MTH climax traction tires

I don't think you are missing a thing. I was back in the MTH service department last year and one of the tech was installing traction tires on a Climax. I asked to watch since I have one that needs tires. He said "I am already an hour and 15 minutes into this."

Scott Smith

Chuck,

I did one an then for the other one I used Bullfrog Snot. Best decision I've ever made.

If you do decide to change the tire itself, make sure that you catch the (undocumented) ball bearings at each end of the axle before they fall on the floor and become lost.

When doing this job, heed Barry's advice. I fortunately was working on a tray padded with a towel, but didn't expect things to come falling out the first time. It isn't too bad of a job, once you resign yourself to taking the loco apart. No worse than changing traction tires on a diesel that you have to drop the truck out of the motor to get at the side frame screws.

The one engine I have that is getting rtv silicone when the traction tire goes. I remember reading posts many years ago about how difficult these are. I have used rtv successfully with great results. Most of the time I replace with traction tires, but I keep a tube for engines like these. I know Bullfrog snot works too, but rtv is 5-6 dollars for a lifetime supply. Let us know what you decide and how it works. 

Bob

My customer decided to leave the tires off. He only pulls 6 small log cars with it so no traction problems. Didn't want to disassemble the whole engine and trucks to replace the tires.