Drive Wheel Keeps Falling Off

Loctite 660 retaining compound- same fix recommended for Shay crankshafts that are press fit and become loose.

If you can get the joint clean , a  drop of crazy glue should work. it will seep in along the axel . I have had this happen to a hand made Baltic and an overland Lt. Mike

I have to go with Vernon on this one, the retaining compound has gap filling properties that increase the strength of the bond.

Vernon has the right answer, …..either 640, or 660 will do fine, ….make sure the parts are very clean, free of grease or oil, press back on, and allow to full set in 24 hours,…..you’ll be good to go…….use a q tip and 91% alcohol to clean out the wheel bore before using the retaining compound,…..do not use super glue!!….it’s not a question of if it will fail, but when it will fail, then it’s a mess to try & clean up,….

Pat

Do not recall where i read it but it mentions to use nippers to score the axle diagonally several times then press on wheel.

My guess perhaps it raises the metal somewhat when it is scored ?

I would not recommend doing the nippers trick to the OP on this particular thread fellas,….if he’s got a decent defined spline, leave it alone and loctite it back down,….if he gets to altering splines on the model in question above, it’s curtains without the proper quartering fixture, …..eyeball quartering is not the thing to do on scale brass locomotives, …..sneeze wrong, and it’s a Royal PITA with out a fixture,,…

Pat

Thanks fellas. I'll go with the Loctite products and hope I can remove the wheel if necessary later on.

The splines look good and I don't want to mess with them.

@HudsonORailRoader posted:

Thanks fellas. I'll go with the Loctite products and hope I can remove the wheel if necessary later on.

The splines look good and I don't want to mess with them.

You will need a wheel puller after the green loctite locks up,….but it will come off if service is necessary in the future,…

Pat

Make sure the driver is  in 1/4 and not binding before loctite

If you ever have to remove or relocate the driver after it is set with Loctite. Some heat will soften it.

A decent sized soldering iron on the end of the axle to heat it up should release it, at least that's what Loctite says.

Great advice, fellas. Thanks so much.

Since the problem has been resolved, I had to chip in with "fell off"

HA! THAT'S GREAT.

Vibra-Tite is an alternative brand to Loctite for retaining compounds. I used the Vibra-Tite 530 General Purpose retaining compound for a slipping worm wheel. An advantage over Loctite is that Vibra-Tite has an Amazon store and their small volume containers were significantly less expensive than legitimate sources for the same volume of Loctite were charging.