Hello everyone, I have a natty problem that need's more input than I can give it. I have several MTH 3 axle diesels with the swappable wheelset trucks. On a C44ACCTE diesel, I switched out the hi rail wheels for Mike's 2 rail drop in's. After doing the first one, I knew right away something was wrong. After removing the bottom plate (WOW, I didn't think these little screws could be SO tight) from the truck block, I noticed that several spring contacts under the span plate pressed down quite tightly against the axle's bushing and had it pinched tightly into the opening in the block. I managed to dig it out without damaging anything, and continued with the work. Well, after re-assembling the truck, I laid a small piece of picture glass on top of the flanges and it rocked side to side and front to back, like some of the wheels were sitting too high or too low. Now I know why milking stools come with 3 legs.
I disassembled the truck again, laid out everything and tried to figure out why all the axles were at different heights. Closer examination showed me that the truck block has 2, what I would call dados on each axle opening that the ears on the side of the axle bushing slip down into. I wonder, are all these the same depth? I dug out my machinists box and found my little slide scale and did some measuring. OK, after doing all 12 of them, I found 2! out of the 12 that were at the same depth????? Great, now what? There's got to be a better way of doing this.
Man, how I envy you guys with the $$$$ brass diesels with the sprung axle trucks. It sure makes for great traction. I can't do it to this thing. Too many stray holes and no flat surfaces to rest the spring on. I measured up every spare MTH axle block I had and surprisingly, they were all the same! Finally, I ended up shimming each opening with some assorted thicknesses of plastic sheet so the top surface of the bushing sat down on it rather than the bushing ear. After too much coffee and smokes, I've got them all pretty close now, but come on, there's got to be an easier way to do this. Bill
