Was looking at replacing the black couplers on some cars today with kaydee 5's. I have kaydee couplers 4-9, and one other coupler with a really high number on it. Would these all be compatible, or should I just get more 5s?
60103 said:By "compatible" you mean?
All Kadee HO couplers will couple together, including the ones with smaller heads.
What is different is the mounting. Kadee makes mountings to fit most of the possible mountings that you'll encounter.
Most plastic freight cars and a lot of coaches and some locos will take a #5. If the coupler box looks different than the Kadee box, you may need a different one.
Kadee makes a starter set that has a collection of different couplers plus some tools -- including the height gauge.
(Unless the coupler box can't be re-opened.)
I guess you'd call them kadee clones. They are the same style (knuckle), but are plastic rather than metal. Think the instructions in the kits say they are made by bachman. I'll just run the combo until I see some problems, then I'll switch over to strictly kadee's60103 said:viperman: are you talking about plastic couplers that look like Kadees? (or are Kadees?) These shouldn't be a problem in normal use. There might be a concern if you have a long train hung behind it. Some modellers have had problems with the Kadee clones. I would use them until you get a problems, then replace them. (Unless the coupler box can't be re-opened.)