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PostPosted: Thu Jan 02, 2014 10:07 pm 
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Joined: Sat Nov 21, 2009 8:45 pm
Posts: 343
Location: Melbourne, Australia
Hi guys,

I've been having issues with my new Trax 2-30 cart, specifically with the wheels falling off while transporting my A.I. along the road.

I always check to make sure that the spring-clips on the wheel-hubs are properly engaged in the recess at the end of the axle,
but on five occasions (within the space of 500m) the wheels fell off (only one at a time) and the whole shebang ground (literally)
to a halt.

I reattached the wheel, making extra-sure that the wheel was locked in-place before continuing. However, the same thing happened
a further 4 times before I got to the beach.

Damage seemed minimal, with some scratches on the axle (no major bends that I could see) and splits to the hubs where the axles
slid out while under load:

Image

Has anyone else experienced this or could anyone suggest why this would happen, for no apparent reason.

I'm a bit wary of using the cart now!

Cheers,

Mike.


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PostPosted: Fri Jan 03, 2014 3:14 pm 
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Joined: Sat May 26, 2012 7:20 am
Posts: 221
Location: Bulgaria
I have the same problem with two of my cars, I'll post pictures when I come back home from the winter vacation.


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PostPosted: Mon Jan 06, 2014 6:56 pm 
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Location: Oceanside, California
Certainly the hub is broken in the image, so that is one issue.

I could possibly see the clips failing if there is a heavy side load? Might bend them to release?

I use a Trax 2 on my smaller kayak and have had zero issues over the years except when I dropped the cart on the release knob and broke it.

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Matt Miller
Former - Director of Parts and Accessory Sales
Warranty and Technical Support
Hobie Cat USA
(Retired 11/7/2022)


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PostPosted: Mon Jan 06, 2014 7:22 pm 
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Joined: Fri Oct 11, 2013 7:51 am
Posts: 15
Location: North Central Arkansas
I lost a wheel on my 2-30, bought it went to fl. for a few weeks. pulled my TI about 20 ft (that was and is the only time i have used the cart) to the water put it on the kayak and went pedaling for a couple of hours. When I got back to the parking lot one of the wheels was missing. Went back out looked for about an hour but the wind had started, never found it.

I had read all the paper work on everything I had when I bought the kayak and cart. nowhere was there any instructions on how the wheels attached or came off.

I can say that the Shop that sold me all the equipment did replace it.

Hobie should have a set of instructions on these carts when they sell them. I'm not sure if Hobie replaced the wheel or the dealer ate the cost for the replacement.


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PostPosted: Tue Jan 07, 2014 3:52 am 
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Joined: Sat May 26, 2012 7:20 am
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Location: Bulgaria
Easy and quick way to insurance against this:

mingle wrote:
Latest one...

A while ago I nearly lost one of my Wheeleez balloon wheels while I was out on the
water.

I'm not sure how it came loose, as I'm very careful to make sure it's clipped onto the
axle correctly, but it did.

I was blissfully unaware as it floated off and the only indication something was wrong
was when I had a 'hit' on one of my trolling lines. Luckily I looked around and saw that
the wheel had tapped the line as it drifted off. I did a rather repaid about-turn and
managed to scoop the escapee wheel up with my landing net.

I'm now the proud owner of a nice, new Trax 2-30 cart and since replacement wheels
for this mother run at over 100 bucks, I want to try and avoid loosing one overboard.

So I made a quick and easy little 'wheel retention system' as insurance against this.

Firstly I removed the four bolts from the hub and took out the inboard disc that keeps
the hub bushes in place. I then drilled two 6mm holes into the plastic between two of
the bolt-holes.

I then threaded a short (about 10cm/3") section of 5mm bungee cord through the
holes and tied it off at each end, making sure the knot was pulled as tight as possible.
This leaves a loop of about 2.5cm/1" protruding from the outside of the disc.

Image

The trickiest part of the operation was getting the bolts and the disc back in place,
as the two halves of the rim were pushed apart by the pressure of the tyre. I had
to almost completely deflate the tyres to be able to get the bolts to reach right
through.

The other slightly fiddly part was to get the knots in the bungee to fit under the
disc. It did require a bit of pushing and squeezing, but it fitted in the end - this is
why it was important to pull the knots as tight as possible, to make them as small
as possible, in order to fit under the disc.

