Problems with Lionel's rotating bearing caps

I give mine a drop of oil once in a while. never had them pop off or bind. you might have a bent axle.

I'll try the oil first before I do anything else.

Hopefully, it's not the axle. I would hate to think that Lionel sent me a new product with a defect like that. (Not that a bent axle is that big of a deal.)

Thanks for the advice John.

Due to the design to give the visual of a rotating bearing cap. These "modern era" trucks roll poorly. Light oil like labelle will help quite a bit but these never roll anywhere near as Lionels needlepoint "older era" style trucks.  The needle point axles  need no oil, roll with almost no effort, and coast forever.

Rivet counters would complain but Lionel would do better offering  a truck with bearing caps that didn't rotate and a modern truck "look", and needlepoint axles mounted behind. its hard to see the bearing caps rotating anyway, unless your nose is right up to the track.

Yeah I have never had a problem with the older ones either RickO.

The newer ones seem to add a wobble to the car compared with the older ones.

Oh the joys of model railroading. lol

Plus, finding these doggone caps when they come off is a real booger.  I've got two Lionel cabooses with these rotating truck caps and they are the only two I'll ever own.

One thing I did notice with both of mine when they were brand new was the trucks weren't in gauge.  On both cabooses the truck side frames were slightly spread and had to be gently squeezed back in.

Curt

I lost a few of these bearing caps.  Went to the replacement parts list of Lionel and they want 80 cents a piece for them. Here's there web site.

http://www.lionel.com/CustomerService/ReplacementParts/index.cfm?doAction=productPartFilter&number=6-27634&productID=1fcf4a0f-509c-485f-afee-1ef6e7b4570b&CFID=8160544&CFTOKEN=147e1d05cdb07354-14942990-1016-347D-DC5E07234EEB5A6A&jsessionid=8430fa96860cdb7969c75f4d63337a612248

Laz, with that link you're going to be in real trouble with the Forum owner.

Gheezzzz...and I thought I was disappointed when I found that the rotating bearing caps on my new just delivered auto carriers didn't rotate.  As a matter of fact, I don't think they came with rotating caps as advertised in the catalog and as stated on the box ends.  Now I think I should perhaps be happy that they don't...???

Alan

Yeah the part costs $.80 and then Lionel will charge you $9 to ship it.

The only reason why I know this is because I bought an engineer figure to replace one on an engine that I had bought. The figure was $3 and the shipping was $9 with no other ways to ship it.

The whole is less valuable than the SUM of its parts!

If you try to make a part without having the whole to support its cost you could never make it. That is a simple fact of manufacturing. Yes $0.80 seems high for a sliver of plastic but that piece is just a part of the whole design and production cost.

Be happy that they make the part so you don't have to. Or go make it yourself while not infringing on their copyright or patent(?).

The smart thing to do is to order more than just one part if they are low-cost items. I always order a good selection of spares at any one time. (Traction tyres are always useful. As are bulbs, screws, fan motors, etc.) That way the shipping cost is less noticeable. 

When I get new cars with those bearing caps, I always make sure they are pressed on tight by squeezing both sides of the axles in my hands. 9 times out of 10, you feel them pop on like they were barely on to begin with. Then I drop some oil between the caps and the side frame to ensure they roll freely. I've never lost any or had issues with the rolling, although they they definitely do NOT roll as freely as the friction bearing style trucks.