athearn wheel replacement

I use Proto2000 33" ribbed back for all my rolling stock. Never had a problem with the fit. My rolling stock is mostly Athearn and Accurail, plus some Proto2000 (which strangely enough come equipped with Proto2000 wheelsets... ;)).

There are lots of other options (and opinions!) :D

Andrew
 
Are you having a problem with the Athearn wheelsets? While there were many brands that had over-size flanges or out-of-round wheels, most Athearn wheelsets should give good service, although don't rely on them, or any others, for that matter, to necessarily be in-gauge when you get them. As far as a connection between plastic wheels and dirty track, in my opinion, there is none. Most of my rolling stock has plastic wheels, and I never clean track, except if I've recently installed scenery in the area. The cars that I do have with Proto2000 wheels also work fine, although they're a lot more recent than most of the others.:rolleyes:

Wayne
 
The Athearn metal wheels are a good choice as they are extremely free rolling.
I fully agree with Wayne..There is NO real connection between plastic wheels and dirty track...You see track still needs to be clean from time to time regardless if you use plastic or metal wheels.
I agree with Wayne when it comes to clean track..That shouldn't be a every day job.
 
The biggest problem I've seen with the plastic wheel sets in Athearn blue box kits is not the plastic wheels, but the rusted steel axles. They generally aren't rusted when they come out of the box, except in the case of models that have ben sitting in boxes on a shelf waiting for me to have the time to build them. With in a year of building or acquiring an Athearn model the axles are rusted, and rust on the ends doesn't help them roll. I've used Proto 2000, Kaddee, Northwest Shortline, Intermountain, and Athearn Genesis over the years largely depending on what wheel sets my local hobby shop had in stock or when there was a choice, which were least expensive. I haven't seen any difference operationally between any brand and another.
 
doctorwayne said:
Most of my rolling stock has plastic wheels....

Wayne
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Gasp, Thou art mortal after all....:D :D :D

Like Wayne, most of mine are plastic, my biggest rule being that they must have metal axles like Athearn and MDC/Roundhouse.
 
I've replaced all my plastic wheels sets with either Proto 2000 33" or Kadee 33" all roll and sound great. I've got Athearn, Accurail cars 70+. One thing to note though, I've had a little problem with my last 5 Ahtearn cars inthat the replacement wheels were a little tight and not free wheeling in the trucks, couple a minutes of widdling and all is fine.
 
Russ Bellinis said:
The biggest problem I've seen with the plastic wheel sets in Athearn blue box kits is not the plastic wheels, but the rusted steel axles. They generally aren't rusted when they come out of the box, except in the case of models that have ben sitting in boxes on a shelf waiting for me to have the time to build them. With in a year of building or acquiring an Athearn model the axles are rusted, and rust on the ends doesn't help them roll. I've used Proto 2000, Kaddee, Northwest Shortline, Intermountain, and Athearn Genesis over the years largely depending on what wheel sets my local hobby shop had in stock or when there was a choice, which were least expensive. I haven't seen any difference operationally between any brand and another.
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Russ,I found the BEST way to over come the rust problem is to paint the axles grimy black not only does this kill the rust problem it kills the unrealistic axle shine..While I paint my trucks I paint the axles.
As far as my wheels I am running about 55/45 and decided not to buy any more replacement wheels except for my Accurail cars and in that case I will order Athearn trucks whenever I order the Accurail cars. .:D
 
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