Image

Once back together, the wheels are popped back onto the axle. As you can see,
the loops are pretty unobtrusive.

Image

The final piece in the puzzle is a length of bungee cord with two clips/hooks on
each end. I used a 60cm length of 8mm bungee and attached it to the hooks so
there was just enough stretch to allow it to be clipped over the wheel loops and
wrapped once around the axle.

Image

The loops aren't under a huge amount of stretch, but it's enough to prevent the
wheels from sliding off the axle, should they come loose.

Image

Cheers,

Mike.


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PostPosted: Tue Jan 07, 2014 6:13 am 
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Location: Melbourne, Australia
mmiller wrote:
Certainly the hub is broken in the image, so that is one issue.


Yep, that was caused by the wheel sliding off while under load. The same happened to the other wheel.

mmiller wrote:
I could possibly see the clips failing if there is a heavy side load? Might bend them to release?


It seems like that would be the prime cause. The only way I could see that happening is the axle is flexing under the weight
of the boat causing the wheels to 'camber-in', in turn putting pressure on the clips.

mmiller wrote:
I use a Trax 2 on my smaller kayak and have had zero issues over the years except when I dropped the cart on the release knob and broke it.


I used the Trax 2 on my Revo and also the A.I. (until I upgraded to the Trax 2-30) without any issues like this.

I'm wondering if the axle on the Trax 2-30 (which is the same diameter as the Trax 2 axle) should be beefier
to compensate for the extra length needed to accommodate the wider tyres/hubs?

I'm very wary of using the cart now, as I don't want to destroy it, or potentially damage my hull of my A.I.
if it continues to fall apart.

Cheers,

Mike.


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PostPosted: Tue Jan 07, 2014 7:36 am 
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Joined: Sun Apr 20, 2008 6:18 am
Posts: 3058
Location: Sarasota,Key West FL
I have one of the older trax II carts but not with the huge wheels.
The grey balloon tires have fallen off a couple times while out in rough water. Fortunately I found the tire on the windward shore of the bay the next day both times.
I added a washer behind the clip and never had that problem again.
Hope this helps
Bob


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PostPosted: Tue Jan 07, 2014 9:54 am 
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Joined: Tue May 27, 2003 12:44 pm
Posts: 15026
Location: Oceanside, California
Quote:
'm wondering if the axle on the Trax 2-30 (which is the same diameter as the Trax 2 axle) should be beefier
to compensate for the extra length needed to accommodate the wider tyres/hubs?


We can ask Wheeleez their opinion. Fyi... This is not a Hobie designed cart. Simply has our logo on their product built to fit Hobie scupper width.

On losing wheels while on the water... The only way the wheel comes off is if the knob gets hit / twisted. That should not be a warranty in my opinion. Also, hitting curbs, steps, rocks... all user errors. Carts dropped onto the knob is also a way to fracture the hub.

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Matt Miller
Former - Director of Parts and Accessory Sales
Warranty and Technical Support
Hobie Cat USA
(Retired 11/7/2022)


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PostPosted: Tue Jan 07, 2014 8:23 pm 
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Location: Melbourne, Australia
mmiller wrote:
We can ask Wheeleez their opinion. Fyi... This is not a Hobie designed cart. Simply has our logo on their product built to fit Hobie scupper width.


I'd be interested to hear what they say.

Cheers,

Mike.


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PostPosted: Wed Jan 08, 2014 3:12 am 
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Joined: Thu Aug 16, 2007 2:25 pm
Posts: 2863
Location: Central Coast NSW Australia
Mike,
While you are waiting for a fix you could try removing the QR knobs and replace them with an "R" or humpback clip and washers as seen here:
viewtopic.php?f=11&t=45109&p=191789.
Not as convenient but I've never had one undo by itself.


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PostPosted: Wed Jan 08, 2014 2:43 pm 
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Location: Oceanside, California
Wheeleez replied:

Quote:
Thank you for the e-mail. We have seen this before this on very rare occasion. Steps have been taken to increase the thickness of the bushing “ear” to prevent breakage.

During bench top testing we found the bushing can crack if wheels are forcefully slammed onto axle rather than slid on and “clicked” into lock position.


I have asked as to when the "thickness" was changed.

