trolley wheel problem- help!

vitamin_joe

Hope this is the right forum- it's shopping-related.

I've got one of those wheely shopping trolleys to do my big shop each week. It's the size of a medium suitcase, and I get a fair amount of stuff in.

The other week, the rubber outer bit of the wheel came away from the plastic, and fell off. Just before this, a stone got stuck in it, and I dragged the trolley along for a bit, and it wore away some of the plastic, so what's left of the wheel is like a capital D shape.

Is there any way I could repair this? maybe like glue a bit of bicycle inner tube round the plastic? what glue would I use?

The thing still works, but it makes a clack clack clack noise as I drag it along, and I look like a cretin!

If I have to buy a new one, how would I look after the rubber? Rub some oil into it? (this one wheel, the rubber had clearly dried out and split due to wear and tear and the elements. The trolley's only 7 months old, and everything else on it is fine, so I am loathe to chuck it, if I can fix it.)

Cheers for reading my problem!

UnderPressure

:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::D

ur killing me stop please lol the images I just got in my head ha ha ha

sorry Im not mocking just reminded me of something from my childhood lol ahhhhhhh right

The only thing I can think of would be to pop along to somewhere like B&Q or any hardware type shop and see if you can buy a castor that you can somehow screw to the bottom of the trolley, maybe 2 to make sure they are both the same size.

I think anything glued will just come off eventually especially under the load of a heavy shop so may be better to find a way to completely replace the broken wheel.

Good on ywa for not wasting it, as you said it is fine apart from the dam wheel..........

:beer:

UnderPressure

sorry after re-reading your excellent post I think I have got hold on the wrong end of the stick

Is it one of the wheels that kids used to make go carts out of years ago? Quite large?

furndire

Is there a manufacturers name on it, if so google and contact them.

vitamin_joe

UnderPressure wrote: »

Is it one of the wheels that kids used to make go carts out of years ago? Quite large?

No, it's fairly small- about the size of the bottom of a pint glass; well, slightly small than that now! Glad you got a laugh out of it- it was quite funny today going into Aldi, and my trolley is rattling along, with me looking embarrassed and self-conscious... the store security immediately peg me as a shoplifter, and start following me... actually now I think of it, he might have started following me cos I was thirsty, so I took a bottle of water of the shelf and had a big swig from it, before putting it in my basket

But still, I was thinking, 'If I was going to shoplift, I'd hardly be dragging this big rattly trolley around, drawing attention to myself!'

@ furndire- Cheers for the advice. I don't know if I can save this one- it just depends how long I can put up with looking like an idiot. But I'll email the makers to ask about caring for the wheels when I choose to replace it.

geordie_joe

You can buy any new wheel, if you know where to look. Somewhere like CPC will sell them. If not you will need to find a firm that sells" industrial components".

Does the wheel have any names/numbers on it?

EDIT: Forgot to say, if you know the maker, contact them and either ask if you can get a spare wheel from them. Or complain about the shoddy wheel and they may send you a new one for free.

vitamin_joe

can't see any details on the wheel, and I can't find a website for the makers- it's a fairly generic name. As the whole thing was only £18, I might just have to swallow my pride, and buy a new one- maybe spending a little more next time for a better quality item. Although to be fair, apart from the one wheel going wrong, it has performed excellently.

moonrakerz

Is this wheely serious ??

vitamin_joe

moonrakerz wrote: »

Is this wheely serious ??

Wheely wheely serious. I'm going off my trolley

geordie_joe

vitamin_joe wrote: »

can't see any details on the wheel, and I can't find a website for the makers- it's a fairly generic name. As the whole thing was only £18, I might just have to swallow my pride, and buy a new one- maybe spending a little more next time for a better quality item. Although to be fair, apart from the one wheel going wrong, it has performed excellently.

Before the internet took of, there used to be an article floating round amateur networks that basically said "If you lose a hubcap from your car, don't buy a new one from a garage. Go to a multi-story carpark and ask for one, they find loads every day. You don't have to have the exact same hubcap, you just need one that fits your your car".

It's the same with your trolley, you don't need the exact same wheel, you just need one that fits. Better still, a pair that fits, so they both look the same.

Try googling something like "trolley wheels" and find a company that sells them. It will be much cheaper than buying a new trolley.

Companies that make things with wheels on almost always buy the wheel in, they don't make them themselves. So if they can buy them, so can you.

vitamin_joe

Brilliant idea. I've already found a company online that supplies all kinds of wheels; I'm gonna look into different ways of attaching new wheels tomorrow.

I reckon skateboard wheels could be a good replacement- they're built to withstand all kinds of rough treatment.

On a similar note to the start of your post, I reckon you should never buy a new brolley- just go to a lost-luggage dept at a railway station and say you've lost a black brolley, and the first one they bring you, say "that's it!". Never tried it myself, mind, but I think they're probably glad to be shot of yet another lost brolley... I saw a documentary once, and they've got hundreds of the damn things, and very few people claim for them...