I thought I would start the a new thread with the pics of the rear wheels kit that I made out of Razor scooter wheels.



Here is the check list of items you will need for an Arctic Cat. The Polaris and Skidoo might vary slightly:

6 - 100MM wheels with ABEC-5 bearings or better
6 - 5/16-18 x 2 1/2" stainless steel hexcap bolts
72 - 1/4" stainless steel flat washers (used for spacers)
6 - 1/4" lock washers
6 - 5/16-18 nylock nuts

I have $30 in the whole thing including shipping. I got the wheels off eBay. It think it looks better than the Arctic Cat wheels and it's 1/3 the price. :div20:

looks good ... nice work.

But how will they hold up once there frozen?

I don't think it's going to be a problem. They are sealed bearings and once they start to move, the friction will heat them up inside. They came basically frozen in the mail and they still moved freely. Good thinking though :div20:

I was thinking about the wheels themselves.

The cat wheels are a high density plastic. The scooter wheels look like they're rubber.

The wheels are made out of a hard polyurethane. Think about the abuse these thing take on the pavement. They will outlast the track for sure.

Looks a lot better than the other kits! :div20:

Just found out the wheels are a little too big. Here are the step to correct if you have already bought some wheels:



I left the front wheels alone because I don't think it will affect anything if they are a little larger. Overall, I think I took off about 3/4". I used my benchtop grinder and a couple of rasps and files. Here are the steps I took:

1. Remove bearings from wheels (took a little piece of electrical tape around the threads of the bolt, pushed it in hard on one side and and popped the bearings out on that side).

2. Put inside grinding wheel washer on shaft of grinder. Put enough electrical tape in a smooth rolling over the shaft in one spot to let the green wheel sit perfectly in the center when it, the green wheel, is slipped over the tape. Put the outside washer against the green wheel and tightened.

3. Turned on my grinding wheel and took a very course rasp and ground the inside of the green wheel, the the outside and then the middle. Do it this way and you'll avoid making the green wheels out of round. Repeat this several times until you take the wheels down as far as you like. Then take a file and go from side to side while still on the grinding wheel to make it nice and smoothed out.

4. Repeat


Make sure to use eye protection because the green rubber chunks go everywhere and hurt when they hit you in the face. Along with my goggles, I made a little shield out of cardboard so the pieces wouldn't hit me anymore. It's really pretty simple and only took about 45 minutes.

For those who were wanting to know, the diameter of the wheels are 2-7/8" to 2/15-16". If you were to get to get roller blade wheels that are 74MM (2.913 inches) or 76MM (2.992 inches), that would probably do it and you wouldn't have to shave the 100MM Razor wheels down. There are different hardness in the wheels (not sure if it will make much of a difference) but the Razor wheels that I bought were the hardest available. E-mail me if you have any questions.

*****Remember this is for an Arctic Cat. Polaris and Ski-Doo might vary*****

Just bought a set of rollerblade wheels that are 76mm with 76 shoreA hardness... Was able to get them in green, too! Bought some bearings, but they aren't the sealed type, so have to watch how they perform. Just need to get some hardware to mount them. Once on this weekend, I will post my pics of the "Guenther" special.

Thanks for the idea and support!!! :div20:

I spent about $50 total for all of the hardware.

ciao for now

guys thanks for the ideas! look forward to seeing results, got my boy a z120 for Christmas and was wanting to get the rear wheels but from Cat they are really expensive!

I wish that I would have known that I needed 74MM or 76MM before I bought my wheels (100MM). I spent a lot of time turning the wheels down to the correct size. Look for the sealed bearings on eBay. Let's see some pictures when your done :beerchug:

Pics will come when my buddy gets the spacers made up... Gonna have them made out of aluminum and then powder coated... As for the bearings, I will just pack them with some good grease and see what happens. I will post pics before/after to show what I used, etc... Cant wait to get it all together.

see ya

Finally got the bearings off of ebay that are sealed... and my buddy finished the spacers out of aluminum stock. So here is my final list and pics

(4) roller blade wheels ~ $30 at a skate shop
Click to view attachment

(8) 22mm x 7mm with 8mm thru hole bearings ABEC-7 grade ~ $12 off of Ebay
Click to view attachment

(4) 8mm x 65mm stainless steel shoulder bolts +
(4) 8mm stainless steel lock nuts +
(8) 8mm stainless steel flat washers ~ all about $8 at local fastener store
Click to view attachment

(4) aluminum spacers with green powder coat ~ free from buddy at work!
Click to view attachment

Pic of assembly before attaching to side rail. It shows the relief in the spacer so as not to bind the bearing in the wheel.
Click to view attachment

Here are the finished pics. The mounting holes in the slide rails allow for perfect alignment for the wheels to the track lugs
to keep friction down.
Click to view attachment
Click to view attachment

If you can move the front wheel forward a little.
See how it sits a little behind the cleat while the other is on the cleat.
This will cause small power loss, minimal, but if your trying to squeeze every little bit out of it, it will make a difference.

Look very good though.

He's got it right...this is right from the Rec Sports website...

Yah. Yah.
Thats what I said... "It looks great don't change a thing."

Yah. Thats the ticket.

Looks great!

BTW... the roller blade wheels are 76mm..

ciao for now... need to wait for the ice storm approaching... May need to start a new thread on how to add studs to the wheels up front!

Great looking spacers!

my buddy makes parts for his ebay business that sells auto parts, tuners, accy brackets, and the like... He had some pieces that didnt meet quality control but worked perfect for my application. Cleaned them up, and machined them to the same height, and then powder coated them! Work great! Could have used a stack of washers, but this is cleaner.

thanks for the compliments.

see ya
Rick

Thanks for the info on the wheel kit.

I purchased (8) 76mm - 82a hardness inline skate wheels $16.00. 32 ABEC7 Bearings (I will have extra bearings just in case I need to replace them if they go bad) $17, and $14.00 in stainless hardware enough for 8 wheel sets. Total kit = $47.

I have a question. Has anyone added wheels to the inside of the rails also?

I have 2 extra wheels and was thinking about adding them to the inside.

Let me know what you think.

Thanks

I'm not sure that adding wheels on the inside will help anything. I'd just make sure to put all six wheels in (3 on each side). Good luck and post pics.

Guenther

do you need to have 6 wheels? Is there much difference by adding the 2 wheels towards the front of the skid frame? Just wondering, as I only put on 4 wheels total..

ciao for now
Rick