What Skate Wheels do I need for a DIY Dolly

just go to a skate shop and buy the cheapest wheels they have (most shops have their own "brand")...some people do rollerblade wheels while others do small skate wheels...i believe skate wheels may work better because they have more surface area to roll on (ie. pvc track)...if you do skate wheels , have them pop the bearings in for you (bearings cost extra). good luck!
 
skateboard wheels are better than inline skate wheels because of the surface area, meaning you can be less exact with your assembly, and joins in pipe will be less apparent.
harder seems to be better if you are rolling on a flawless surface like pvc pipe, but a metal pipe would be better because it's more dense.
i would only use soft wheels if they are in direct contact with the floor.
the higher the abec rating, the more durable the bearing, BUT just because it states its abec rating doesnt automatically make it a good quality product.

n520100474_6708085_2329451.jpg
 
also, maybe most important of all, especially if you are making a pipe dolly with wheels at an angle, GET BEARING SPACERS AND WASHERS. These will enable the bearing to function properly with the weight distributed evenly and onto the right areas:

WheelAssembly.gif
 
Speed Ring! Right! That's what those things are called. He's right: get themand they make everything so much smoother. No weird snags when assembling the wheels and bolts.
 
i am so sorry but how do i know if the ones i have have the bearing spacers and washers or is that something i need to buy separately? i was going to buy the ones in the ebay link above... do those have it?


jamesrobertwatt said:
also, maybe most important of all, especially if you are making a pipe dolly with wheels at an angle, GET BEARING SPACERS AND WASHERS. These will enable the bearing to function properly with the weight distributed evenly and onto the right areas:

WheelAssembly.gif
Click to expand...
 
The ones on ebay don;t come with the spacers and speedrings. You have to buy those separately, but it's a hell of a lot cheaper through the ebay store. You;d easily spend over $75 buying the separate parts, even locally.
 
i emailed the ebay seller and asked him to take a look at our little thread we had going... this was his response... what do you guys think:

Dear jessdlew,

I didn't look at the link, but you probably don't need the spacers as the wheels have a seating for the bearings so they technically don't need to be spaced out. Also, most skaters don't use bearing spacers.

Washers can be purchased at your local hardware store. We don't stock washers at this time.

Keep this mind...Your dolly is not going to travel anywhere close to the speed of a skateboard.

- coilovers
 
I posted that link cuz those are the wheels I've used to build 4 different dollys. 3 of them I had the spacers (taken from old pairs of roller skates at the thrift store) and 1 of them didn't have any spacers at all. The traction was definitely different with the spacers, a lot smoother.
 
jrod81 said:
i emailed the ebay seller and asked him to take a look at our little thread we had going... this was his response... what do you guys think:

Dear jessdlew,

I didn't look at the link, but you probably don't need the spacers as the wheels have a seating for the bearings so they technically don't need to be spaced out. Also, most skaters don't use bearing spacers.

Washers can be purchased at your local hardware store. We don't stock washers at this time.

Keep this mind...Your dolly is not going to travel anywhere close to the speed of a skateboard.

- coilovers
Click to expand...

he may think that speed is the only thing that makes a difference, but he didn't even read the thread. what a dick.

Rodney is right on point. Great info.
 
All modern skateboard wheels have a 'seating' for the bearings, but it doesnt support them all the way to the core, leaving the bearing vulnerable to unwanted stress in certain areas. Most skaters dont use bearing spacers that is correct, but they also dont have the nut wound fully tight so that there is pressure on the bearing, preferring to leave a gap of a few mm. This helps eliminate flat spots as the wheel can vibrate from side to side, but is also why most street skateboards are so noisy! The reason they can get away with not using spacers and washers is that all the weight is being distributed straight down, if that makes sense, rather than at an angle. Using washers and spacers allow you to tighten your nut nice and solid, without restricting the bearing in any way.

If this guy knew what he was talking about he would realise that it is only the really slow paced trick oriented skaters that dont wind their nuts all the way to the bearing, and that any vert skater, longboarder or downhill skater relying on speed, uses spacers, washers, and winds the nut tight.
 
Some info i just found on a skate site: (its well documented if you feel like googling it yourself)

Why no spacers with the bearings?

Bearings are very precision parts, ground to tenths of a thousandth inch, but the truck axles they go on vary greatly in diameter, and more importantly, the truck casting is not usually square to the axle, nor is the nut always square to the axle. In order to use spacers and tighten up the axle nut, everything has to be perpendicular to the axle. If the casting, spacer or nut are not perpendicular to the axle, then when you tighten the nut, the inner races of the bearings will be unevenly loaded, and the clearance between the bearing and axle will allow a slight cocking of the bearing race, making the inner and outer races no longer co-axial. Ever tighten up a wheel nut and have the wheel not spin free, or get stuck in one place.this is the result of poorly made trucks or spacers (often both).

In reality, most trucks are not made precisely enough to allow you to tighten up the nut with spacers in place, so skaters have merely adapted by backing off their nuts a little (the proverbial 1/4 turn) to allow the wheel to spin freely. This solves the problem of free spin, but when the skater turns, more friction is created than should be by the cocking that will happen when the bearings are side loaded.
 
ah this kid explains it better than i ever could:

I always use bearings and the DO prolong the life of your bearings.
Spacers make the inner ring of (both) bearings act as a tube so you can tighten your bolts without having pressure on the middle & outer ring of the bearings (the part that holds the little balls). Whereas if you don't use em, you pull both middle rings together when tightening your bolts & this puts the bearings in a V-ish position which wears em out faster.
with spacer: |-|
without: )-(
 
ah this kid explains it better than i ever could:

I always use spacers and the DO prolong the life of your bearings.
Spacers make the inner ring of (both) bearings act as a tube so you can tighten your bolts without having pressure on the middle & outer ring of the bearings (the part that holds the little balls). Whereas if you don't use em, you pull both middle rings together when tightening your bolts & this puts the bearings in a V-ish position which wears em out faster.
with spacer: |-|
without: )-(

Plus, a good review here:

http://www.silverfishlongboarding.com/forum/longboard-skateboarding-wheels-bearings/82819-bearing-spacer-review.html
 
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