Sprung HO Freight Trucks vs Non-sprung


Greg@mnrr

Greg@mnrr

Section Hand
One quick question...do sprung HO freight trucks perform better than the non-sprung trucks? I have several pairs of sprung trucks on some rolling stock and pairs in the parts containers. I never could see a difference between the two types of trucks, other than cost.

The small springs on the truck look very prototypical, but how is their performance.

Just wondering what your experience is with HO sprung trucks.

Thanks

Greg
 
The higher quality ones work very well, though I have run some of them so much I've worn them out.
 
I have some that were on some older cars, both freight and passenger. The Central Valley passenger trucks worked pretty well, and some of the freight car trucks worked okay on cars I built way back in the 1950's. I found that fixed trucks worked just as well and were less expensive. The trick is to have one truck reasonably snug (but not overtight), and the other truck a bit looser so it has some ability to tip from side-to-side.
 
Greg@mnrr said:
Just wondering what your experience is with HO sprung trucks.
Click to expand...
My simple answer is right now the only place I run sprung trucks is on passenger equipment. All the freight sprung truck experience I have is with older Kadee and similar companies. I have not had any luck with them as they are all too loosey goosey. Can't say anything about anything modern as I have had too much good luck with the fake spring type that just let the wheel set move up and down on the needle point.
 
I keep mine well lubed with graphite. Also, keeping the freight car to at least the NMRA weight standard or heavier helps them to operate properly.
 
I only have a few, mostly recent Kadees, but I do have one Roundhouse boxcar from the 60s that still has its original sprung trucks. Overall they are not a problem to operate, but I certainly wouldn't convert my fleet either.

Boris
 
Well, all I can relate to is the ones that MTH put on the flat cars of theirs I have. Even pressing down firmly and rocking doesn't compress them. Pointless as far as I can see, but that's not the worst problem I have with them at the moment, see the Coffee Shop for more shortly.
 
I replace the sprung trucks with solid ones. I feel the tiny diameter of the wire in the springs is not realistic and like how the solid frame trucks look in comparison. Since I have not run sprung trucks, since my Tyco train set days, in the early 1960s, I really can't comment on whether they are better; or, worse than solid trucks. However seeing how well my solid trucks perform, I have doubts about sprung trucks being any better.
 
Just to update on this thread, if you're considering any of the MTH ones, a 2 to1 failure rate, of 29 cars purchased, only 10 are usable. Of the other 19, 12 have 1 truck affected and there are 7 with both trucks affected. What I'm talking about is all metal trucks with all metal wheelsets, insulated on 1 side only, but with the axles reversed, causing a short through the diagonal non insulated wheels. In all I have 26 trucks so misassembled.
 
I have zero MTH rolling stock on my layout, similar to having zero Athearn rolling stock, other than Blue Box stuff. No Scale trains, Atlas, Bachmann, etc. etc., if it's been prebuilt, I have no need for it.
 
A number of my cars have sprung trucks. Most are Kadee. Years ago I had a Walthers dealership so the price wasn't too bad. As trailrider mentioned, I keep one just barely capable of rotating freely and the other just a bit less tight so it can moce from side to side a bit. I also have Central Valley trucks on some passenger equipment. I have metal wheels on all of my equipment and to tell you the truth, I find no difference between them. The only advantage with the Kadee trucks is that I can remove the coil springs in the trucks and replace them with leaf springs which do look decent.

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