How to fixMP15 defective truck ?

Biased turkey

Active Member
I purchased an Atlas MP15 DC a few months ago.
I was never completely satisfied with it, it's running but derails randomly on turnouts.
I pinpointed the problem as being a truck problem. On one truck, the axles are not horizontal. I took the truck completely apart but couldn't find anything wrong with the individual components: the truck sideframe, wheel sets, gear case and wheel wipers seem OK when checked individually.
But that's another story when I put everything together , see the picture.
Any suggestion to fix that frustrating problem will be highly appreciated.
Tia.
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Bones

Member
It looks like one side of the truck frame is not properly snapping onto the gear case.

I've had the same problem with trucks. It's hard to spot, but the little clips will hang up just short of where they should secure.

Also make sure the axles are sitting the right way in the truck frame.
 

Biased turkey

Active Member
Thanks for that precious information Bones.
I finally have my Atlas MP15DC running a lot better.
First I tried to snap the gear case into the truck sideframe but without the wheel sets inserted into the gear case. Everything fits perfectly.
Now when I repeat the process with the wheel sets inserted into the gear case I still can hear the "click" of the gear case snapping into the truck sideframe, but upon close inspection ( with 2.2 x magnifying glasses ) I can see that 2 tabs didn't engage completely in the sideframe. I had to force the 2 tabs in the proper position using a small tweezer.
All the frustration is gone and I can now enjoy my MP15DC switcher.
On a scale from 0 to 10 the MP15 jumped from 4 to 8. Not bad.
My other switcher ( Life Like Proto N TH&B SW9/1200 scores a 9.
I might even purchase 2 spare gear cases and 2 sideframes, or 2 complete trucks assemblies.
Thanks again for the helping hand.
 
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