Casters - Most are fixable. This is how I do it. Do you?

[Joe Anshien]

So, I had been buying new casters for almost all my refurbs as they are almost always frozen. At about $10 each it was adding up. I have been successfully fixing most of them for a few months now as long as they have both wheels intact. At $20 per grill it helps my pricing.

I give them a spray with PB Blaster and then bring them down the basement to the vice. This is the hard part, I have to pry one of the wheels off. I clamp it in the vice by the bottom plastic part of the shank so it does not move, then use the claw of a hammer and or pry bar and start prying each of the wheels. I rotate the wheels after a few attempts. I keep doing this until one of the wheels comes off. I then place the wheel on top of the vice so the axel is sticking up and the wheel on the bottom is just loose. I pound the axel down through the whole until it comes out. I then file down the crud off the axel, lube the whole and put the axel back in making sure it can spin. I then put the other wheel on and squeeze the 2 wheels together in the vice. The whole thing takes about 10-15 minutes.
Just wondering if anyone else has tried to fix the casters and has a better way?

 

[Jon Tofte]

Pretty impressive. I have always given up if cleaning didn’t do the trick. Sounds like you have made some good “saves” not to mention saving $.

 

[Jeff MA]

Joe,
I congratulate you on not only fixing the casters but putting up with the God-awful smell of PB Blaster in your Home.

I use Seafoam Deep Creep. Works as well or better than PB without the horrible stench of PB.

Jeff

 

[Joe Anshien]

I used to use regular Seafoam in my outboard and still do in the lawn mower some times. Great stuff. I did not know about Deep Creep. I wish I did as last week I just bought another big can of BP Blaster. I will try it on the next go-around as you are right about the smell and the brownish color is ehhhhh, but the stuff does work. But if you read carefully I did say I sprayed it, then moved it in the house;-)

 

[Richard in NS]

I have rescued a couple with OB Blaster and then a shot of Fluid Film but never tried to take them apart. Will try that now!
Thanks Joe.

 

[Bruce]

I have started doing that exact same thing. I pry off the wheels, clean up the axle and put the wheels back on. It is a pain but saves a few buck. You can buy replacements for less than $10 a wheel however.

Two pack for $7. But you need to reuse the leg inserts.

Amazon.com: Shepherd Hardware 9406 2-Inch Office Chair Caster, Twin Wheel with Brake, 5/16-Inch Stem Diameter, 75lb Load Capacity, 2-Pack,Black: Home Improvement

Amazon.com: Shepherd Hardware 9406 2-Inch Office Chair Caster, Twin Wheel with Brake, 5/16-Inch Stem Diameter, 75lb Load Capacity, 2-Pack,Black: Home Improvement

www.amazon.com

 

[Joe Anshien]

I have started doing that exact same thing. I pry off the wheels, clean up the axle and put the wheels back on. It is a pain but saves a few buck. You can buy replacements for less than $10 a wheel however.

Two pack for $7.

Amazon.com: Shepherd Hardware 9406 2-Inch Office Chair Caster, Twin Wheel with Brake, 5/16-Inch Stem Diameter, 75lb Load Capacity, 2-Pack,Black: Home Improvement

Amazon.com: Shepherd Hardware 9406 2-Inch Office Chair Caster, Twin Wheel with Brake, 5/16-Inch Stem Diameter, 75lb Load Capacity, 2-Pack,Black: Home Improvement

www.amazon.com

Bruce - You da man. It was worth posting this just for that link - Just noticed that it is in the parts source list but I missed it. https://tvwbb.com/threads/weber-gas-grill-parts-source.76176/.

I had been buying these and now have a collection of those inserts. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000WEKMRU/?tag=tvwb-20

 

[Bruce]

Yah, I have a bunch of the inserts from scrapped grills as well.
I had been tossing those wheels when they are frozen for the last couple years, but this year I just decided, the heck with it and pried one apart just to see what the heck was causing them to freeze up so bad. I was shocked at how that axle rusts and bonds to the plastic like that so you literally CANNOT move the wheels.

Some wheels I think are a little larger, so those replacement wheels won't work for those grills which makes fixing the old ones more important.

 

[Grant Cunningham]

While I've clearly not tried this on a Weber caster, this has worked miracles for me on things like rusted pliers: soak it for a day or so in undiluted antifreeze (the green kind), rinse off, and then start exercising the wheel. Once it's moving freely, apply a penetrating lubricant.

 

[Joe Anshien]

Yah, I have a bunch of the inserts from scrapped grills as well.
I had been tossing those wheels when they are frozen for the last couple years, but this year I just decided, the heck with it and pried one apart just to see what the heck was causing them to freeze up so bad. I was shocked at how that axle rusts and bonds to the plastic like that so you literally CANNOT move the wheels.

Some wheels I think are a little larger, so those replacement wheels won't work for those grills which makes fixing the old ones more important.

I wonder what Weber was thinking about when using those axels. They have a cross hatch pattern that just catches and holds water and dirt. Why didn't they use a smooth axel?

 

[BPratt]

I wonder what Weber was thinking about when using those axels. They have a cross hatch pattern that just catches and holds water and dirt. Why didn't they use a smooth axel?

No casters on the front would have been a better design on the old grills.

 

[Joe Anshien]

No casters on the front would have been a better design on the old grills.

I have to disagree. Grills have to have the ability to move around. I even put casters on my Q320. I can not stand to have a grill without 4 wheels. My favorite is 2 on an axel and 2 casters. That ways the grill can move over grass as well. When cleaning the porch or patio the grill has to move. When cleaning the grill it has to get moved someplace the grease and detergent will not damage stuff. Depending on what your cooking someone may want to move the grill so the smoke and or grease is in a different area. Just moving my rehabs around the garage the first thing I do is fix or replace the casters.

 

[Chris_Arocha]

Joe,
I congratulate you on not only fixing the casters but putting up with the God-awful smell of PB Blaster in your Home.

I use Seafoam Deep Creep. Works as well or better than PB without the horrible stench of PB.

Jeff

Thanks for mentioning the Seafoam product, I'll need to look for that when I finally use up my can of Stink Blaster (I agree that it smells dreadful, reminds me of how bug spray smelled when I was a kid.) It gets used in my garage sometimes when all else fails.