Mth 2 rail roller bearing trucks

It is my understanding that you don't need the included Kadee shims when you use the MTH scale-wheeled trucks. That indicates that it lowers the car a bit (to the correct "coupler" height), but some of them ride so high with the three-rail trucks that even that drop wouldn't be enough. I have a pair of Autoracks I'm planning to switch over and as I recall, the end sills aren't notched where the coupler draft box would normally be, so I think I'll still have to lower them.

Hope this helps some.

I have a pair of MTH 2 rail roller bearing trucks for sale, these come with a spacer which allows a bottom mount if desired, [contact me if interested E mail in profile]

A spacer which allows a bottom mount?  I can't picture that.

Well, I decided to answer my own question by ordering 3 sets of them from Jason's train shop.  I'll attach them and report back to this thread what happened

The MTH instructions state: unscrew the 2 screws on the bottom of the truck ,insert the spacer, use the truck mtg screw from your original product to attach the new truck. The trucks come ready for top mtg.

AGHR Matt, I have replaced all my MTH rolling stock trucks with either MTH 2-rail trucks or Atlas 3-rail Bettendorf, 70T, 100T or Caboose trucks.  The 2-rail MTH modern trucks work particularly well on their auto racks and lower the floor and installed Kadees (I convert all my rolling stock to Kadees) to the proper coupler height.

Along with the addition of the 100T Atlas trucks to all my BN/BNSF/CSX Coal Porters, this conversion does more than any of the others to make the cars look "right."  They even sway like those auto racks I see on CSX at Gaithersburg when visiting Engine House Hobbies.

I used MTH two-rail trucks to convert this car to two rail. I cut up the frame and relocated the bolsters to the correct position, but I don't think that affected the ride height. The two-rail trucks did bring it down to a more prototypical look. Be aware that they come with 33 inch wheels. I put some on some MTH tank cars to lower them, but plan to do a wheel swap at some point.

RM

So I finally got some 2rail roller bearing freight trucks from MTH.  They indeed are lower, as Rich and others suggested.  This picture, with the 2-rail on the right, makes it obvious that there is a difference.

Thanks to all that gave input on this thread.  Case closed!

Martin,

I may be wrong, but I think the reason for the extra height on the 3-rail truck is so the huge flange doesn't hit the underframe.  With more-to-scale wheel flanges the extra height doesn't seem necessary, am I correct in this statement???

Are the sideframes the same?

I would certainly hope so, since the wheel sets are completely different!

Actually, the height difference looks like it's in the bolster. The hi-rail truck has a raised bolster (probably to allow the flanges to clear the car undercarriage) while the scale-wheel truck doesn't have that riser. I had some initial reservations about using these trucks, but after seeing them I think that will be an easier solution for several MTH cars I want to switch over.

Anyone know what size wheels they're using in the passenger car trucks?