Advice for broken G1 skate pony wheels?

[Khoufu]

I got skating Melody as a kid for Christmas about 12 years or so ago, and she came to me with her front 2 wheels busted, just really loose plastic on the metal bar. I just found out about the pull-back mechanism, and the metal bar still is attached and works, so I just need new wheels.

Any suggestions for getting replacement wheels that grip the metal bar?

[Taffeta]

I have no idea what the answer is to your question, but I will be really interested to see if anyone has any ideas. My loose skaters have all their wheels, but I have had several through my hands over the years with missing ones. I'm also interested in how to get the mechanism working again given that the rubber dries out on the wheels. Both mine have working mechanisms but the rubber has gone hard and so they no longer skate. It would be interesting to know if anyone's had luck getting them going again.

[LadyMoondancer]

A couple years ago there was a craze of tiny (like a couple inches long) skateboards;  would those wheels fit?

[Khoufu]

I remember Tech Decks, but I don't have any. Does anyone have one of those and a skater to compare?

[Kazzellin]

Hmm.... Does she move forwards without those wheels on? If so, they might not need to be attatched to the axel. If they do need to be attatched, I don't see why you wouldn't be able to simply sand the axel a bit and use some superglue to put them on. I would try seeing if micro machines have wheels the right size?

[shelvesofwhimsy]

I can 3d print you custom wheels, but would need to know dimensions etc

[Taffeta]

I would have thought she'd need them. I think that only two pairs of Rollerskate wheels move and touch the ground, and the front wheels are the ones attached to the 'motor' inside the boot. The others are moulded on and raised slightly above the ground to prevent them interfering. So getting the front wheels right pretty much determines whether or not the pony can roll, let alone skate.

@Khoufu - did you say your pony has a full axel and its possible to make the motor 'rev' and spin even if she can't drive forward properly? I just looked at my Jazzie to check how many wheels she uses, and it is only front and back pair.  She has her wheels, but I know the reason she doesn't skate any more is because the wheel rubber went hard and she lost traction. So just replacing the wheels isn't going to work unless they have that kind of rubber to create the traction needed to drive...

I don't think you'd be able to just glue them onto the axel though. I think it depends on how much of the original wheel you have left if any. If you still have some of that, it might be possible to reconstruct a wheel around it and cover it with something...

[Khoufu]

Here's what's left of Melpdy's front skate. The plastic of the wheels is as good as gone, really loose, and will have to be removed in order to put on proper wheels. I spun the metal bar a bit and it does still spin forward when released. I guess a couple strips of high-traction rubber could be glued on, but only of the right thickness to keep the unnecessary wheels off the ground still?

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[Taffeta]

Would it help at all if I took a similar photo of the front boot of one of mine?

The wheel is quite loose anyway I think...

[Skeen]

I can 3d print you custom wheels, but would need to know dimensions etc

::throws money::

[lovesbabysquirmy]

Lego tires maybe?

[Khoufu]

Lego tires are WAY too big but are about the right material.

[Taffeta]

I think adding rubber like you suggest probably would work, if you get the dimensions right. It probably doesn't matter at all that she's missing one of the static wheels. They can still run fine with those missing. It's just a pain that it's the drive wheels. I think that the rubber going hard is probably a precursor to it coming off, and that's what has happened to your pony :/ It's unusual for the moving wheels to break, but looking at them they look like they're basically ok. Just lacking tires. I think it's more important to have traction and get the right material than an exact replica of the wheel in plastic, as we know they don't skate properly with a hard and smooth set of front wheels.

[Khoufu]

The plastic on the wheels is so loose I might as well crack them off. Thick enough rubber probably wouldn't be bendy enough so I need something around the metal rod and then something thicker with traction around that.

[Aurora]

How about hot wheels tires? Lots of my kids toy cars have similar sized wheels to the skating ponies. I haven't put them next to each other, but they seem similar.

Some of those wheels have removeable rubber outsides, maybe lurk in the hot wheels a little.