Lowering MTH Flatcars

Good tip Jim. I was thinking of using Lionel PS4 trucks but the Weaver trucks look like they will lower the car even more. Not sure what MTH was thinking when they made these cars. Their Pup trailers are nice but the flatcars, not so much.

Pete

Just try to find Weaver trucks

I was fortunate to find 7 pairs of metal Bettendorfs at York. I think Beth has them too.

Pete

Dave,

I really like the ride height of Lionel's flats and gons.  I was able to lower my MTH flats and gons but I had to modify the frame.  I cut off the protrusion that the truck attaches to and made it even with the frame.  The cars sit nice and low on the trucks now.

Here is a link to another thread with photos.

https://ogrforum.com/t...82#45214903622292682

Dave

 Disassembled the car. Seemed to track well with nothing rubbing or hanging up on slightly tighter than minimum 072 curves. 

 Parts list.

 Atlas universal truck  mount. Not really sure what this actually fits. It at one time came with their replacement trucks.

A washer that fits snuggly over it.

 A washer. It is dished shaped with a rubber washer adhered to the flat side. Intermountain used these to mount Weaver trucks with 3 rail couplers in order to gain clearance on their tank cars. Not sure what they are called. I did see them at a local hardware store once in with the nut and bolt bins.

 2 56 x 1/2 threaded screw and 2 washers.

 Enlarged the rubber slightly so that it fit over the Atlas bushing. I drilled through the Atlas bushing and threaded the 2 56 screw into it. It's pretty much a slip fit except for the headed portion you drill with a #50 bit. The truck mount screw will grab enough to mount the truck securely. You can opt for a longer screw and nut setup as there seems to be enough room.

 The Atlas bushing fits loosely in the MTH frame. The washer seems to keep it centered as you tighten up the truck mount screw. The dished metal washer should somewhat force it's way on to the Atlas bushing. A little bit of Walthers goo before assembly and it should keep everything permantly centered. Just tightening up the truck then backing it off a bit seems to keep it dead centered though. The 2 small washers were used just to raise the car slightly and get the coupler the right height.

  As mentioned I used Kadee's offset couplers.   Dave, I read your post. I see how you were able to use the stock Kadee's. I went for the more less evasive approach. In case this didn't work out. 

 I'm pleased with how the car looks. Huge improvement. Is it feasible to do. Probably not if your doing a few. Don't know where you could obtain the Atlas mounts. Lionel will probably do a version of Weaver's trucks. You need to purchase trucks and really not sure if there's a market in reselling the MTH trucks to offset the cost. I may look for a junker and try Dave's method. Still dread hacking away at the MTH trucks. The Weavers just made it so much easier.

 Project is pretty much complete. Just have to put a light weathering job on the Gansett trailers. I did change a couple of things up. After reading Dave's post on lowering the gons. I decided to remove the factory MTH mounts for the coupler and mount a standard 805 flush to the chassis. An X Acto knife with a small saw blade made quick work of the coupler mounting bosses. There is still enough remaining to secure the coupler temporarily to aid in drilling new holes. One Micromark shim was added. I put the screws in from the top and secured the couplers with nuts. 2 56 X 3/8 did the trick. You will need to remove some material on the flatcar bodies end to accept the coupler. I lucked out and had the perfect file for the job. Do this with the body and chassis assembled. Cut the body down to accept the coupler box. Just enough so that it is flush with the chassis. I removed the trucks so many times. I needed a new screw setup to secure the Weaver trucks to the Atlas mounts. I cut down some Atlas track screws and they did the trick. I also removed one of the 2 small washers to lower the car a tad to get the right coupler height.

 I ran the car through my sharpest curve. A Ross 054, 072 turnout with no issues.

 This wasn't a bad project. The oversize brake wheel and steps may get removed down the road. This now makes me want to do the same to my 2 flats with the Sherman Tanks. I worked with what I had in my junk box. If you were handy with a 3 D printer. Making a mount to adapt Weavers trucks would make it a snap. Question is. Do you want to spend a 1/3 of the cost of a car to improve the looks. I'm going back to the junk box and see what I can come up with. I have 2 more cars to do now. 

Dave,
All of your photos have that glam shot haze to them. Any reason why?

 Jim, not sure what you mean. I just point an I Pad , shoot and hope for the best.

Dave_C posted:

 Jim, not sure what you mean. I just point an I Pad , shoot and hope for the best.

This is what I mean:
Compare this easy to see, crystal clear photo from the linked thread above...

...to your hard on the eyes, hazy photo. Have you checked your lens to see if it needs cleaning?

While the "Glamorous" shot may look good by introducing a bit of "mood" to the layout photos...

...it is not so good when trying to point out particular details.

Jim, I'll check out the lense. I'm working on version 2 at the moment. Using a 3 rail Atlas coupler mount as a post for the Weaver truck. If you are a 3RS modeler you should have some lying around. I did find the washers on the Microfasteners site. They are bonded rubber washers. I guess they are used in model planes where vibration can be a problem. 

 I usually blame my bad shots on poor lighting. I'll give the lense a cleaning as I'll need some close ups of method 2.

For the two Dave's, do either of you have Lionel PS4's and if so are you able to bring the MTH cars down level with them?

Pete

Pete,

I used the Lionel car as the height gauge.  My MTH and Lionel are the same height now.

Dave

Here is a video of MTH, Lionel and Atlas.

Here is a direct link https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nS6mLxcmQsQ

Dave

 Pete, they are about as low as they can go with the method I used. I believe the construction of the Lionel with the real wooden deck and the skeleton type frame allows more room for the wheels. The Lionel flat is stock except for the Kadee.

 Compared to the stock height of the MTH. Still a big improvement. You are basically removing the stock mounting bosses as well as eliminating the shim they provide to get the correct height.

Having used my 2 Atlas mounts. I came up with another method. Find a Atlas coupler you have removed. Cut off the end. Believe it or not. From different runs. Where you will mount the Weaver truck. Some have more meat than others.

 Use the larger of the 2 Atlas screws. You will need to remove a little bit of material off the larger end for clearance. Insert it into the hole in the MTH chassis. Use the bonded washer mentioned above. Insert the dished end into the top of the chassis with the rubber facing up. Use the stock Atlas screw and tighten everything firmly together. The top should look like this. If the screw protrudes up to far. File a little more off.

The underside should look like this.

 I slipped a washer over the mounting boss and if you find the right Atlas coupler there is still enough meat to grab the Weaver truck. The other style seems to work if you can't find the taller ones.  A  2mm x 8mm screw with a little bit of Loc Tite will secure the truck. The rest of the project is pretty much like the first car I did.

Not sure I need a shim on this one. Car seems to track well. One more car to do. The only drawback is the expense of replacing the trucks. I still have a few diecast ones. Probably could switch out to the Delrin ones as I should have a surplus of them somewhere.

Thanks guys. I was about to sell the MTH cars and buy Lionel but it now looks like I won't have to.

Pete

Dave C,
That's a world of difference in your photos. Thank you.