HO truck screws

Ok guys...I need a bit of help.....is there a standard size screw to use for attaching trucks to HO freight cars? Any advice is greatfully accepted. Cheers Gene

Reply to
Gene
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I have used #2 roundhead wood screws for wood floors and 2-56 machine screws on metal bottoms. Roger Aultman

Gene wrote:

Reply to
Roger Aultman

Short answer is No as you'll find many different size and shapes to truck screws but as another poster has already responded, 2-56 machine screws or #2 wood screws are probably the most commonly found depending on the car body material.

Cheers, Bill S.

Reply to
Bill Sohl

Sometimes you can find #2 round head wood screws at a big hardware store, or even Home Depot. I have used machine screws as large as 6-32 on some cars. Cars that secure their trucks with the "pop in-pop out" plastic snap pins often benefit from a 6-32 machine screw. The screw allows better control of "tightness" of the truck. The plastic pins are often a loose fit allows too much floppiness in the truck. The machine screws will cut their own threads into plastic and Zamac, it should not be necessary to tap the holes.

David Starr

Reply to
David J. Starr

Guys...thanks for the answers...they are most helpful...small followup question.....what length of screws? for HO cars such as Accurail,Walthers and Athearn freight. Sorry for the trouble. Cheers Gene

Reply to
Gene

The length varies considerably with the type of car. You'll need no more than 1/4" or perhaps 3/8" for flat cars and gondolas so you do not penetrate the visible car floor. (I don't like 1/4" wood screws, as the threaded portion is too short to get a good bite, but 1/4" machine screws do ok.)

3/8" or 1/2" screws work well for most house cars. Some car, like the Athearn Hopper cars, require fairly long screws (3/4" or 7/8") to reach up through the bolster/slope sheet brace up into the bottom of the slope sheet. While it is not a inexpensive as buying a box of screws, I have more than once bought the Radio Shack assortment of 2-56 screws (some of each 1/4", 1/2" and 3/4") on a weekend to get a project completed, and find these sizes all useful. Geezer
Reply to
Geezer

If you have a screw supply place near town, that's a good place to go for screws. I've got a Fastenall near by, and one day just went down and got a bunch of different lengths of 2-56, both phillips and slotted (I hate to mix them on a car, since it requires two screwdrivers :) I think they ended up being a couple bucks for a hundred (much cheaper than the

2+ for a dozen you get from Walthers). If I remember correctly, I got 1/8, 3/16 and 1/4, which are good in almost all situations. (the 1/8 are good for coupler pockets where you don't want the screw to come out the top). I had a bunch of Accurail covered hoppers, and used the 1/4" for the truck screw to replace the pin they give you. Was a perfect fit, and I don't know why Accurail doesn't just include a couple 1/4 screws, it'd only cost them a couple cents more per kit...
Reply to
me

If you are using magnetic couplers like Kadee, try to use only brass, non-magnetic stainless steel, or plastic screws. Regular steel screws will be attracted to the coupler magnets, bunch the slack between the cars, and produce erratic coupler action.

This, of course, is only really important if you also 'demagnetize' your axles and underframe parts.

Dan Mitchell ============

Reply to
Daniel A. Mitchell

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