Don't forget as long as you have the boxcar disassembled you might as well measure the total weight. Then add stick-on auto tire mag wheel weights to bring it up to minimum NMRA standards. That is for HO; a basis of 1 ounce plus 1/2 ounce for each one inch of length of the boxcar.
Speaking from my experience, when changing wheels, remove the plastic wheels and add a drop or two of liquid lube in each journal box, then install bachmann 33 in. nickel silver flat back wheel sets. for the most part these solve all wheel problems and they roll very freely on tyco, life-like and other brands of h o scale freight cars. they work very good as well on athearn cars, and when changing out plastic horn-hook couplers and use kadee kat whisker couplers body mount the couplers. These steps make for some great operation for your trains Many happy hours of train operation. Enjoy
The Bachmann 33" wheels are also a great direct swap-out replacement for the plastic wheels on SceneMaster and LifeLike 9" Pullman heavyweight passenger cars. They roll incredibly well once converted.
I have attempted this process for years with no success. The metal weight inside usually interferes with the threaded screw installation. A metal drill bit is a must. I will do this process again I want try this with TYCO , Life Like earlier Bachmann Model Power, especially ATHEARN. This video is very useful & will use the tool that trimmed the inner wheel trucks. I learned something watching. P.S. I now want the Life- Like Kelloggs box car as well a classic blue box of that era I remember it well, My very first HO was a Life Like trainset. Good job. 👍✅
Very well done video.Great for the hobby showing this.Older cars can be updated and taken as far as you like ,but a good basic start with a good set of couple rs and wheel sets.Great .Thanks
On the metal wheels, dust the inside of the journal box with graphite. Cheapest and easiest available is car door lock lube. Liquid lubes will collect dirt and could attack the plastic. Edit. Metric is good.
AK Been watching your posts for awhile and enjoy watching them. I have a lot of Life Like cars on my layout I do the same as you show on this car but I take it one step further I paint the door glides the same color as the car and remove the flash around the stirups and elsewere then lightly weather the car. By doing this the car takes on a different look and the toy like goes away.
Still had some flash on that one end around the step. The door are held in place by black plastic. Those should be painted the yellow color of the car! Probably replace all steps with thinner metal ones. Good job on trucks and couplers.
Definitely a good idea to use metal wheels as not only do the plastic wheels and axles create friction, I have also found after checking the plastic wheels and axles with a NMRA gage tool that they are out of gauge and did not comply with the NMRA standards which could easily spell a nightmare of derailments when it came to the plastic wheels operating through points and crossovers. Metal wheels had to be used as not only do they reduce friction and last longer, 99% of metal wheels often comply with the NMRA standards and would often be at the correct gauge when checked with a NMRA gage tool as well as using the NMRA compliant RP25 wheel contour profile. The brand of metal wheels whether it be Bachmann, Atlas, Intermoutain, etc is up to you as long as they're the right size whether it be 33 or 36 inch and do the job they're intended for. The metal wheels have metal axles and the wheels often have insulation inside them that goes around the axle to avoid short circuits to permit regauging to the NMRA standards approved gauge should your choice of metal wheels be caught out of gauge whereas with plastic wheels and axles, they are molded in one piece thus making them impossible to regauge. If you need to regauge the metal wheels and axles which I've found with Bachmann, you need to use two pliers as fingers won't do. Squeeze one on each wheel, maintain a firm grip and make sure they don't slip off, ensure they are clamped onto the flange with the tips clamping on them, one in the 12 o'clock and the other in the 6 o'clock positions, 3 o'clock to 9 o'clock positions, any position will work as long as the tips maintain that 180 degree dead centre position to prevent the plier tips from slipping off. Slowly turn and twist them with one hand going one way, the other hand going the other way as well as pulling on the wheels as if you're pulling a stiff spring, make sure you check the wheels with a NMRA gage tool every now and then to ensure you get the wheels in the correct gauge and do it in small turns if you want to be precisely straight on. Keep doing it until the wheels comply with the correct gauge on the NMRA gage tool. Ensure the axle ends on the outside of the wheels are at the same length to permit clearance within the bogie frame and bearings. This very tip will save you from blowing an extra cost on replacement metal wheels. For those that wish to utilize the truck mounted coupler boxes that are molded onto the bogie frames, Kadee does have Talgo truck adaptors to permit installation of Kadee couplers for your truck mounted coupler boxes which are normally found on Lifelike, Tyco and AHM, etc. Make sure you check whether you need centre set, underset or overset couplers to ensure your coupler is at the correct height before installing the talgo truck adapter and it is handy to have a height gauge to check so you don't have the common breakways couplers uncoupling on a small bump of track. Kadee does have a conversion list for Lifelike, Tyco, AHM, etc which tells you which Kadee you need and also has instructions for such conversion should you need to do so. They can be found on the Kadee coupler website.
