Genesis caster upgrade at less than half the price


 
C

Clint S

New member
The casters on my Genesis 320 finally bit the dust, which was a blessing in disguise. I was never pleased with the original small plastic casters - they seemed better suited for light-duty indoor application such as an office chair on a smooth floor. Also, I wasn't thrilled with shelling out close to $100 for a set of OEM replacements. Instead I acquired four industrial 4" swivel casters and brake kits for around $42 from Zoro/Grainger. They perform much better than the OEMs. With the larger diameter wheels and added sturdiness, my grill now rolls like a dream over rough concrete surfaces. If your leg inserts are still good, which mine were, they will accept casters with standard 7/16" grip-ring stems. For anyone interested, I would be happy to provide more details. See pic
(as a newbie, I inadvertently posted to the wrong forum section ... apologies for the redundancy)Picture2.jpg
 
Yah, I am interested but not for a specific grill, just in general. DId you use the standard plastic inserts for the legs or did you have to use something else.
A link to those wheels and any other parts used would be very cool.
thanks.
 
Interested. But I do worry about any extra stress on the legs or frame. Maybe that is why they put such lousy wheels on. Got to be some reason they do. Again it could be for stability too. Can't have too many roll away grill events. Locking wheel...
 
A link to Grainger, or at least a part number would be greatly appreciated. They look nice and beefy.

Was install as simple as removing the existing wheel and popping in the new one?? Any inserts or anything needed on the legs?
 
Caster Part # P12S-R040D-SG1 link: Caster
Brake kits Part # P-WB12 040X125 link: Brake kits
(Zoro gives out a 15% discount for registering. Zoro is Grainger's online shop)
I selected rubber wheels, because it’s quiet and smooth rolling. For a couple more bucks you can get polyolefin which has a higher load rating and may last longer. Be sure to order P12 series though, to accept compatible brakes
The stem on these was slightly longer than the originals (by approx.. 1/8”) than the OEM, so I corrected that difference by adding a rubber washer atop the swivel – 2” dia. X 1/8” thick with ½” hole, available at Lowes. They fit like a glove in the existing plastic leg inserts. I simply popped the old casters out and inserted the new ones in.
 
I see you went with brakes on all 4. Any reason why? I believe the OE Weber wheels only have brakes on the front of the grill?

But I guess at $1.40 apiece, installing brakes on all 4 wont break the bank, and then I can utilize the back wheel's brakes if I feel it's needed.
 
Did these fit into the factory leg inserts or did they require different ones?
 
Bruce said:
Did these fit into the factory leg inserts or did they require different ones?
Click to expand...
OP said above in post #7: They fit like a glove in the existing plastic leg inserts. I simply popped the old casters out and inserted the new ones in.

This looks real promising for those of us that have to roll our grills in/out of the garage,
JS
 
Those you posted are 5" wheels. That is going to raise you grill several inches....which is probably a good thing, IMO.
 
Tony-Chicago said:
Interested. But I do worry about any extra stress on the legs or frame. Maybe that is why they put such lousy wheels on. Got to be some reason they do. Again it could be for stability too. Can't have too many roll away grill events. Locking wheel...
Click to expand...
I had the same initial concern, but am comfortable with the retrofit. In my engineering judgement, the main stress is due to the horizontal offset distance between the stem and wheel axle, which puts a bending stress on the leg and insert. In this case, that offset is about the same as the OEM, approx 1”. I am certain the frame is up to the task by design. If the plastic inserts ever give out, I’ll replace them or figure out a better way to mount them, but so far so good. And, the new casters reduce the momentary stress when rolling over rough surfaces.
BTW, the installed brakes prevent it from rolling, i.e. locking the wheel.
 
Bruce said:
Those you posted are 5" wheels. That is going to raise you grill several inches....which is probably a good thing, IMO.
Click to expand...
OP's wheels are 4". These, being 5", will raise my grill approximately.....(5....minus 4........borrow 10......carry the 1.......) one inch. :)

I hear what you're saying, though: Definitely a raise from the OE Weber wheels, which I think are 2". My driveway has some dips/cracks in it, so I think the larger wheel will traverse these much better than the OE Weber wheels.
JS
 
JSalley said:
I see you went with brakes on all 4. Any reason why? I believe the OE Weber wheels only have brakes on the front of the grill?

But I guess at $1.40 apiece, installing brakes on all 4 wont break the bank, and then I can utilize the back wheel's brakes if I feel it's needed.
Click to expand...
I had exactly the same reasoning. More flexibility. Also, the redundancy would help in case any of them fail, which may be remote.
 
Bruce said:
Those you posted are 5" wheels. That is going to raise you grill several inches....which is probably a good thing, IMO.

JSalley said:
OP's wheels are 4". These, being 5", will raise my grill approximately.....(5....minus 4........borrow 10......carry the 1.......) one inch. :)

I hear what you're saying, though: Definitely a raise from the OE Weber wheels, which I think are 2". My driveway has some dips/cracks in it, so I think the larger wheel will traverse these much better than the OE Weber wheels.
JS
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
hmm.... I double checked the specifications in link. Wheel dia is 4". Overall height is 5". Am I missing something? And yes, it raises the height of the grill, but not noticeably. I believe the OEM wheels are 2-7/8" diameter when new (mine shedded the cheap treads a while back, so were smaller diameter). Like JS, I move my grill around a lot. These replacements roll much easier. I would avoid going with a diameter much larger than 4", as a greater offset would introduce more bending stress on the inserts (see reply to Tony).
 
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Better function, a nice little raise of the height at the grates, and they look great. That's a win all around.
 
Not to be a wise *** but a one inch larger wheel will raise your grill 1/2”. Not a full inch.
 
Dan Massey said:
Not to be a wise *** but a one inch larger wheel will raise your grill 1/2”. Not a full inch.
Click to expand...
No, it's definitely going to me more like 1".

There's (for easy math) a 1/2" gap between the top of the wheel and the base of the caster. So for a 4" wheel, the distance from the bottom of he wheel to the caster base is 4.5"

For a 5" wheel , the "arm" of the caster is about 1/2" longer, to maintain the 1/2" gap between the wheel and the case of the caster. So for a 5" wheel, the distance from the bottom of he wheel to the caster base is 5.5"

Look at this page, and look at the 4th column for "MOUNT HT.". The difference between a 4" and 5" caster is an inch.
www.mcmaster.com

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