Big disappointment about new MTL 33' Metal Wheels

Dogwood Jul 8, 2019

  1. Dogwood

    Dogwood TrainBoard Member

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    Howdy folks

    Yes guys, these are actually the latest Microtrains N 33' metal wheels! Absolutely unusual. Or are they off road wheels....:censored:?

    MTL 33er Metal Wheels N.jpg MTL 33er Metal Wheels.jpg
     
  2. Chris Dittmar

    Chris Dittmar TrainBoard Member

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    Is it just the look or do they handle badly when installed. Just want to know as I was going to purchase some.

    Thanks,

    Chris
     
  3. Dogwood

    Dogwood TrainBoard Member

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    Hi Chris

    The required restraining springs you have to order extra. The wheels run very badly compared to Fox Valley, BLMA and ExactRail.

    Wait until Fox Valley or ExactRail deliver. I got an email from ExactRail today. For the time being delivery is not possible.

    This is the original answer:

    Hi Thomas, thanks for your interest! Unfortunately we don't have a date for when we will have more in stock. We intended to have another batch arrive before the last one ran out, but unfortunately the industry-wide factory shutdown set us back several months.

    Happy Railroading!

    info@exactrail.com
     
  4. DFW Bill

    DFW Bill TrainBoard Member

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    The MT 33” wheels have plastic axles and do not help lower the weight center of the car much. As soon as I saw that I have stuck with Fox Valley and the new Intermountain 60072 wheels, both are excellent, neither are available at the current time. BLMA were nice also, however we may never see them again. Have not seen or used the ExactRail wheels.
     
  5. Dogwood

    Dogwood TrainBoard Member

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    MP333 likes this.
  6. Rich_S

    Rich_S TrainBoard Member

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    I'm going to say you got a bad batch of wheels. I've been using the Micro-Trains 33" metal wheels for awhile now without any issues.

    DSCN2051.JPG

    DSCN2052.JPG

    I've read posts from people saying don't purchase Fox Valley Metal Wheels in the 100 axle pack.
    I've only purchased Fox Valley Metal Wheels in the 12 axle pack and not had any issues.

    Every once in awhile things go haywire regardless of the manufacturer, most companies are very decent about replacing problem products.
    I would contact Micro-Trains and see if you can exchange those wheels for a new package.
     
  7. Maletrain

    Maletrain TrainBoard Member

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    The treads on those wheels look really rough. They appear to be cast or sintered metal, rather than turned from metal stock on a lathe. They won't roll as well as Fox Valley, BLMA and other such quality wheels. I have seen the difference in rolling quality between Atlas plastic wheels and MicroTrains plastic wheels, where the Atlas wheels have similar surface roughness to these metal MicroTrains metal wheels, and do not roll as well as the plastic Microtrains wheels. The only reason I can see for going to metal wheels is to get the better rolling qualities (unless you want to add resistors and use track occupancy detectors). So, thanks for the pix, so I know to pass on these.
     
    Dogwood likes this.
  8. Dogwood

    Dogwood TrainBoard Member

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    I just had an exception. It can happen. It is certainly an exception for MTL.
     
  9. Joe D'Amato

    Joe D'Amato TrainBoard Member

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    You can send them back to us for evaluation and or replacement. I personally tested ours against others and in roll tests on our layout the only cars that bested us by a wide margin were the Wheels of Time 50's :) They are cast and assembled here in Medford. The cost of turning wheels even in china is thru the roof unless you are doing other tooling with the factories. From what I was told they get a bit of a break because of the business association and quantity. Our quotes were close to discounted retail offered by other companies if I remember correctly...maybe not LOL anyway, these run well and are tested...if you are unhappy with the performance let me know.

    Cheers

    Joe
     
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  10. Point353

    Point353 TrainBoard Member

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    Rolling performance aside, does the appearance of the wheels look acceptable to you?
    Are the castings really that rough/irregular or did something go wrong during the finishing process?
    IMO, tell Eric to delay the plan to start equipping cars with these wheels until the aesthetic issues are resolved.
     
    Metro Red Line likes this.
  11. Dogwood

    Dogwood TrainBoard Member

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    Hi Joe

    Many thanks!
    My dealer has already complained about the batch. That's not so problematic.
     
  12. jpwisc

    jpwisc TrainBoard Member

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    Wow, those are rough. I’m using Tangent metal wheels until the FVM drought passes. The Tangent are the exact same as the BLMA wheels.
     
  13. Rich_S

    Rich_S TrainBoard Member

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    If you look at the photos of the Micro-Trains wheels I've been using, you'll see the package Dogwood received had a manufacturing error, the casting are not that rough and / or irregular. Something definitely when wrong during the manufacturing process.

    DSCN2051.JPG

    I have been using the Micro-Trains 33" Metal wheels without any issue and in my personal opinion, they roll just as smoothly as the Fox Valley 33" metal wheels.

    Someone also commented about the Micro-Trains wheels having plastic axles, but in my opinion that is a plus as the plastic axles are not attracted to my Micro-Trains uncoupling magnets. I have problems with rolling stock equipped with metal wheels that also have metal axles, being attracted to my Micro-Trains uncoupling magnets.
     
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  14. NtheBasement

    NtheBasement TrainBoard Member

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    Is the stuff on the original post metal, or some kind of cutting fluid that didn't get cleaned off before packaging?
     
  15. Joe D'Amato

    Joe D'Amato TrainBoard Member

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    did I say it was?
     
  16. JBrown

    JBrown TrainBoard Member

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    Mine look great and roll great!
     
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  17. Doug Gosha

    Doug Gosha TrainBoard Member

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    Hey, let's jump right online and tacitly denigrate a great company. Don't investigate first.

    Doug
     
  18. JBrown

    JBrown TrainBoard Member

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    Just ordered some more today...I'm not worried about it....
     
    Doug Gosha likes this.
  19. Dogwood

    Dogwood TrainBoard Member

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    I've over 400 cars and 90 locos. All with MTL coupler and trucks. It will be the same in the future. Only MTL...what else?!
     
  20. Maletrain

    Maletrain TrainBoard Member

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    Look carefully at the picture posted. Look carefully at the best rolling wheels that you have. Decide for yourself if you want to buy the MTL metal wheels.

    That is NOT denigrating the company. If Joe wants to investigate and finds that the wheels pictured are not up to the quality his company intended to produce, then he can post that here. But, in the mean time, a picture here is helpful when there appears to be a problem. If one person got a "bad set" then the rest of us might also get a bad set. Many of the wheels in that picture are not going to roll as well as MTL plastic wheels.

    I remember getting a batch of Fox Valley wheels that had out-of-advertised-spec axle lengths, and posting that here, mostly as a question. I got some flack here for even asking. But, when the dust settled, Matt found that he had made a bunch of wheel sets with axles machined to the wrong length, and ended up selling that batch as a new, never-before-advertised axle length. They still were good looking and nice-rolling wheels if they fit the truck frames they were put into.

    Objectively dealing with the reality is a positive thing. If buyers who are dissatisfied just kept quiet and stopped buying, simply assuming that the vendor would not improve, then the vendor's market could collapse without the vendor even knowing why or having a chance to fix the problem.

    So, let's keep supplying honest buyer feedback here. That is not "tacit denigration". In the long run, it helps the whole hobby.
     
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