Frappington Jct Posted July 27, 2021 Share Posted July 27, 2021 Hi all, Hoping someone might be able to point me in the right direction. I'm planning on putting a motor in a Ratio GWR 4-wheeler in order to power a static model and am hoping someone can point me in the right direction for wheels. I'm planning on using a High Level Roadrunner gearbox and am happy building that, wiring a motor etc. but don't know what to look for in terms of wheels. They need to be 13mm diameter with pinpoint axles - I was considering looking at rtr spares, but then realised I obviously need to be able to get at least one wheel off to fit a gear wheel. Any help in where to look/what I ought to be looking for would be greatly appreciated. Many thanks Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Nile Posted July 27, 2021 RMweb Premium Share Posted July 27, 2021 Alan Gibson wheels would be the obvious answer, in fact don't Ratio kits come with these now anyway? 14mm I think. High Level gearboxes can be bought with bearings and gears to fit 2mm axles, so that should be ok. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Smith Posted July 27, 2021 Share Posted July 27, 2021 I just built one each of these. They are very light and do come with OO metal tyred wheels that you could pull off the pinpoint axle. Driving just one axle will give very little traction even if you add considerable weight (in addition to the motor and g/b). If you are going to rigidly mount the g/b in the coach then you will not need pinpoint bearings as the axle will be supported by the g/b bearings. Alternatively you could support the g/b on the axle in the pinpoint bearings. If you are intending to collect power through the wheels you might need all four. This is a fairly long wheelbase so even in OO you might need to compensate the other axle to keep all the wheels on the track, especially going through points, in particular if dead-frog. I used the Comet compensation fret but there are others available I think. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium melmerby Posted July 27, 2021 RMweb Premium Share Posted July 27, 2021 (edited) 4 hours ago, Nile said: Alan Gibson wheels would be the obvious answer, in fact don't Ratio kits come with these now anyway? 14mm I think. High Level gearboxes can be bought with bearings and gears to fit 2mm axles, so that should be ok. Alan Gibson Mansell pattern with blackened tyres, they are a fraction under 14mm. Edited July 27, 2021 by melmerby Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium uax6 Posted July 27, 2021 RMweb Premium Share Posted July 27, 2021 Wouldn't one of the designs for the pacers be a better idea? Even better if both axles were powered.... Andy G 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frappington Jct Posted July 27, 2021 Author Share Posted July 27, 2021 Thanks all, that's all really helpful! I've currently only got one of the 4 carriage kits I've bought in my possession - the others are in the newer packaging style so I presume have the metal wheels but the one I've got is quite an old example so comes with plastic wheels hence I didn't know they now come with metal wheels, that's very useful! @Jeff SmithI am a little concerned about traction, but it's only got to be able to haul itself, a very light plastic loco kit and one other carriage. If it can haul more than that that would be fab, but if not I can find another use for the other two kits I've bought. I'm tempted to permanently couple 2 coaches and run pickups across all 4 axles which should help - I'm also planning to explore compensation. @uax6I hadn't thought of using one of the pacer boxes - I'll look into it. Thanks again all! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Smith Posted July 27, 2021 Share Posted July 27, 2021 This might help if you haven't already seen it. http://www.gwr.org.uk/proratio.html Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Monkersson Posted July 27, 2021 Share Posted July 27, 2021 48 minutes ago, Frappington Jct said: I hadn't thought of using one of the pacer boxes - I'll look into it. Thanks again all! I've powered 4 sets of Pacers with HL gearboxes and the single axle drive moves itself and the trailer car with no problems, they are well weighted and go round approx 3rd radius curves with no problems Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium melmerby Posted July 27, 2021 RMweb Premium Share Posted July 27, 2021 34 minutes ago, Jeff Smith said: This might help if you haven't already seen it. http://www.gwr.org.uk/proratio.html Needs s bit of updating as Ratio have been supplying Gibson wheels & bearings for some years now. All the ones I have bought had them. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Smith Posted July 27, 2021 Share Posted July 27, 2021 True, but the rest of the kits are unchanged. Useful info on the prototypes. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frappington Jct Posted July 27, 2021 Author Share Posted July 27, 2021 55 minutes ago, Jeff Smith said: This might help if you haven't already seen it. http://www.gwr.org.uk/proratio.html Thanks, that's really interesting Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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