I think it is quite possible to have damaged the bushing ear in the manor he describes without realizing it. I'm confident we can get some replacement hubs to correct it. Likely we would have them ship direct, but warranty can be handled by them as well... direct to take out multiple levels of delay... they have distributors in AU and EU

http://www.wheeleez.com/

_________________
Matt Miller
Former - Director of Parts and Accessory Sales
Warranty and Technical Support
Hobie Cat USA
(Retired 11/7/2022)


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PostPosted: Wed Jan 08, 2014 7:37 pm 
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Joined: Sat Nov 21, 2009 8:45 pm
Posts: 343
Location: Melbourne, Australia
mmiller wrote:
Wheeleez replied:

Quote:
Thank you for the e-mail. We have seen this before this on very rare occasion. Steps have been taken to increase the thickness of the bushing “ear” to prevent breakage.

During bench top testing we found the bushing can crack if wheels are forcefully slammed onto axle rather than slid on and “clicked” into lock position.


I have asked as to when the "thickness" was changed.

I think it is quite possible to have damaged the bushing ear in the manor he describes without realizing it. I'm confident we can get some replacement hubs to correct it. Likely we would have them ship direct, but warranty can be handled by them as well... direct to take out multiple levels of delay... they have distributors in AU and EU

http://www.wheeleez.com/


Thanks for chasing it up. I can assure you I've been careful with the cart - I'm "Mr. Careful" when it comes to my gear. This was only my second trip out with the cart.

Do you recommend I contact them direct, rather than go through my local Hobie dealer? If so, do you have any reference I could quote?

Cheers,

Mike.


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PostPosted: Thu Jan 09, 2014 9:03 am 
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Location: Oceanside, California
I think direct would save you a ton of time. You can quote... my quote from Otto at Wheeleez.

You can go to your dealer as well. They would place a claim with our warranty department. Our guys would process it, contact Wheeleez... then contact the dealer... who then contacts you. We don't stock an replacement parts for their wheels, so parts would come from them anyway.

_________________
Matt Miller
Former - Director of Parts and Accessory Sales
Warranty and Technical Support
Hobie Cat USA
(Retired 11/7/2022)


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PostPosted: Fri Jan 10, 2014 8:07 pm 
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Joined: Sat Nov 21, 2009 8:45 pm
Posts: 343
Location: Melbourne, Australia
Thanks Matt, I'll get onto it...

I gave the cart another try yesterday. I made extra sure the clips were engaged and that the wheels were locked in-place.

Then I loaded the A.I. onto the cart and set off. I stopped every 20ft to check that the wheels were still in-place.

After a mere one stop, one of the wheels were already loose and about 1/3-way off the axle. So I popped it back on
and made sure the clip was engaged and continued on my way. Pretty much every 10-20 ft, one of the wheels (it
happened on both sides) would've worked its way loose.

Upon closer examination, it appears that the retaining clips inside the twist-lock knob are sliding up, out of their slot
in the knob, thus allowing the wheels to work their way off the axle.

I took a couple of photos to illustrate the issue:

Wheel locked in-place on the axle:
Image

A few meters later and it's sliding off:
Image

The retaining clip is sliding out of its slot:
Image

The twist-lock knob disassembled - does this look okay?
Image

Both tyres are inflated as per recommendations (1.5psi), both wheels locked onto the axle,
scupper-cart inserted correctly into the A.I. and the whole lot being wheeled (by hand)
over flat lawn (20m), unsealed road (80m) and sealed road (200m), soft sand (50m).

This is only the second time I've used the cart (which is brand new) and on both occasions
the wheels have detached themselves and fallen off.

I'm not sure where the problem is: the axle, the clips, the hub.

I'll contact the local (Oz) Wheeleez distributor to see what they think and keep everyone posted. :-)

Cheers,

Mike.


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PostPosted: Sat Jan 11, 2014 4:03 pm 
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Joined: Tue Jul 13, 2010 10:17 pm
Posts: 97
Location: Jerrabomberra, New South Wales, Australia
It happens to me all the time with the Trax 2 cart too. I lost a tyre at Woody Head fishing with Yakass, luckily he bought me a new one from Maclean Outdoors the next day. At $60 a tyre I don't want it to happen too often. Those clips need a total rethink I reckon.


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