Fixing Wobbly Wheels.

[Melly]

Afternoon all.   After the best part of a decade in this hobby, i have found that new purchase diesels are hit and miss regarding wobbly wheelsets; across all brands.  Now this is something I am quite a pedant about, 126 tons doesn't wobble.  I've used back to back gauges with hand pressure, back to back gauges within a vice (to guarantee 90 deg from axle alignment), removal and reinsertion of the plastic bushes and mix and matching axles with different wheels.  Within all of this I am able to correct 1/2 / 3/4 of poorly seated wheels but it does leave me with some that, to me, and incurable.  Before I consider purchasing additional ones, I thought I ask you geniuses out there for your tricks and fixes that you have conjured up over the years; you may just save me the cost of 2 full Class 66 wheelsets.  Thanks guys

 

M

[Phil Parker]

When you say "wobbly", do you mean lose on the axle? Wrong back to back? Not seated squarely?

 

It might help if you gave some examples too so we can say if it's a known problem. 

[Mick Bonwick]

I've been 'at it' for much longer than 10 years and don't recall ever having to deal with a wobbly wheel on a diesel with the one exception of a Triang Dock Shunter that I think had been used as a roller skate by a previous owner. Having said that, though, I've not bought a Hatton's Class 66.

 

Either I've been very lucky or you've been very unlucky.

[Halvarras]

I agree that wobbly running is a reminder that your highly detailed model is still just a model, and is a bugbear of mine too. I've had no problems with Heljan locos but some earlier Bachmann models were not great, and some of my Dapol models are imperfect too.

Going back to Hornby 'ringfield' days (Margate manufactured) which were far more wobble-prone than Lima - I blame the larger plastic geared wheel insert - I managed to mitigate side-to-side wobbling to some extent by de-meshing one axle on the motor bogie, turning it 180 degrees and re-engaging - this made the bogie 'nod' longitudinally instead of laterally which was much less noticeable. But I've never tested this on current models.

[Il Grifone]

If new purchases, I'd send them back. There is no excuse for out of true wheels.

 

It's probably a problem with plastic wheel bushes. Once fitted skew, it is next to impossible to correct them.