How to Change Skate Wheels on Quad Skates
Roller skating is a wonderful pastime, and in addition to serving as healthy exercise, can also be a great extracurricular activity to take up. However, in order to keep giving it your all and performing your best, it is essential to keep your skates in tip-top shape. Maintaining the hardware, and regularly installing new wheels will help your skates last longer and serve you to the best of their capacity.
Things Required:
– Pair of quad skates
– 8 new wheels
– Skate tool
– Optional: Rag, non-toxic citrus cleaner
Instructions
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1
To begin, use your skate tool to unscrew the axle nuts – one end of your skate tool will be round, and this will fit over pretty much any quad skate axle nut. Unscrewing these will allow you to slide the wheels off the axles. Repeat this procedure on all the axle nuts until you’ve taken off all the wheels. Make sure you keep the axle nuts in one place – it is not necessary to remember which one goes on which skate though, as these are all the same size.
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2
Next, you will need to remove the bearings by taking them out of your wheels. These are a vital part of a skate wheel, so you need to take these out carefully. One end of your skate tool should have a little metal nub – hold this at a 45-degree angle, and slip it into the centre of the bearing. Once it passes the bottom of the bearing’s edge, angle it, and try to remove the bearing from the centre. Do not pry too aggressively however, as you do not want to bend and damage the bearing. Once all the bearings have been removed, put them aside in one place – again, since they are all the same size, you do not need to remember which bearing belongs where.
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3
Then, you can take the chance to thoroughly clean your bearings and axles – this is an optional step, but since you have taken them apart, this will be a good opportunity to use a rag and non-toxic citrus cleaner to wipe any gunk and grease off the parts. Cleaning the parts will increase the longevity of your skates, and ensure a smoother ride.
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4
Next, proceed to insert the bearings into the new wheels – this is not as delicate a process as taking them out, and you can simply pop them into the centre of the wheels, making sure the smooth side faces outwards. Keep in mind that you will need to slip in two bearings per wheel – one on the inside, and the other on the outside.
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5
Now, slide the new wheels onto the axles, making sure they face the right way – the flat side should go on the inside, while the side with the wheel brand and the indentation in the middle is the one that faces outwards. Finally, slip on the axle nuts, tighten them all the way, and then use a quarter-inch turn of the skate tool to slightly loosen them, so the wheels spin freely but do not wobble.
