastic was different then the black plastic. I also broke one of the black Aristo trucks once, but I don’t remember how. But I know I did, because the parts are in my parts bin.

I’ve heated the trucks in hot tap water for five or so minutes. It seem to make them a bit more flexible. Or maybe I just feel better about the procedure.

It seems that whenever a tiny spring has to be removed, Murphy get’s alerted so he can be on hand to make sure the blasted thing finds it’s way into the deepest, darkest corners of my shop, never to be heard from again.

I usually hear them springs, hit the far wall of the shop, only to disappear into that void where lost parts go.

I slip a three ft length of red thread through the spring before I fuss with it. That way, when it goes sproing, and it will, the thread slows the spring to sub-orbital speeds, and then, when it finally falls to earth, all I need to do is follow the red thread to the spring at the end.

Oh, see that’s where I went wrong. I was trying to hold the end of the thread while I was fussing with the springs. But since I have yet to be blessed with a third hand, it was proving a bit difficult. So you use the thread as a streamer. Smart.