I building a GP 35 and I'm having trouble with the motor and u-joints. There is absolutely now space between the u-joints which causes interference noise in turns. Can anyone help?
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I may well be totally wrong here, but have you got the U/J-flywheel shaft the right way around? It seems to me that with the U/J so close to the motor, there would be a very large amount of movement required when the truck swivels.
The distant between the motor shaft and the truck input shaft is the same.
I had the same issue several years ago and replaced the u joints with Stock Drive Products U joint
https://sdp-si.com/eStore/CoverPg/UJoints.htm
Larry
I have this CLW GP20 and this is a picture above of its drive as much as I could get a picture of it. It is near 100' in the train room now so didn't stay long. A/C/ out till find a new one. Now looking at the 2 units seems to be different gear boxes. Don't know how old mine is but picked it up used a decade ago.
Bill,
I have several of the CLW locos with this type of drive and share in your experiences. I have some larger 6 axle units with this tank style drive setup that tend to cause binding on the u-joints in curves. The u-joints are being put in severe angles almost beyond what they're designed to operate in.
P&D hobbies sell a u joint and telescoping drive shaft that expands by sliding when the loco truck goes into a curve without putting the binding on the u-joint which eliminates the kinking/binding noises. I've put a few of these on some 6 axle locos and it made a big difference. Below are a few pics of the P&D parts.
Depending on the distance you have between motor and truck, you might be able to use these.
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I see this is a nice way to get through binding but curious why they sell the parts separatly in pairs. I do see the part that slips into the inside of the channel has nipples that grab the slot on the side of the channel. My thoughts are these nipples will wear out over time and need replacement from pulling a lot of weight on them. But i do like the replacement for what can be an agravating problem from original parts.
Phil
They look good. how long are the assemblies?
Bill,
They measure 1-1/2" long without the other spider and helmut(pic below). With the other helmut they would measure right at 1-3/4" fully collapsed, which might be a little longer than the space you have.
Another option would be to try a Weaver style setup (pic below) like what they used on their GP38,RS3, with the single Pittman motor and one end tower with a driveshaft going from one truck to the other. You would have to find a way to elevate the motor to align it vertically with the upper tower.
A center tower setup (pic below)would create more space for longer driveshafts to each truck too. The CLW drives are very robust and they can be made into very smooth runners with electrical pickup wipers on the wheels and flywheels.
Telescoping driveshaft length collasped.
Weaver tower drive with Pittman motor setup
Center tower drive setup
shaftOriginally Posted by Billsrr:
They look good. how long are the assemblies?
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Does anyone know where I could get a tower that has the same gear ratio of the clw units already in the trucks?
Bill,
P&D hobbies sells the towers. The gear ratio in the truck of the tower drive from P&D uses the same gear ratio as the CLW units, so there won't be any problem if you mix P&D gearboxes with the CLW's you already have. Here is a parts diagram.
Weaver GP38 with new tower from P&D
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I ordered a tower and ujoints from P D Hobbies. I'll give a up date when installed. Thanks to everyone for the help.