Nice work! I did the same to all my old cars and it is fantastic. Thank you to demonstrate it in your video. Where do you get the axle cleaner, your special tool for cleaning the trucks so the wheels rotate freely?
Cut off the truck mounted couplers and body mount KaDee couplers for better operation.You can also plug the hole used to mount the existing trucks with plastic sprue material and redrill for 2-56 screw - then you can mount Athearn or roundhouse trucks.
Isn´t the Lifelike Coupler iten # 920-6002 a faster and cheaper way of changing the coupler or doesn´t it match Your Kadee couplers? Your video is very instructive, thank You. The wheel tool from Mikronark is great. Greatings from Germany. Joachim
This video is a decent video but do you have a kadee coupler height gauge? I have a section of track with kadee coupler height gauges on both ends. The coupler on your yellow boxcar looks to be slightly higher then the blue car. This will keep most cars from uncoupling due to slightly bumpy track. Another thing to look up is the NMRA standard. For an HO scale car the standard is 1 ounce plus 1/2 ounce for every inch of the car. Assuming that your car shown is 5 1/2 inches long it would need to weigh 3 3/4 ounces. This includes the wheels, couplers, and car. I have a digital scale and everything goes on it before I assemble the car. Intermountain 33 inch wheels for freight cars and 36 inch intermountain wheels for passenger cars.
Hallo, könnte ich sie fragen ob sie mir bei der beschaffung von den h0 truck tuner helfen könnten. Ich bekomme ihn hier in Deutschland nirgends. Mit freundlichen Grüßen Silke
@@dcctrain Couple more questions if you dont mind. Did you drill through the metal weight? And when the hole was drilled, did you use a tapper to thread the hole? Thanks again.
You might have found out by now, but that's called a "truck tuner" sold exclusively by Micro-Mark. www.micromark.com will get you there, and enter "truck tuner" in the search bar. They have all kinds of tools made for maintaining and improving rolling stock, trackwork, and all sorts of other stuff. The best part is that they're reasonably priced. Cheers!
А Вы не могли бы делать русский перевод текстом? У Вас много интересных видео, но я думаю что многие Русские зрители Вашего канала, владеют минимальными знаниями английского, в том числе и я. Было бы очень приятно, хотя бы в тексте, видеть перевод.
Fantastic video on upgrading older equipment
Glad you liked it!
One of the best ideas I've seen! I have a bunch of Life Like cars I inherited, now I will so this and put them "in service". Thank you!
Now I know why my friend hats plastic wheels and axles. Thanks for all the accurateinformation. I like the way you explain stuff.
Don't forget as long as you have the boxcar disassembled you might as well measure the total weight. Then add stick-on auto tire mag wheel weights to bring it up to minimum NMRA standards. That is for HO; a basis of 1 ounce plus 1/2 ounce for each one inch of length of the boxcar.
Thank you.
