# Installation of ball bearing wheelsets on J&S coaches



## Jeff Williams (Jan 8, 2008)

I recently purchased ball bearing wheelsets from Accucraft for my 1:20.3 Jackson and Sharpe coaches.

It appears that I need a REALLY, REALLY tiny and precise Phillips head screwdriver to disassemble the trucks in order to change out the wheelsets.


Any suggestions as to where to get such a tool or else suggest an alternate method of disassembling and reassembling the trucks? 


Thanks


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## livesteam53 (Jan 4, 2008)

You can buy a small mini screw driver set at Harbor Freight and most hardware stores like Lowe's, Home Depot etc.


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## jebouck (Jan 2, 2008)

I purchased a set of Wiha JS (Japanese standard) phillips and a set of Wiha metric nutdrivers just to work on my Accucraft equipment.
On Accu freight trucks you also need a 2.2MM. Wiha didn't make one but Moody tools does.


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## Udo (Nov 5, 2010)

Hello Jeff!
First you should take good screw drivers, second ist you should be very carefull...
I have changed the wheels on 5 of this cars up to now (another 4 outstanding).
It seems that in the Accucraft workshop very different people do the assembly job..
75% of the cars are good assembled, that means correct screws in each hole...
the rest ist just mad... these guys seem to take whatever is lying around on the workbench.
I even had a srcrew which had lost the head already..
But anyhow, just be carefull and remember to put the same screw back in the same hole and don't tighten them too much.
You fingers have much more power than the thread or bolt can suffer !
By the way, when you install the new wheel sets, you should also eliminate the side play in the axles, so you can bring the brakes much closer to the wheels.
To do this, just turn the tiny brakets for the brake shoes, so you are very close. May be some snall bending work will be needed, but the result is super!

Whish you good success !

Udo


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## Pete Thornton (Jan 2, 2008)

Jeff, 

Your local CVS may sell an 'eyeglass repair kit' with a small phillips screwdriver. While I agree with (all of) Udo's comments, it doesn't have to be too small or too precise! 

Phil Dippel also sells a neat set of Sierra Valley wheels and ball bearing bushes for the coaches for $30 (Accucraft charges $32 for 2 axles/1 truck):
Phils Narrow Gauge Services and Parts Page. 

I've used his with great success, and I have retrofitted the brass axle boxes with ball bearings bought from the r/c car guys. Tricky - those Chinese don't always drill the hole for the brass bush in the center of the box!!


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## Udo (Nov 5, 2010)

Hi Pete ! Hi Jef !
The later runs have no brass bearing boxes... they are plastic now !
So the chinese don't need to drill










Udo


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## Pete Thornton (Jan 2, 2008)

The later runs have no brass bearing boxes... they are plastic now ! 
The coach trucks had a brass cast axlebox with a big brass bearing in a big hole. (Udo - you are saying the latest ones have a plastic bearing in the brass casting? Or the whole thing is plastic with no separate bearing?) 

I could never understand why they were lousy runners even after you removed the wipers. Anyone know? Was it just misaligned axles, etc?


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## Udo (Nov 5, 2010)

Hi Pete!
The new ones have a bearing house made from plastic, but the bush from brass is still there.
I have changed (will change, some still oustanding) them all to Accucraft BB wheelsets.
I run them on LGB tracks, min Radius R3.
They run well without problems.
The old one (I have one old one with brass bearing houses) was in the original condition a realy lousy runner, you could just call it a "brake"!
But with the BBs it is OK.
The new ones have changed (improved....) wipers. The even run better in the original condition. But the BBs are better.
Mine are so light running, that you can find out the slightest grade in the track!

Udo


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## Pete Thornton (Jan 2, 2008)

The new ones have changed (improved....) wipers. The even run better in the original condition 

Just a further comment on the running of these coaches. They are really, really heavy. There's a steel floor that the bolts for the trucks are screwed into, and a good option is to replace that steel floor with aluminum or styrene. I've done both - my True Value has strips of aluminum almost the right size, and it is easy to lay the steel floor on top and drill the holes.


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