# Brass bushings in freight trucks.



## John J (Dec 29, 2007)

I saw in another post where a guy making a snowplow put brass bushings in the trucks he made 

Would putting brass bushing in a freight truck either USA or Aristo reduce the drag any to make a difference?

Would it be better than the plastic on metal they now have? 

JJ


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## Andre Anderson (Jan 3, 2008)

John,

What it will give you is a brass bearing that can be replaced, if you run a steel axle in a plastic frame the axle will wear down the plastic, with the brass bushing you will be able to replace the bushing when it wears out which will take much longer than the plastic. Also your axle will roll easier in brass than most plastics. A ball bearing would be even better. What the gentleman was doing with the brass bushing in the wood was creating a good bearing surface where none existed before. Your best bearings that are not a ball or roller style are ones where you have dissimilar metals such as brass or bronze and steal.

Andre


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## Trains West (Oct 4, 2008)

I agree that brass will hold up better but i dont think it is any slicker then plastic ..... both should have oil anyway 

but in thinking about it if you are going to the trouble to drill something out for a bushing i would think a ball bearing would cost as much and be better


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## krs (Feb 29, 2008)

Posted By Trains West on 01 Dec 2011 10:01 PM 
..... both should have oil anyway 


I have actually never used oil on any of my cars.

I was told not to use oil because it attracts dust - if one wants to lubricate then use a teflon based lubricant.


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## Trains West (Oct 4, 2008)

I have always oiled mine and some have run every year for 17 years without new wheels or trucks ...... and i have seen ones from our biopark that did not see oil that where toast plus i can hear them squeal and i hate that


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## W3NZL (Jan 2, 2008)

If U put a drop of oil on either the plastic or brass bushing about once a year, they should last indefinately in normal use...
I would caution against ball-bearings on something like a snow-plow, especially if it were going to be used to plow snow 
with... BBs have a bad habit of rusting up when put in wet environments, if U wanted to go to the expense of stainless 
BBs, that would work, but the expense would be hard to justify for such a limited use car...
Paul R...


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## Trains West (Oct 4, 2008)

you are right about the snowplow ..... but i think we where just talking about there use in normal environment


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## Phippsburg Eric (Jan 10, 2008)

When I build wooden trucks for my cars I always use brass bushings. Really just a short bit of brass tubing glued into a drilled hole.

I have never re-bushed my plastic trucks which do see quite a bit of use. I have never noticed any visible wear on the axle holes though I have worn the plating off the wheel treads. I give them a drop of oil from time to time...3in1 oil is fine I also have used bike chain lube with teflon which has the advantage of attracting less dirt.


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## Jerry Barnes (Jan 2, 2008)

I've put the brass bushings in some of the trucks I made/molded/cast. I figured that plastic may be a little softer than the commercial plastic trucks.


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## Greg Elmassian (Jan 3, 2008)

Lubrication is important: (although this was a factory defect that I did not catch even when using dry lube)


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## trainsbt (Jan 11, 2008)

Posted By Greg Elmassian on 02 Dec 2011 10:42 AM 
Lubrication is important: (although this was a factory defect that I did not catch even when using dry lube)





Wow, Greg those are some worn out truck frames!


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## Greg Elmassian (Jan 3, 2008)

Those were brand new trucks run about 10 minutes! 

Greg


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