[Bigone5500]

Ez mate coupler. Open too far.

 

[OilValleyRy]

Yes.
To fix it follow these steps:
Toss out EZ Mate fubar coupler.
Install Kadee #5.
Problem fixed, will never reoccur.

 

[Bigone5500]

I take it they can't be fixed?? LOL

 

[OilValleyRy]

I really doubt it in all seriousness. They’re cheap both in design and material. I.e. that plastic “lever” on the side to push the knuckle closed.
Kadees are metal, with a copper spring on the side. The spring won’t get lazy over time. The knuckle and shank aren’t going to break either… which is another problem plastic couplers have.

 

[Bigone5500]

I found 20 pair for about $35.

 

[Tigger]

I bought EZ mate couplers and ended up sending them back in favor of Kadee #5 ( Kadee kit #11) with the springs from here-- 11 Kadee / Coupler Universal #5 bulk Pack 20 pair (HO Scale) Part # 380-11

 

[Bigone5500]

That's an even better deal!

 

[cv_acr]

I take it they can't be fixed?? LOL

They can be easily replaced...

 

[Old_Hobo]

And why even try to fix it, when it can be replaced at minimal cost with something that will never break…..?

 

[Bigone5500]

ok. I have a bunch of cars and one engine that I got from ebay auctions. I want to replace all couplers with the kadee ones. Will the #5 work on non bachmann cars?

 

[Bigone5500]

Here is one style I want to replace.

 

[Bigone5500]

And these are the whole lot that I want to get back on the rails again. The engine and all the cars on the left side are part of the rail chief set. Got them on ebay for $27.

 

[Old_Hobo]

You would do better to cut the truck mounted couplers off and body mount Kadees….should be a number of sites, YouTube, etc to show you how to do that….

 

[Bigone5500]

I'll check it out. Thanks.

 

[Jscullans]

And the old talgo body mount conversion gets brought up again hahahaha I think I gave all my talgo truck equipped cars to a little kid in town that likes trains. The holy trinity of posts are

1. how much is my inheritance worth
2. Tight radius and turnout
3. How do I put knuckle couplers on a talgo car

seems like those posts reoccur commonly but if you don’t know then there is never a reason not to ask the question

 

[Bigone5500]

So are cars with truck mounted couplers not worth messing with?

 

[Jscullans]

It depends on if you want to put the work into a lower end car. If the answer is yes then by all means do the swap on them. I personally don’t do it but the cars that have them don’t get my interest with level of detail. I have a ton of athearn blue box cars and I’m even going to thin the herd with them. I’ve taken a liking to Proto 2000 and walthers kits. I also like bowser 2 bay hopper kits. I’m also not one to buy a car that’s rtr because the model building is what I enjoy the most so adding all the grabs and stirrups and brakes and what not to a freight car just gets my interest. I do have a few mdc passenger cars that are still talgo but they seem to work better than the lower end freight cars

 

[OilValleyRy]

It depends on if you want to put the work into a lower end car. If the answer is yes then by all means do the swap on them. I personally don’t do it but the cars that have them don’t get my interest with level of detail. I have a ton of athearn blue box cars and I’m even going to thin the herd with them. I’ve taken a liking to Proto 2000 and walthers kits. I also like bowser 2 bay hopper kits. I’m also not one to buy a car that’s rtr because the model building is what I enjoy the most so adding all the grabs and stirrups and brakes and what not to a freight car just gets my interest. I do have a few mdc passenger cars that are still talgo but they seem to work better than the lower end freight cars

Is there a line forming for that blue box culling of the herd?

I agree with J; it entirely depends on the person. While I do like separately applied details, I’m perfectly fine with blue box… or even Tyco which require said modifications as body mounted couplers.
That isn’t really difficult. I nip the truck coupler box, then spin it so any nubs are facing car center. The 2 pair Kadee coupler packs include boxes, which I always save. Sometimes a bit of shim is needed to get the coupler box at the correct height, or a larger surface to mount to. I can’t say what thickness to use off hand. I figured it out by trial & error and then put all the required stuff in a zip lock bag labeled “coupler conversions.”
Normally, like J, I won’t bother with it… but with Tyco tank cars decorated for Arco I must. I never had success printing decals… or rather, setting them successfully with micro sol. Plus Tyco takes me back to wee years, which is also acceptable. So I’m willing to do the conversion and add proper weight to those specific cars only. They do not dominate my collection though. I only have 3, and need about 27 more.
So it really depends if it’s worth it or not.

 

[Yoppeh7J-UPmp954]

Even better than # 5 are the Kadee whisker couplers. First thing you should do is get a coupler height gage. I suggest the #206 HO Insulated Multi-Purpose Coupler Height Gauge.

 

[Old_Hobo]

I’m also not one to buy a car that’s rtr because the model building is what I enjoy the most so adding all the grabs and stirrups and brakes and what not to a freight car just gets my interest

I agree, although a RTR car can be improved….I changed the corner stirrups of this Walthers Mainline car…..cut off the too thick molded-on ones, and glued finer ones on in their place….much improved…..

Before

After