Speaking from my experience, when changing wheels, remove the plastic wheels and add a drop or two of liquid lube in each journal box, then install bachmann 33 in. nickel silver flat back wheel sets. for the most part these solve all wheel problems and they roll very freely on tyco, life-like and other brands of h o scale freight cars. they work very good as well on athearn cars, and when changing out plastic horn-hook couplers and use kadee kat whisker couplers body mount the couplers. These steps make for some great operation for your trains Many happy hours of train operation. Enjoy
What parts are needed to convert? Best place to buy everything?
The Bachmann 33" wheels are also a great direct swap-out replacement for the plastic wheels on SceneMaster and LifeLike 9" Pullman heavyweight passenger cars. They roll incredibly well once converted.
I have attempted this process for years with no success. The metal weight inside usually interferes with the threaded screw installation. A metal drill bit is a must. I will do this process again I want try this with TYCO , Life Like earlier Bachmann Model Power, especially ATHEARN. This video is very useful & will use the tool that trimmed the inner wheel trucks. I learned something watching. P.S. I now want the Life- Like Kelloggs box car as well a classic blue box of that era I remember it well, My very first HO was a Life Like trainset. Good job. 👍✅
Thank you 👍
This was just perfect exactly what I needed as I just bought some of these
Cool
Very well done video.Great for the hobby showing this.Older cars can be updated and taken as far as you like ,but a good basic start with a good set of couple rs and wheel sets.Great .Thanks
On the metal wheels, dust the inside of the journal box with graphite. Cheapest and easiest available is car door lock lube. Liquid lubes will collect dirt and could attack the plastic.
Edit. Metric is good.
thanks man!!!!! ive gotta try this trick to upgrade my older life like cars,youre good god bless ya brother
+CSX2665 You are welcome my man.
+AK Crazy Russian TV yea also how do you make a screw thread?
I'm using Kadee metal screws to make thread.
+Crazy Russian AK TV oh ok i use drill bits on mine still works lol!
A recent subscriber, really enjoy your videos! Thanks or sharing.....
AK Been watching your posts for awhile and enjoy watching them. I have a lot of
Life Like cars on my layout I do the same as you show on this car but I take it
one step further I paint the door glides the same color as the car and remove
the flash around the stirups and elsewere then lightly weather the car. By
doing this the car takes on a different look and the toy like goes away.
Ron Netti Very good. My customer is happy.
I've put this in my Favorites mate. Very informative.
Thanks, mate.
I always enjoy watching this. :)
Nice conversion tips! Well done.
Thanks!
Still had some flash on that one end around the step. The door are held in place by black plastic. Those should be painted the yellow color of the car! Probably replace all steps with thinner metal ones. Good job on trucks and couplers.
Thank you.
Great job !! Ive got quite a few of older life like cars im gonna convert they work better 👍😀
Thanks. 👍
Nicely done!
Thanks for the visit!
Definitely a good idea to use metal wheels as not only do the plastic wheels and axles create friction, I have also found after checking the plastic wheels and axles with a NMRA gage tool that they are out of gauge and did not comply with the NMRA standards which could easily spell a nightmare of derailments when it came to the plastic wheels operating through points and crossovers. Metal wheels had to be used as not only do they reduce friction and last longer, 99% of metal wheels often comply with the NMRA standards and would often be at the correct gauge when checked with a NMRA gage tool as well as using the NMRA compliant RP25 wheel contour profile. The brand of metal wheels whether it be Bachmann, Atlas, Intermoutain, etc is up to you as long as they're the right size whether it be 33 or 36 inch and do the job they're intended for. The metal wheels have metal axles and the wheels often have insulation inside them that goes around the axle to avoid short circuits to permit regauging to the NMRA standards approved gauge should your choice of metal wheels be caught out of gauge whereas with plastic wheels and axles, they are molded in one piece thus making them impossible to regauge.
