Hobie Cat Forums

Hi guys i have now had 2 wheels fail in the exact same spot around the valve on my hobie kart wheels. Whats worse is that the hobie store (Ranger outdoors) that i bought them from can no longer order replacements and so i'm expected to pay another $120 for a new set of wheels even though mine are barely 13 months old. Matt is there anything you can do to help me out, my original dealer said he thinks i should be getting a replacement set, but he can't get them and i would have to try and get them from This new Reefbros store but i can't see them helping me out.

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Sorry for the image size i have no idea how to resize it on the forum without reuploading a smaller version. Please note that while it is obvious that the tear is caused by the wheels being squeezed from above and that it might not have happened if the wheels were inflated further, but i made sure not to over-inflate and was always within the 2-3 PSI limits as i saw the result of slight overinflation on a friends wheel that punctured after just 2 weeks.

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Dave have you tried repairing the puncture? I used the soldering iron method successfully on the old small Trax 1 wheels.
I also think that half filling the wheels with water helps & has the added benefit of making it easier to insert whilst in the water and confirms whether they are totally air tight.

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Mickey
2011 AI Golden Papaya
2011 TI Golden Papaya

Dave. I've had 3 tires blow out in the same way. They are not repairable.

After 6 months hobie and wheeleez would not warranty the problems.

My dealer gave me a discount on the new trax 2 poly-u set. That's it. Don't bother with more PVC wheels if you have an AI.

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"You can avoid reality, but you cannot avoid the consequences of avoiding reality."
- Ayn Rand

We discontinued this type of tire a few years ago. The newer Trax 2 tires are much higher capacity and have shown no problems that we have heard of. This older tire is said to be repairable. Wheeleez shows the technique on their site: http://www.wheeleez.com/repair.php

These carts have a 1 year warranty, so Wheeleez should be honoring that.

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Matt Miller
Director of Parts and Accessory Sales
Hobie Cat USA

I was one month over my warranty period but thank god they decided to replace them for me with the newer trax. Would have prefered to pay a little more and get the heavy duty wheels becuase now i'm paranoid about these breaking. Fingers crossed.

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yeh i tried this method and it lasted for about a month before it blew out again.

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Simple punctures can be welded with some success but the valve ruptures are not going to hold, as Dave says.

These are fine carts to use with unloaded standard yaks around 60 lbs, but just don't handle the AI loads for long, More air will just blow them out faster.

The new Trax 2 wheels have a small hub and a longer, stiffer sidewall that is soooo much better.

Anyone had problems with these yet? Mine has very little use so far.

I purchased mine just before the new wheels arrived out here, about a year ago. The warranty card for the Trax I states "6 months". This is what I hear from my dealer as well.

Is the new model shipping with a longer written Hobie warranty?

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"You can avoid reality, but you cannot avoid the consequences of avoiding reality."
- Ayn Rand

On a recent expedition trip one of my new larger trax tyres looked completely flat - however that could not have been possible because it was half full of water. Guess it was just the extra weight of all my supplies. Maybe I need to add some more air.
They are definitely the best solution to transporting over sand but I think the new foam filled heavy duty wheels are the best all round and I intend to get some and modify my cart to accommodate either type - depending on prevailing terrain.

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Mickey
2011 AI Golden Papaya
2011 TI Golden Papaya

Post the fix, if you don't mind.

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"You can avoid reality, but you cannot avoid the consequences of avoiding reality."
- Ayn Rand

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Matt Miller
Director of Parts and Accessory Sales
Hobie Cat USA

Yup -It's a simple repair for punctures.

Wheeleez ships the newer wheels/carts with a little bag of polyurethane repair material too.

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"You can avoid reality, but you cannot avoid the consequences of avoiding reality."
- Ayn Rand

Here's another one for you folks,

New Hobie HD cart, Welding came apart while carrying a TI on packed sand. Owner was VERY lucky there was no apparent scupper damage.

Odd. The HD tubing seems thinner than my traxx 1 carts.

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"You can avoid reality, but you cannot avoid the consequences of avoiding reality."
- Ayn Rand

Hobie (or Wheeleez) really need to improve these carts. Both my Trax1 and Trax2 carts have cracked welds. I re-weld them when necessary. I have never had a failure like that though. The quality control on these carts is very poor. When looking at the stock my dealer had there were many that were obviously poorly welded. The tube wall thickness may be OK for the lighter kayaks but the AI/TI need to be heavier duty.