I have several Bachmann Big Hauler cars with plastic wheels that I want to change to metal wheels. What is your recommendation for replacement wheels/trucks without spending more than a different car would cost.

Daniel;

Just use the Bachmann “Large” metal wheel sets. They are just about the least expensive of all the metal wheelsets on the market.

I think RLD Hobbies has the best price, usually, although Charles Ro had them at about the same price. Make sure you get the large diameter wheels.

When replacing the wheels, make sure you put a very small drop of “PLASTIC COMPATABLE” gear lube in each journal…

Unless you have broken the actual trucks, you don’t need to replace them. Just replace the wheel sets.

Fred Mills

Some of the trucks look practically new. Those cars may never have been run. A few others have problems with the trucks. What can I do for those?

What problems are you having, with the trucks ?

There is very little that can go wrong with the trucks, other than the truck mounting screw being too tight, or the existing wheels being out of gauge…

…or the trucks are actually cracked or in some way broken…

If you lived closer to me; I’d say, "Bring the cars over and I’d have them fixed in a jiffy…!!

Fred Mills. said:

Daniel;

Just use the Bachmann “Large” metal wheel sets. They are just about the least expensive of all the metal wheelsets on the market.

I think RLD Hobbies has the best price

Fred Mills

Pretty much …however Star Hobbies is the the go to for Bachmann metal wheel sets IMO. Good guys and fair price.

Fred Mills. said:

There is very little that can go wrong with the trucks, other than the truck mounting screw being too tight, or the existing wheels being out of gauge…

The wheels fall out of the trucks while rolling down the track.

Are the journals worn out? You might have to rebuild them and set brass tubing in the plastic to hold the axle ends…

I had that issue with a silver pair of Bachmann passenger trucks. The plastic was so flexible, that the side-frames would flex and the wheels would fall out while I was running the car. But I haven’t had that issue with the black plastic Bachmann trucks.

I use the large Bachmann wheels on my rolling stock (Bachmann, LGB, Delton, Kalamazoo, Aristocraft). I have even put a set of the small Bachmann metal wheels under an Aristo C16 tender. They work fine for me. I just need to make sure they are properly gauged before I put them into service, but that is true of most replacement metal wheel-sets I have used.

https://www.shopstarhobby.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=1087_1146&products_id=2985&zenid=3sps7hp16kbfuqirq9hgua16l4

Daniel,

I echo almost all of what has been said above. I use Bachmann 31mm wheel sets exclusively for replacement of plastic wheel sets on all rolling stock except old Lionel, their trucks don’t play well with others. I usually just replace the truck in that situation. For a replacement truck I use USAT truck frames available at RLD Hobbies http://rldhobbies.com/usa-r2031.aspx . The bolster height is the same as the Bachmann, as is the hole in the bolster for mounting. As for lubrication I use a white Lithium grease (and as has been said it is ‘plastic compatible’). I found that an old ‘turkey injection needle’ works great as a grease gun after you cut the tip back enough to remove the side hole and the sharp point.

David Maynard said:

I had that issue with a silver pair of Bachmann passenger trucks. The plastic was so flexible, that the side-frames would flex and the wheels would fall out while I was running the car. But I haven’t had that issue with the black plastic Bachmann trucks.

I use the large Bachmann wheels on my rolling stock (Bachmann, LGB, Delton, Kalamazoo, Aristocraft). I have even put a set of the small Bachmann metal wheels under an Aristo C16 tender. They work fine for me. I just need to make sure they are properly gauged before I put them into service, but that is true of most replacement metal wheel-sets I have used.

These are black trucks and that is what they are doing. I have them held together with small zip-ties to keep them from springing open.

Where the axles fit into the journals, there should be a raided collar, or ring around the hole. This will keep the axles from moving side to side far enough to let the axle fall out. If the collars have been removed, then you can limit the side play of the axles with #4 nylon washers on the axle ends. The back plastic side-frames, at least the ones I have, aren’t very flexible. Are the screws that hold the side-frames to the bolster tight?

I tried the washer thing. Didn’t work. The problem isn’t that the trucks are too wide, or the axles too short. The problem is that some of the trucks are noticeably softer plastic than the others, and they spread apart while running and the wheels fall out. When I had washers in place, they fell out, too, and disappeared. At this point, the offending trucks are just getting replaced. End of problem, I hope.

Have had the same issue, and my solution was the same. Nothing you can do short of making longer axles. Not worth the bother.

Greg

Yup, I replaced the silver ones that gave me issues. No sense fighting with a defective item.

I wish I could still purchase Aristo Craft freight trucks. They worked well with scratch-built cars that were pre modern truck era.

Ron, the Delton classic truck, or the Bettendorf truck, like under their 40 foot boxcar?

When I read that Aristo was drying up and blowing away, I did stockpile a few of those trucks to keep my fleet operating. It would be nice if Bachmann would do a run of Aristo trucks.