Has anybody noticed an increase in wobbly diesels?

Ron,

 

I had this issue with a new out of the box MTH PA set of diesels. I noticed it was wobbling down a straight away. It turned out that wheels were not installed straight on the axles. My LHS sent it back to MTH and they swapped out the entire truck assembly on the unit. I runs fine now.

unless the wobbly is real bad think of it as a real train going down the track.

Yes, my brand new, not-even-taken-home-yet MTH "Galloping Goose" is currently languishing in my dealer's shop while he awaits parts to fix a wobble. 

I try to look at it that way , but the last one was just too much. I would dare say it was rocking a 1/4" each way down a straight away at 15 scale mph.

How about wobbling lead trucks?

 

Our Premier GG1s lead trucks hunt-and-seek side to side pronouncedly.  Looks weird coming down the track.

 

 

Sure have.  I received 4 Lionel SD40-2 engines this summer - 2 powered, 2 non-powered.  All 4 wobble.  I sent the first two back to Charles Ro.  Got them back and they still wobble.  Didn't bother with the last two.

 

George

I received a new Lionel steamer a while back, that had a horrible wobble - I figured it was seriously damaged and planned to send it back.  But never got around to it.  I looked at it later are realized that it was a traction tire issue, but was not easy to see.  After working with the tire a bit, the wobble is almost completely gone, and I enjoy running the loco.   I see that you looked at the traction tires already.

Yes!

I have gotten three of the new flyer U33Cs and four of the new flyer SD70s. One U-boat and one of the SD 70s I sent back to lionel because, in my opinion, they were to intoxicated as they traveled down the track. Lionel sent them back saying they were just fine, and operated as intended.  My other desiels from the same production run glide along with no issues.  I have just learned to live with it.

Ben

Any wobbling diesels I've had were due to flat spotted tires while siiting in the box for whatever time before I purchased them.

 

Some run time, or some time spent on a shelf on the flanges eliminated the problem.

 

I've never had a steamer that wobbled probably because the weight compresses the tires as it rolls down the track.

 

If possible put the rails at eye level and run the train slowly, you can watch the wheel rise and fall as the traction tire thickness changes.

I absolutely HATE wobblers!  Time to get out of 3 rail O if this is where it's headed. Lionel invented wobbly locomotives back in the PW era with lax attention to how their wheels and axles interfaced.  Won't be dealing with this issue again!  Only one loco is allowed to wobble...and only to a certain degree:  The PRR I1s 2-10-0 Decapod, because the real ones were horrible wobblers!

You have to keep them off the sauce, guys. 

I did the eye level test and the rear truck (under the short hood) looks to be the culprit. I ran it without tires and still had the wobble.

 

Glad to hear. I am not alone on this. Sounds like everyone has their own tolerance level. 

 

Do scale wheels have tighter tolerances? Are they equipped with tires?

I have had this problem with two  GP 35s. I was thinking that perhaps the two motors are not working in concert as they should. It is annoying.not sure how to fix.  Fred

 

 

 

 

The only 2 engines that I ever noticed having wobble were a 1972 Lionel 2-6-4 purchased as an add on for my 6 year old's new layout and a MTH RK Hiawatha 4-6-4 purchased in 1999. I returned the Lionel engine. The Hiawatha only had a very slight wobble. I have since found a Hiawatha that runs true. It actually came from my above son who upgraded to a Proto-2 RK Hiawatha. 

In a single motor loco of recent manufacture, the issue will most likely be the tires.

They can be out of round internally, and just a few thousandths can throw you off.

They can also be too wide for the slot in the wheel tread, which makes for a similar condition.  I check new tires with a mike when getting ready to install new ones.  Any descrepencies will send the offending part into the trash.  I've also had to trim tires with a super sharp pair of miniature scissors to get the correct width.   You can check your wheels with a piece of white paper and a good light...by running the chooch upside down and watching the tire groove as the wheels slowly revolve.  Any serious amount of run-out should be apparent. In this regard, I'd say the importers/ and manufacturers are doing better than Lionel ever did in the old PW days.  With a twin motor loco such as a Lionel Train Master Diesel, you can get high speed shimmy which is not related to wheels and tires directly.  This is usually a problem for old Lionel wound field universal motors (pulmor today)  If one motor is slower at speed than the other, you'll get shimmy...sometimes only in one direction. Fixing this when both motors are in equally good shape is a major PITA !

I have a Lionel GP7, the low end model with the can motor mounted low in the truck. It wobbles going down the track and used to really bother me. That is until I watched some Pentrax videos and saw that the full scale ones did exactly the same

     I also have an RS3 which is the same locomotive, only a different shell and it is rock solid!

     All the steamers are fine until they get ready to throw a tire.

Except, the real diesels "wobble" because of the track conditions, not wobbly wheels.

 

Rusty

Scale wheels, IE. two rail O gauge, will have better tolerances all the way around. And NO, they normally are not cut for traction tires.   I have a Sunset 3rd PRR T1, which featured tires on the rear driver (3 rail O) and showed a small degree of wobble.  Eventually the tires fell off and I didn't replace 'em.  The chooch ran just fine without tires, and pulled everything I needed .  Later I tried some MTH 80" tires on her and BINGO, it worked perfectly. excellent fit, zero wobble, and now she can wrestle with tonnage that would stall a UP DDX40A ! ! !

After paying what these things cost the wobble issues on some make me want to SCREAM !!!! Dya think the quality controll is very lax or the manufactures really dont give a hoot as long as we line up to by them...any way my wobbly heritage unit doesnt wobble quite as bad if i take my glasses off !!!!CRJ

Screammmmmm!

 

Yeah and if you send something into MTH for Warranty repair, it may be gone for one third of the year.

I have a Cab-Forward, that when new the front truck wobbled so badly that at any speed above a walk, it would derail.  A Williams I think.  An axle and wheel set were replaced and the problem was resolved.  Sure looked funny running before it got fixed.

Same problem here with a new MTH GP30. Looks to me like its in the axle itself. It appears to be 2 pieces due to the 3-rail 2-rail capability, and they are not machined or lined up perfectly. Made me nuts watching this thing bounce and carry on. I replaced it with an older axle and the wobble is gone.