@Jeff: The drop in wheel sets sound great. I can work with the pilot. How hard is it to remove the lobster-claw couplers from the truck-pilot assembly? Is it screws or does it require some metal cutting with a Dremel?
BTW the part # for the 4-axle trucks is MTH part 20-89008 and its features are listed by MTH as:
- (4) Scale Wheel Wheel Sets
- Insulated Axles
- All-Metal Wheels & Axles
- Fully Assembled, Ready-to-Drop-In
Bill, I am looking at my MTH catalog right now and no offense but that is not the correct part number for a 4-Wheel Truck Scale Wheel kit, The correct part number is 20-89005. I recently put in an order at my LHS for the 20-89005 kit and after seeing your post I thought I ordered the wrong kit.
The 20-89008 is a 4-Wheel Truck Hi-Rail Wheel kit. These are the wheels that would come with a locomotive that has moving pilots.
Jeff, your conversions look awesome. There doesn't seem to be a lick of difference between your conversions and the factory MTH installation. Can't wait for the how-to!