I have been using Intermountain wheel sets in the original Lionel trucks and they seem to work well. There was a post in I believe O Scale Resources where someone popped out the bearing inserts and installed a small shim behind the bearing to help center the wheels. The contributor used a small piece of styrene punched out with a hole punch for the shim. I believe the shim was .030 inches thick. I have been assembling the truck without the shim and it seems to work OK. Wheels are a little loose but so far they haven't come out. You have to cut off the 3R coupler with a Dremel and a cut off disk.
I just replace the Lionel wheelsets with Athearn ones I have on hand and it works fine. I like the older trucks with metal bolsters the best. They are a little harder to work with since the rivets mounting the couplers have to drilled out. However, the advantage is if the new axles seem too loose, you can simply bend the metal bolster part that is screwed to the sideframe in toward the middle a little bit. It tightens things up.
@Mike DeBerg posted:Nick, Great idea and definitely further improves the quality of the model. I Just hate to do that without upgrading the detailing , underframe piping, cut levers, air line, etc... I feel bad about putting highly detailed trucks on a car like this when I know most of the truck isn't going to be seen, much like the under body detail. With the Atlas trucks (20 bucks) a little weathering, the ride height is correct, looks good and trouble free.
BTW, Bill Davis still shows some of the ASM Barber S-2 100-Ton Roller Bearing in stock! for those wanting to go to that level of detail.
I bought a pair a year back to test. They don't roll as well as the Protocraft ones. IMO all these trucks should have bearings inside.
My truck of choice is the Atlas Roller Bearing truck, either 70-ton with 33" wheels or the 100-ton with 36" wheels. All of my Lionel gons ride on Atlas trucks. Super easy. great ride height. I sell off the lionel trucks or MTH trucks I get on rolling stock. Atlas has the best truck out there IMO for the money. If I need a lower ride height on a conversion I either grind down the truck bolster or use a replacement bolster from shapeways (Jim Lincoln) as mentioned in previous posts. I don't buy brass trucks anymore. Not necessary. if I could afford it and there were plenty available, sure, the Protocraft trucks can't be beat!
I used the Lionel replacement wheels on my gondolas. Next go round I'm just going with Atlas trucks. The Lionel wheels cost $20/set which isn't much less than a pair of Atlas trucks plus they're only 33" instead of 36". Also, they're code 145; I prefer the code 172 treads.
