Alloy Rims
by payaso
I’ve read in other threads in other forums about these alloy bit rims from the German site, and about how nice they are, and about how much they improve handling, and this, that, and the other thing, and for pros only, and blah blah blah……
I was lucky enough to aquire a couple sets of these rims and tires through a friend of mine in Germany, and they are this, that, and the other thing, and a bag of chips. I guess they have re-designed them to be easier to install, because there’s no more drilling involved.
The tools required for this job are: X-acto knife, superglue, wire cutters, and a phone book.
The parts required for this job are: Metal stock from your local hobby shop, and small nails.
After you get the gear off, you can start the assembly process. You will need to cut a new axle for this mod. The one originally on the bit is too long and fat because of the nubs that hold the plastic wheel on. Cut your new axle to exactly 1 inch, put the gear on, and push the wheels on to see where they need to be glued. They should be snug to the chassis, but not too snug. Very little play. After you do this, glue the rims in place with the gear in the middle. When the glue is dry, slide the gear to the left side and glue it in place. It’s that easy…
When installing the metal hubs, (if you plan on painting them leave them in their holder) simply snip them out of the holder, take a toothpick with very little glue on it and dab the inside of the rim where the hub rests. If you need to use something to push the hub down in, you can use an eraser (new one) on the end of a pencil.
For the front wheels, all you need are the steering knuckles. This is where the phone book comes in handy. Drill a small hole in the middle of the book just a little bigger than the pin in the wheel. This is for removing the pins. Turn the wheel over to where the pin is over the hole. Take a piece of stock and push the pin out from the opposite side. Be careful when doing this so you don’t ruin your knuckles.
The small nails fit perfectly through the holes in the rims, so these will be the new pins. Cut them to the length you want and put a dab of glue on the back side of the knuckles to hold them in place and Ta Dow, How ya like me now? My sled is cherried out…
Some bodies work better than others with this mod, so if you’re having trouble steering with the body on, try trimming a little bit of the wheel wells out with the X-acto blade just enough till they clear it.
