New Roller Coaster Wheel Design....

It is not so much the size of the wheel but the size of the axel. The disadvantage of a smaller wheel would be the higher rpms the wheel would see causing undo wear and heat possibly leading to a blow out like on Magnum.

Bearings are also a large factor. Do you go with sealed bearings or servicable bearings? I am not sure if the bearings themselves are greasable on what is currently out there (coaster wise), I am sure the pivoting axels are. Reasearching bearings can and will drive you into a corner rocking back and forth talking to youself, there are a ton of options out there for bearings.

Many if not most coaster have large road wheels, with smaller upstops and guide wheels. This is clearly visiable in rides like Superman the Escape.

*** Edited 3/2/2007 3:38:59 AM UTC by 0g***

Yea, I like 0g's idea. Im thinking maybe 8 in. d top wheel and 6 in. d upstop and guide. then again this is just a model, it could be customized for different track materials, climatic conditions, ride lengths and attributes.

David brings a good point about those RPMs and axels. Just imagine the RPMs on Dragsters and Millenniums small guide and upstop wheels....pretty high.

I see a potential problem with your three wheel set. When the coaster is in a valley, the middle wheel may not touch the track. When it is on the crest of a hill, the forward and backward wheels my not touch. Same with curves and the guide wheels. The middle wheel probably won't touch the track on inside curves and the front and back wheels probably won't touch on outside curves.

That would cause increased wear if the loading and strength of the wheels is optimized to have all three loaded evenly.

Although your design is creative, I don't think it is very practical. Too many bearings that may need maintenance, and changing a wheel would be a nightmare that would probably cause significant downtime. Also, it would be much harder to remove the train from the track. This looks like a solution to a problem that does not exist.

To address the maintenance concerns, why not split the design up to use three separate mounting brackets? Then replacing a wheel becomes easier than on present designs: Remove the offending wheel carrier and the load will be carried by the remaining two; service the carrier on the bench, and reinstall. If all three carriers are identical, then a maintenance crew could have a few spare carriers ready to go with wheels already installed. Remove two bolts, remove the carrier with the shredded wheel, install the replacement carrier, and the ride is back up. The 'old' carrier can then be refurbished in the shop.

--Dave Althoff, Jr.

Dave's definitely on the right track, though I think that might be buying a ticket to "Cost Prohibitive Land".

The design looks pretty good, though I do have a concern about RPM on those small wheels at higher speeds, and valleys of hills, etc... However, I could see them on a wild mouse or something similar.

Anyone here remember the "Rollerball"? Not the crappy movie - the in-line skates that came out a few years back with a similar setup for wheels. I believe they were expensive and the wheels wore out fairly quickly compared to the larger, non-ball shaped wheeled skates when used at high speeds.

-Josh

What does this wheel look like? Can you post a picture of it?

i had a picture of it at the beginning and i removed it cause im redoing it. It'll be completely done by february in 2008. Im designing it for my senior project.