Changing Piko coach wheels....?

[Zerogee]

I've just received the final coach I need to complete the rake for my Piko BR64, a 37602 baggage combine to match the three regular coaches I picked up a couple of weeks ago. The batch of three came already re-fitted with Piko metal wheels, but the baggage car is still on plastic wheels, which I need to swap for the 3-axle metal set I sourced a few days ago all ready for it. These are the "rebuilt" DB green coaches with the three axles each and the clever articulation underneath to allow the 6 wheel chassis to negotiate tight curves.

Not having owned any Piko rolling stock before, I thought I'd just ask on here before I manage to break something.....
Unlike LGB wheelsets where you flex the axle boxes gently outwards to remove the wheels, with the Piko ones it LOOKS like the axles are a "snap-fit" down into their bearings - however I've just been applying a moderate amount of BFI (Brute Force and Ignorance) to the plastic wheels and they really don't want to budge. Should I simply up the amount of BFI until they pop out, or am I missing something that should be blindingly obvious?
What I'm afraid of, obviously, is putting the BFI off the scale and snapping off a vital and expensive-to-replace bit of plastic!

Anyone else own some of these, or other similar Piko stock, and can offer advice?

Thanks in advance,

Jon.

 

[shropshire lad]

I've found that putting two fingers under the plastic axles and pulling upwards is the only way Jon. It aint easy but doesn't seem to do any damage ( I've changed the wheels on 3x6 wheelers and 8x4 wheelers this way)
They are heavy wheels and have extra weight at the end of the axles so they take some moving but roll well when going.
Good luck!

 

[Zerogee]

Thanks Colin - good to hear it from somebody who's actually done some! I assume that fitting the new ones is just the reverse, push down hard enough till they snap into place?

One other question you might well be able to answer.... the new metal wheels are quite large diameter (as are those on the three coaches I bought earlier), but the just-arrived baggage car is fitted with plastic wheels that look to be smaller, more like the standard LGB size - they don't reach anywhere near the dummy brake-blocks. The car IS second-hand, but boxed and appears as-new (still got the alternative buffer sets, and all internal packing), so I'm just wondering if the previous owner might for some reason have changed the original plastics for some smaller ones, or if these coaches are indeed supplied like this? It's not going to make a great deal of difference (maybe a mm or two in the coupling height?) but it does seem a tiny bit odd.... can you recall how yours where when new out of the box?

Jon.

 

[Zerogee]

OK, job done and the baggage car now has three shiny new wheelsets (well, shiny on the running surfaces - the rest of each wheel is nicely finished in matt black). In the end, not getting very far with pulling them out with my fingers, I slipped a small screwdriver under the axle just inboard of one wheel flange, and GENTLY levered upwards - there was a "pop" and out it came! The new sets just snapped back in very easily.

Re my post above, now that they're off and I've been able to put them side by side, the removed plastic wheelsets are definitely of a considerably smaller diameter than the new metals, by several mm..... the metal wheels fit with the dummy brake shoes much more accurately.

Jon.

 

[KeithT]

Are the bogies on these the same as on the Ballenberg rack 3 axle coaches? I have just replaced the wheels on one of the baggage cars with metal ones and found the outer wheels difficult to remove compared to standard 2 and 4 axle ones but I just applied extra force - carefully. It was noticeable that the axle box areas were made of heftier plastic section than on other stock hence my using more effort.

 

[Zerogee]

I don't have any of the LGB Ballenbergs, Keith, so I can't say if the chassis is in any way similar to the Piko coaches. The Piko ones have each end axle on a swivel mount, but the centre axle is carried on a sort of "sub-chassis" plate that slides from side to side, guided by sprung extensions on the outer axle bogies. They might look a bit odd on R1 curves (though probably no worse than the overhang of anything bigger than 2-axle short cars) but it's a setup that seems to work.
As I mentioned earlier, the Piko axles are held with snap-in clips rather than LGB's "flex-apart" axle boxes, so a very different method in that regard.

Jon.