If you need to regauge the metal wheels and axles which I've found with Bachmann, you need to use two pliers as fingers won't do. Squeeze one on each wheel, maintain a firm grip and make sure they don't slip off, ensure they are clamped onto the flange with the tips clamping on them, one in the 12 o'clock and the other in the 6 o'clock positions, 3 o'clock to 9 o'clock positions, any position will work as long as the tips maintain that 180 degree dead centre position to prevent the plier tips from slipping off. Slowly turn and twist them with one hand going one way, the other hand going the other way as well as pulling on the wheels as if you're pulling a stiff spring, make sure you check the wheels with a NMRA gage tool every now and then to ensure you get the wheels in the correct gauge and do it in small turns if you want to be precisely straight on. Keep doing it until the wheels comply with the correct gauge on the NMRA gage tool. Ensure the axle ends on the outside of the wheels are at the same length to permit clearance within the bogie frame and bearings. This very tip will save you from blowing an extra cost on replacement metal wheels.
For those that wish to utilize the truck mounted coupler boxes that are molded onto the bogie frames, Kadee does have Talgo truck adaptors to permit installation of Kadee couplers for your truck mounted coupler boxes which are normally found on Lifelike, Tyco and AHM, etc. Make sure you check whether you need centre set, underset or overset couplers to ensure your coupler is at the correct height before installing the talgo truck adapter and it is handy to have a height gauge to check so you don't have the common breakways couplers uncoupling on a small bump of track. Kadee does have a conversion list for Lifelike, Tyco, AHM, etc which tells you which Kadee you need and also has instructions for such conversion should you need to do so. They can be found on the Kadee coupler website.
😉
Super gute Arbeit. Liebe Grüsse aus Bavaria
Thank you.
Very nice!
Nice work! I did the same to all my old cars and it is fantastic. Thank you to demonstrate it in your video.
Where do you get the axle cleaner, your special tool for cleaning the trucks so the wheels rotate freely?
Hi, thank you, we are going to carry the tool.
Cut off the truck mounted couplers and body mount KaDee couplers for better operation.You can also plug the hole used to mount the existing trucks with plastic sprue material and redrill for 2-56 screw - then you can mount Athearn or roundhouse trucks.
Hi, thanks for the comment. Please add space between operation DOT and You. It is pointing to not the existing domain.
Nicely done.
I have around 20 Tyco cars to do from my childhood.
Scott
Same here. 20 tycos and 5 knuckle coupler cars. I'm gunna be busy ._.
I got 83 Tycos, 5 locos, and 78 cars
Very well done! A keeper! :)
I wanna do the same for my Tyco, Life Like, Bachmann and AHM rolling stock
Fantastic video
Thanks! 😃
Beautiful Kelloggs Wagon 👍👍👍👍
Thank you 👍
AK, I had always wondered which Kadee's I needed for this conversion. So, it sounded like you said #5's? Is that correct?
Ray Boebel technically it is #148 but not a lot of people recognize it, so I calling them number 5 with WHISKER or you can use #5
Great video... you prefer intermountain wheels over others, is this based on bad experiences with the others?
Thanks. I prefer if weel set has metal axel.
my left ear thanks you for this information
You're welcome
The pic on back of box looks like the train set I had when I was 5? 6? years old. :o)
bohemianh Good one.
I went to a hobby store looking for that wheel tool, they said "beat it kid we don't want your kind around here". True story!
You can get it at Micromark. My English is not good to understand I'm native Russian. So I did not get this expression.
What kind of hobby store that wants to stay in business treats potential customers that way?
Isn´t the Lifelike Coupler iten # 920-6002 a faster and cheaper way of changing the coupler or doesn´t it match Your Kadee couplers?
Your video is very instructive, thank You. The wheel tool from Mikronark is great.
Greatings from Germany. Joachim
Hello Joachim. Thanks. Price is the same. I prefer the Kadee couplers with whiskers.
This video is a decent video but do you have a kadee coupler height gauge? I have a section of track with kadee coupler height gauges on both ends. The coupler on your yellow boxcar looks to be slightly higher then the blue car. This will keep most cars from uncoupling due to slightly bumpy track. Another thing to look up is the NMRA standard. For an HO scale car the standard is 1 ounce plus 1/2 ounce for every inch of the car. Assuming that your car shown is 5 1/2 inches long it would need to weigh 3 3/4 ounces. This includes the wheels, couplers, and car. I have a digital scale and everything goes on it before I assemble the car. Intermountain 33 inch wheels for freight cars and 36 inch intermountain wheels for passenger cars.
