I see many narrow gauge kits advertise they have plastic trucks, which must be assembled. Are these any good? Is there a specific plastic truck that is better than others?
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Not sure which plastic trucks you are asking about........
I use Tichy arch bat HO plastic trucks and add good metal wheel sets. Tichy trucks have delrin bearings and work well. I have also used trucks made for On3/On30 that are all delrin. Both work well.
Engineering plastic such as Delrin works great for trucks. The Athearn O Scale trucks and the Original Weaver trucks are/were done this way. They also had Delrin wheels. They have steel needle point axles. The steel axle in the Delrin bearings rolls very freely.
I avoid using plastic axles, such as the original Intermountain kits. The Intermountain trucks are OK too if you replace the wheelsets with ones with metal axles.
I have many pairs of all of these, and have no problems with them.
I was curious about this, also. Just to do something different at the workbench, I built a 2-car On3 flat car kit by LaBelle that had been given to me from an estate remnants.
I needed trucks. So, I was directed to San Juan Car Co.'s arch bar truck kits. Well, they went together fairly easily (inserting the springs was a bit of a challenge!) and look excellent.
But, I've always been a metal-wheel-man when it comes to trucks....in any scale. These have Delrin wheels/axles, which look nice and roll well......for now. Has anyone had long-term experience with these trucks as-built with the plastic wheels/axles???
Alternatively, do you have a recommendation for metal wheel/axle replacements having the appropriate axle length?
BTW, since I'm not into On3, I will probably find a new owner for the cars. But in disposing of excess rolling stock in most any scale, I've always found that prospective buyers prefer metal wheels/axles....and couplers. Ergo, I was trying to be pro-active in this regard.....more as a learning experience, rather than hoping to recover cost(s).
Thanks for your suggestions....
KD