Tech Tip: Wheel Removal
The most basic form of customization for 1/64 scale vehicles is doing a wheels swap. There are many manufacturer of 1/64 scale vehicles and they all design and assemble their cars differently, so disassembly is a little different for each brand. The tip I am going to share with you today is one that I most commonly use on Greenlight vehicles, but I have also used it on other brands like M2 Machines, Auto World, and DCP trucks. This particular technique comes in hand when you have a more fragile/delicate pair of rims that really don’t want to destroy when you try to take them off.
I am going to begin by saying that I did not come with this technique and cannot take credit for it. It is a technique that Stangfreak on swiftysgarage.org had shared, so full credit goes to him. The first thing you will need is a inexpensive flat head/slotted screw driver, I prefer the ones that have a smooth solid blade (like the one at the top of the first photo) as opposed to the type that have the ribs on the blade (this type tends to snap off at the tips during use after being modified). Next I use a Dremel tool with a thin cutting wheel to cut a slot in the center of the blade, just wide enough for the axle to slide into the slot. If it ends up a little wider that is okay, but you just want to make sure it is smaller than the small plastic part of the rim that mounts on the axle. Clean up and burrs or sharp edges on the slot, so you don’t get cut, and your tool is ready.
So now lets get into removal. As mentioned earlier this technique is really helpful for removing delicate wheels. Most higher end manufacturers do not use riveted axles, like Hot Wheels and Matchbox, the wheels on there cars are pressed onto a metal axle that is either knurled on both ends or has barbed style ribs. THIS TECHNIQUE WILL NOT WORK ON VEHICLES THAT HAVE RIVETED AXLES. Some manufacturers, like M2 Machines, only use knurled style axles and most of the time the wheels can be removed my twisting them back and forth with your fingers or a set of pliers. However, Greenlight uses both styles and the barbed style axles is where this technique really comes in handy. This technique works really well for removing wheels without having to remove the body of the car from the chassis. However be warned that sometimes it can result in bent axles.
For removal I actually prefer to have two of these homemade tools for the job but sometimes you can do it with just one.
Insert the screw driver in between the wheel and the chassis plate with that axle inside the slot in the screwdriver. Depending on the amount of space you might be only able to fit one screw driver in, but if it is a larger gap I would start with a second one behind it (if it fits).
Start by carefully twisting and prying the outer most screwdriver back and forth to pry the wheel off. Each time you pry/twist rotate the axle a little each time. This will decrease the chances of bending the axle.
As the wheel starts to slide off the axle and the gap between the chassis plate and the wheel widens this is when I would add a second screwdriver to shim up that gap and help prevent the axle from bending (see last photo).
Continue to pry and rotate until the wheel is removed.
Note: This technique works better on cars with a metal chassis plate, as the screwdriver tends to gouge up plastic chassis. I recommended using two screw drivers for vehicles with a plastic chassis plates to help cut down on the damage to the plastic when prying.
I hope you will find this tip useful for your custom builds and thank you for stopping by.
