Thoughts on Walthers "swinging coupler" on 60' boxcars

[mtrpls]

I have a few of the Walthers' 60' ACF autoparts boxcars, and noticed they have the swinging coupler mechanism mounted on the underbodies. As I plan to mount 36" wheels on these cars (as per specific prototypes I plan to model), the screw mount bolsters for the swinging coupler interfere with the larger wheel.

This led me to wonder how necessary it is to have this swinging coupler mechanism on this specific car. I mean, the car is only 60' long, and I've seen 60' cars from other manufacturers without any type of swinging coupler. Why did Walthers go this route? They obviously felt it was necessary to include it for tight radius curves, but really how necessary is it?

Has anyone static body mounted couplers on these cars (i.e. using a Kadee coupler box) and can attest to their operational reliability? Will the Walthers 60' autoparts cars be able to negotiate curves with a body-mounted coupler? I also plan to include a cushion coupler pocket as well, but with the long coupler stem and the somewhat significant setback of the trucks away from the ends of the car, I'm concerned about their ability to negotiate sharp curves.

Has anyone done anything like this and run into any problems? Is there a minimum radius with this scenario that I should be aware of?

Thanks in advance for any help.

 

[jbaakko]

I have the same issue. My current train of thought (no pun intended) is to replace the swinging bolster with the aftermarket version Walthers makes, which should provide more room for the trucks.

However, Details West makes some nice cushion pockets that might accept a slightly wider radius.

Let us know what you decide on, I've love to have some more knowledge before I begin my replacement...

 

[Larry]

I have 2 bulkhead flatcars w/the swinging coupler mounts. I had so many problems w/the wheels hitting the pockets that I shaved off quite a bit of the back/sides of those pockets to clear the backset wheels. Hope this doesn't confuse you. It's hard to explain.
I took them off & put body mounts on the cars, but, that didn't work either. So, I went back to the swing pockets & shaved some more off the back of the pocket & that fixed the problem. When I bought them at a train show they had the large wheels & I changed them to the 33" regular tread sets. The guy said they wouldn't turn on anything less than a 30" curve. Now, they turn on a 24" curve. No one turns them over to see the chop job I did. LOL