I have not seen any threads in regards to the new BLMA trucks yet, so I thought I'd start one. First, these are fantastic looking trucks. The side frames are very well done and the wheels are excellent. They roll very freely, and they help to lower a car's ride height some. Also, the BLMA axles are thinner than the FVM axles, which is a bonus. I do have a couple of questions however. Since these do not come with king pins, what has everyone been using? I used MTL ones, but the fit was tight and restricted the movement of the truck. I have not had a chance to get back to my workbench, but MLT Grease 'em or filing out the center of the truck may help. I may try an Atlas kingpin, but I think it will be sloppy since the hole in an Atlas truck is smaller than an MTL one. What about body mount couplers? I tried a set of MTL 2004's (underslung), and these worked out well. However, I did have an issue with the axle hitting the mounting screw. I tried these on an Atlas Evans boxcar, and when I used the body mount hole closest to the end of the car, it did not hit the screw. The drawback of using this hole is the coupler sticks out further and the coupler box restricts the turning of the truck a little more. I may try counter sinking the screw or gluing on the coupler box using the hole closest to the middle of the car, I am not sure yet. Any thoughts you all can share are appreciated.
Jeff
