Pick Up Roller Tilting & Contacting Wheel Base

As they say....picture... Will help.

riki posted:

As they say....picture... Will help.

Attached! The pics were a bit difficult as I couldn’t demonstrate the issue, but you can see where the roller made contact on the truck. 

A piece of tape to insulate the roller from the truck should allow you to see if it happens again. I have a few cars where the pick-up is twisted slightly and it actually will derail the truck if you attempt to place the car on the track without holding the truck assembly. IIRC these pick-ups are riveted on so the best you can do is attempt to tweak and correct it with a needle nose pliers 

You can also replace the roller, sometimes they get to where they don't retract straight, the result is they hit the truck.

I’ll give the tape a try! Not a bad idea. 

Any places other than MTH swell the roller?

Well, I get my MTH parts from MTH, I'm sure some dealers might have stock in them.

I'd probably use some Liquid Tape on the sides of the roller to fix this, the tape is likely to be pretty temporary.

If you have a Dremel you might remove some material from the truck in the area where the roller assembly is contacting the truck frame.   If that rivet is loose it's going to be a tough fix but you might try this and the liquid tape.

A quick and simple remedy I’ve done to these cars, as I’ve run into this same problem on a few MTH cars....cut a small square from a piece of heat shrink (the large pieces yield a bunch of “insulators”. Wipe the inside of the pocket on the truck with a cotton swab and alcohol. Put a dab of 5 minute epoxy on the insulator and slide into place...press down on the insulator with the flat side of a screwdriver, or a a xacto knife...in 5 minutes you’re back in revenue service.....hope that helps..........Pat

The best solution is has Phil said. Take a dremel, or even a needle file and cut a small groove in the metal plate to clear the rivet head.

Or.

You can cut some plastic. Phenolic.  Glue on that inside flange.  On both sides to keep roller centered.  It would wear longer.

Is it bent to one side?

harmonyards posted:

A quick and simple remedy I’ve done to these cars, as I’ve run into this same problem on a few MTH cars....cut a small square from a piece of heat shrink (the large pieces yield a bunch of “insulators”. Wipe the inside of the pocket on the truck with a cotton swab and alcohol. Put a dab of 5 minute epoxy on the insulator and slide into place...press down on the insulator with the flat side of a screwdriver, or a a xacto knife...in 5 minutes you’re back in revenue service.....hope that helps..........Pat

Thanks, I'll try this!

David Minarik posted:

Is it bent to one side?

No, when the truck rotates to one side, the roller tilts and makes contact with the truck. I disassembled the coach car and tried to see if I could finagle the roller spring, but no luck. It only happens when the coach turns one way and goes over switches. I think the above method will help tremendously!

Update:

applied the strips with epoxy. Will follow up once it dries. 

Thanks again!