+david barrera Thanks.
Do you need a couple jig to ensure correct coupler height??
I will recommend different Kadee Couplers
Underset Shank
Centerset Shank
Overset Shank
Nice video... what's the name o the tool you use o minute 6:08??? Thanks...
HO Truck Tuner
Will this work on tyco ho scale trucks upgrade to atlas trucks and metal wheels
What is Atlas item number?
NICE. is that car for sale by any chance ?
Thanks. No, this repair job for the customer.
having trouble finding the tool you are using to smooth out the wheel housings. do you know the name of that tool?
www.micromark.com/ HO & On30 Truck Tuner Item #: 82838
@@dcctrain got one, thank you
@@buddyfirebird Awesome!
fan,you buy the Japan Kato Ho boogies one set. all ok👍 23.07.2022
👍
I looked at the Micro Mark web site and the wheel tool is not listed.
Is there a different name for the tool?
Search for HO Truck Tuner
@@dcctrain Thank you.
I have several OLD cars by several manufactures and all need new wheel sets and couplers!
@@railroad9000 No problem.
Would you say body mounted couplers work best?
Yes, Sir.
@@dcctrain I want to try it but my trck has some really tight turns, so I don't know :)
Whats the benefit of putting the coupler on the body instead of the truck?
It is prototypical.
Not only prototypical, but it is much better for shoving, i.e. pushing the car into a siding or yard.
Thanks for replies. Makes sense
what is the wheel tool ? and do you guys sell them ???
HO Truck Tuner www.micromark.com/
Hallo, was ist das für ein Werkzeug mit dem du die radsatz verändert hast
Hallo. Das Werkzeug ist HO Truck Tuner.
@@dcctrain
Vielen Dank für deine Antwort, hat mir sehr geholfen
@@silkehirthe4392 Bitte schön.
Metric is good.
Hallo, könnte ich sie fragen ob sie mir bei der beschaffung von den h0 truck tuner helfen könnten. Ich bekomme ihn hier in Deutschland nirgends. Mit freundlichen Grüßen Silke
www.micromark.com/ HO Truck Tuner 2
What size screws and drill bit did you use?
2 mm drill and Kadee #256 Screws Insulated Nylon 2-56 x 1/2in
@@dcctrain Awesome! Thanks for the info, I will pick up a few of those for my tool kit.
@@VintageRoadRail No problem.
@@dcctrain Couple more questions if you dont mind. Did you drill through the metal weight? And when the hole was drilled, did you use a tapper to thread the hole? Thanks again.
@@VintageRoadRail No problem. I did not drill metal weigh, I used Kadee metal screw to tap the hole.
as it is called the tool you use? min 6:08? make model?
where I can get?
You might have found out by now, but that's called a "truck tuner" sold exclusively by Micro-Mark. www.micromark.com will get you there, and enter "truck tuner" in the search bar. They have all kinds of tools made for maintaining and improving rolling stock, trackwork, and all sorts of other stuff. The best part is that they're reasonably priced. Cheers!
А Вы не могли бы делать русский перевод текстом?
У Вас много интересных видео, но я думаю что многие Русские зрители Вашего канала, владеют минимальными знаниями английского, в том числе и я.
Было бы очень приятно, хотя бы в тексте, видеть перевод.
R1Z Я начинаю новые серии о ROCO Z21 и локомотиве с камерой попробую на одном и этих новых видеос.
Where do you get a wheel tool tool to
@ Micro-Mark
DCCTRAIN do you know if they have it for N scale? thank you
What is the measure of the screws ?
It is 2-56 3/8
thanks..
You did not measure nor show wheel diameter which is whyyou decided to use 33 inch wheels
Usually those box cars use 33 inch wheels
Those life like cars don't really live up to their name