MTH 3 Rail Bettendorf truck rebuild

 Place dental floss through the coil spring and hold both ends and the truck with one hand. Use a small screwdriver or tweezers that will fit between the coils to hold it near one of the ends. Place it on one pin then compress it slightly and get it on the other one. The dental floss is used for when the spring goes wants to go flying. You won’t lose it. It can be slipped out when it’s in place.

 You can omit the dental floss and try working inside a clear plastic bag. I find the first way works better to see during assembly. The bag works better taking them apart.

Dave has, obviously, done this before.  I like the plastic bag to keep the spring from flying away.  As a watchmaker by trade, I have spent many quality hours looking for microscopic springs that got away.  If you don’t have a tweezer small enough to use with the spring you can make your own from an eyebrow tweezer.  Grind the sides of the tip back about 1/8” of either side and leave about a 1/8” wide piece in the middle that you can slip between the coils of the spring.

Unfortunately, there is no magic, just some tedious work and, perhaps, a few choice blessings to be said over it.

I would like to see the tool they use for assembly at factory

 Clem, they probably use similar tools to what we are using. The difference is. They probably have a box of spare springs sitting beside them at the workbench. When one goes flying.  They just reach for another.

 I’ve lost my share of them. I always see to find one when looking for something else I dropped.

I used to rebuild Kadee couplers on my HO trains...and I thought those were tedious and annoying.  

Fortunately, due to unfortunate events, I have a few extra MTH trucks...so extra springs is not a concern ...now.  

I wonder, was it by design or accident that MTH trucks do not allow easier coupler removal...which is why I am attempting to refurbish this truck in the first place, instead of doing what I usually do-buy replacement trucks. 

Which I do have...but, if I just swap them out, instead of having this “idle, useless, dead” piece of rolling stock, on my workbench as a constant reminder to repair the trucks...I will end up with a bunch of spare parts-that I can easily and conveniently forget I have, until I am like my Grandfather and Father in law-who had multiple coffee cans and glass jars filled with random screws, washers, nuts and gewgaws that were saved “just in case”, but never ever actually used...

And that crosses the line into HOARDING

which in reality is what we all are, especially those of us in denial, who are Model Railroaders-sure we call it a hobby or a passion...but..if we are honest...

those workbenches; with multiple projects in various states of “un-completeness” are just microcosms of our unacknowledged, untreatable affliction-which can only be assuaged by frequent and reoccurring trips to our LHS or train show, to satisfy our incurable affliction...

Which reminds me...I need to see when the next show is scheduled 🚂😁