# axial play: how much?



## Skeeterweazel (Feb 11, 2014)

Building a little tender car, will have 2 axles. Wondering how much play the axles should have in the pedestals.

Thx.
Marty


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## Sampug394 (Dec 30, 2010)

If its small enough, none. A majority of 2 axle rolling stock all over the world had journals and suspension rigidly mounted to the frame/body of the car. Generally if the car was small enough, you wouldn't need any rotational play at all, since they can navigate through almost any radii of curvature with very little trouble.










Hartland's minis are a perfect example of this. These guys have the axles rigidly mounted, but they cruise through the smallest of G scale curves with no trouble at all.


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## BigRedOne (Dec 13, 2012)

By "axiel play," I take it you mean side to side shift of the axel along its centerline? I'd build my model with a small amount (maybe one millimeter at most), so it won't bind if different parts expand differently as temperature changes.

But you have other considerations.

If you are making plain bearings, you will need play in the axel-to-bearing fit, play in the bearing-to-frame fit, or a precisely aligned and assembled frame, to avoid binding.


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