Has enyone replaced a wheel set on an American Flyer wide gauge electric?

Hi

There not bad comming off. we most of the time use a center punch with the motor sitting on my lap and giving the punch a few smacks nocking the axal loose.

That is the way we have been doing at our shop for years. that how my grandfather tought us.

 We sell the wheels. Henningstrains.com

I agree with Harry, I use a pin punch to drive the axle from the wheel. (My "O" gauge wheel puller is too small.) I see some folks on Ebay sell faucet handle pullers as standard gauge wheel pullers. I guess that would work. (I have one to pull faucet handles, haven't tried to pull a wheel with it)

I use a press with the proper wheel cups to mount the new ones.

The faucet handle puller from Home Depot works great on flyer.  The arms are nice and thin and fit well behind the wheels.  They also pull from behind, not the flanges.  So if your wheel is crumbling, it gets a better grip on it.

Thanks for all the input guy's. Right now only one of the wheels has a small chip which is no big deal. I'm either going to pull them now or later. Other than the chip the wheels don't look to bad.

I find the some times the wheels look OK, but they are swollen or warped just enough to prevent the engine from running.

 

Best of luck with you engine.

Hi guy's. I went with the pin punch method and it worked great! Harry; do you have the number for the wheels I need for the "Shasta" electric? I'll need to order a set from you. Thanks. Chris.

Chris, a couple of thoughts for when you get your new wheels.

 

Be sure that your source provides you with wheels that are reamed to the correct axle diameter for your axles. Some wheels were made with grossly undersized axle holes that will require reaming. I have found MEW to be my wheels of choice - the axle holes will be properly sized.

 

And secondly, be sure to clean up the "flashing" from the gear bearing surfaces. The gear should fit flat against the back of the wheel. Otherwise they will wobble and cause engagement issues and they may loosen over time. I scrape these areas with an Xacto knife.

 

A good job of swaging and you will have a great runner!

 

Those are both great thoughts. I'll ask Harry about that before I order them. Thanks for those tips.

Also, compare the hubs between the original and reproduction wheels. I have not purchased any standard gauge wheels recently. The hubs used to be too shallow on some of the reproduction wheels, requiring the use of spacers on the axles.

Hi Chris

 You can call us at the shop tomarow after 10:00am. (215)362-2442.

Thay use the same axal.and same spacing as the orginals.

 We are the distributers for the old model engering wheels.

Hope to here from you.

Thanks Harry. I'll give you a call in the morning.