Mecanum wheels - bearings?

[smcmahon]

I saw those yesterday. They lead back to my original question, of whether or not they will "fall in" inside the wheel without a flange/edge. ie: what's to stop us from pushing them in too far?

[Sam2197]

Originally Posted by smcmahon

I saw those yesterday. They lead back to my original question, of whether or not they will "fall in" inside the wheel without a flange/edge. ie: what's to stop us from pushing them in too far?

you could cut up some spacers for the inside to stop them from going to far. thats what im going to work on today so we dont need to order more bearings.

[joeweber]

We cut out the hubs to last years wheels and placed them inside the Mech wheels (we did need a small spacer) and used the kit bearings. We saved $$$$.

[Jimmy Nichols]

Bearings from Andymark are $5 each, which is cheaper than other places.

The time and effort hours it saves, that can be put towards kicking, elevating, or suspending are priceless. My opinion.

[Dad1279]

Originally Posted by joeweber

We cut out the hubs to last years wheels and placed them inside the Mech wheels (we did need a small spacer) and used the kit bearings. We saved $$$$.

Good idea. I'll have to remember that.

Since Mech wheels need 4 transmissions, we planned on using the AndyMark Hubs and direct drive to save the weight of the chain.

[joeweber]

Originally Posted by Dad1279

Since Mech wheels need 4 transmissions, we planned on using the AndyMark Hubs and direct drive to save the weight of the chain.

That will leave you 6 to 7 inches between the motors. Real tight for a kicker. We did it, it is more complex than it looks. Installing bearings on the mechs with a sprocket is a simple operation.

[smcmahon]

Of course, now that I finally have all the information we need to order the Mecanum's and get them working (mechanically), they're now sold out. AndyMark is saying February 3, which means we won't be able to get them here until say, February 8 or so. That leaves us a a mere 2 weeks to get them built, mounted, and programmed. And then teach kids how to drive with them...........

I don't know what happened on their end, but I'm going to talk to the team about a redesign. I don't feel that's quite enough time.

[joeweber]

If you want to keep your students buisy you could build some mechs out of ruber stoppers.

[jgannon]

Originally Posted by smcmahon

I saw those yesterday. They lead back to my original question, of whether or not they will "fall in" inside the wheel without a flange/edge. ie: what's to stop us from pushing them in too far?

Third time's a charm... here's a 3/8" ID, 1-1/8" OD, with a flange:

http://andymark.biz/am-0573.html

(FYI, these were linked from the same page where you'd buy the wheels: http://andymark.biz/mecanum8.html)

[James Tonthat]

Hmm, those look new. I noticed them on the AM website this morning.

Two years back, the 1/2" bearing was what we were forced to use and we had to bore out the (IFI) chassis to do so.

What you might consider is using hubs and having a live axle directly off the gearbox.