MollyMFG dolly wheels

I just started making a speed rail slider and a dolly. I was considering these wheel setups myself, but I decided to build my own. I bought some really decent wheels and bearings from a surplus liquidator at a great price. I'm going to see if I can make a sturdy swivel setup myself. It would seem that this would work well on curved track. If you do buy them, I'd be interested to know how they worked out for you.
 
Recently, in the effort of saving some money (it usually doesn't work), I purchased a set of wheels very similar to these on ebay for a cart setup. There are two problems with this design. The first is that the wheel axles thread into the aluminum angle. This is OK in a light duty application, but aluminum is not the best thread holding media. I tried lengthening the axels (actually just machine screws) and using a extra nut, or double nut, so as not to rely so much on the aluminum threads. No go due to lack of clearance. Your mileage may vary, but if you load this thing up heavy, iy could be a problem. The second, and more important problem, is the platform pivot bearing is a chincy unsealed affair worth about a buck. Any grit or dirt will be a problem. The set I purchased ran about $200 and I ended up thinking it was worth about $75. I used to own a machine shop, so it's not as if I can't do this stuff, but it's usually a more efficient use of my time to buy rather than fabricate. In this case, I was pretty disappointed. Although more expensive, look at the wheels Kessler uses on there track system; beautiful machined castings, sealed bearings, top notch wheels....simply beautiful, and these could easily be adapted to a cart instead of their tripod.

Grant

Correction, the kessler stuff isn't cast, it is machined from billet. Poor choice of words on my part.
 
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