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Rank: Advanced Member
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What tools or methods are best for removing the wheels from the alxes of trucks? This would be a handy piece of info. It seems that with the screw driver you either bend the alxe the slightness or scratch the back of the wheel.
Thanks in advance!
Colter
ddbcustommodels.com
Real men drive diesels!
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what brand are they??
Mclean Joyce
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Having no hang ups about cussing certainly helps. It usually becomes part of the process (for me at least) most times.lol
There is no easy 'one shoe fits all' approach here, except that most model trucks and wheeled machine models tend to utilize a (what I would call) a friction fitted axle to ensure that the wheels will stay on.
These can be tough enough to break the wheel free from but become even harder to do so when some glue has been used as well.
I find the molded plastic wheels are often harder to remove than metal ones and to me this makes sense as it would seem the plastic in it's softer state tends to still grab the axle, taking more effort to work free.
I've found that the diecast metal wheels used on Sword and TWH models tend to break free more easily which I feel is because of them being more rigid.
The worst to remove is usually anything NOrscot or Ertl made or makes.
Conrad and NZG I believe even to this day do not use a 'friction fitted' axle and so can come free fairly easily.
Now the way I usually go about it is to start out trying to work the wheels free with my hand by turning the wheels on either end of the axle back and forth until they loosen.
This is with the tires still on the wheels and only works about 10-15% of the time.
If that didn't work, the next step for me is to remove the tires off wheels and then employ tools.
Let me interupt myself here to say that almost always once I've actually turned the wheels to the point break loose it's then quite simple to then start pulling the wheel, while still turning them 1/4 turns back and forth, off the axle.
The tools I will likely use for this is a small bench vise, a medium sized channel-lock wrench or two.
The idea is to just get enough of a clamp force on the wheel without damaging it to then work the wheel free with the turning and then the pulling. I usually only use my vise to remove the other set of wheels off the axle once the axle was freed from the model.
I've had to disassemble models before just to get to where I could get a better 'bite' on the wheels.
I've even completely twisted a metal axle in two, trying to get a glued tightly fitted, plastic wheel off.
Lastly, once you remove these wheels realize that most of the time they will be a bit more loose than they were because tiny bits of them were removed by the axle.
This long winded exsplanation really only covers the basics as thee are variables to doing this but I hope this much has helped.
Chris
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Chris, that is about what I do on some of the models I've had as most where of the Ertl type.
I did take the J.D. 764 apart to separate the tracks to make them able to rotate individually as the front and back track sets were tied together by a single axle!! The main drive sprockets were the press fit on the knurled end axle. as Chris did with the gentle back and forth and pull method I got them apart.
Another thing that could be utilized is a "wheel puller/gear puller" device. This would require drilling a hole in the outside wheel hub to put a pin in to push the axle out as it pulls the wheel off. After the axle removal with the puller device and upon reassembly the small hole in the hub can be filled with epoxy or J.B. Weld and sanded/filed and painted to "hide" the hole.
Also along with Chris's thing it helps to have a working knowledge of the Drunken Sailor language database as well as maybe some Klingon language as well (if you don't want people to know what you are saying)!!! Also remember "Patience is a virtue" and "Good things come to those who wait"!! Take your time on the wheels and if you get frustrated do what Alton Brown from Food Network tells cooks working on some things. He says "Just put it down and walk away, just walk away"!!
Dain
I'm a kid at heart, so I will play with any model construction vehicle from 1:87 scale to 1:1 scale!!!!
Age is a state of time NOT a state of mind!!
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Cutter, thanks for all the info. As long as you can get to the wheels, the vise method works well. On the Sword flatbed trailer, you can remove the suspension with a screw, then you can work on it in the open. Right now, I'm trying to get the wheels off a Sword Flip lowboy and theres no way to get them exposed to get a vise on them. The 1/4 turn is very important when you have them in the vise. Over turning them will break the axle. One is enough to learn.  Dain, thanks for reminding me what the tool was called! Thanks for the help! Colter ddbcustommodels.com
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Colter, if you are looking for some pullers, MicroMark has 3 different ones now. One has a box type unit with 3 different "push pins" and they have another that is new and similar and then they have the "C" shaped puller.
Like I said the puller works nicely but you need a hole in the outside on the hub spot. Another idea is to drill the hole like your using a puller but you could put the wheel on the top of a vise (with padding) and then use a nail or old drill bit as a push rod and gently tap the axle out.
If your working on the trailer that you describe then the puller things would be ideal as you can get one side off with the puller and not damage the trailer.
If your handy with metal you can build a wheel puller using minimal amounts of materials and also make it to fit any size wheels!!!
Dain
I'm a kid at heart, so I will play with any model construction vehicle from 1:87 scale to 1:1 scale!!!!
Age is a state of time NOT a state of mind!!
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If you're just trying to get rid of the wheels, then any method of destroying or removing the wheels should work.
I think you should be careful using a puller on some plastic wheels, because they may be too thin or fragile to take it.
Quarter turns back and forth are nothing gospel. It's just about the range of motion that takes place when breaking them loose by hand and helps when using tools.
The time I snapped an axle I kept turning the wheel round and round in the same direction with a pair channel locks and the axle clamped in the vice.
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And if you could add some 1/50 mechanics to work while you're gone... Thanks everyone for the suggestions. The ones on the Sword lowboy were not glued so they came off very easy with a screw. I stuck it does between the wheel and the frame with the handle parallel with the rest of the trailer. That left the flat head horizontal. Then I gave it a quarter turn and it broke it lose enough were it could be pulled off. Glad it worked out so simple. Seems like theres no one way fits all to getting them off. Thanks again everyone for your input! Colter ddbcustommodels.com
Real men drive diesels!
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