Running Wheel Questions????

I was just wondering if parks just replace the wheels on a coaster or if the rotate them like you would on a car to get more life out of them.

Also about how long does one set of wheels last on a coaster like Millennium Force, Nitro, or an Arrow looper?

I heard on a new coaster they can burn thru several sets a day until the paint wears off the rails. Is there any truth to this?

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Knoebels visits in 2002. 6

I think its one set a year, I don't know, but people were blaming MFs new wheel for the valley...

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Can we change the name of Top Gun to your mom so no one wants to ride your mom?

It all depends on the size ride and what wheel type they are using. I have never seen them pull smaller coasters trains off for a wheel change mid-day. Millennium Force was getting them changed every other minute it seemed early in 2000 until they found the right combo. On a hot day in early June, MF was down to a zero train operation because all three trains were getting wheels changed!

Mamba at WOF in 1998 was receiving several wheel changes a day. They had to pull off the third train to use it's wheels as they ran out. There were some in the basement but they had not cured long enough yet. They eventually borrowed some from Dorney. There was also a problem with wheels coming off. On the last bunny hop before the double up, the train lost a wheel many times that summer. I remember walking out on the lift catwalk to get to the stairs that go down over the fence to go get one of the wheels. As I carried it back up, all the guests were staring wide eyed. I just kinda shrugged and said it happens often. Losing a wheel, at least not a running wheel on a Morgan hyper will not cause the train to stop. It will put a gouge in the track though. It is my understanding that it had something to do with the bearing and the problem has since been remedied.

On the other side, Orient, an arrow looper rarely received wheel changes. Occasionaly one would lose it's poly-urathane coating and they would simply know by the sound it made.

Thats one good thing about consistant ride crews, they can tell if something is wrong simply by listening to a coaster.

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wof fan

It's very much dependent on the coaster. When I toured the Kings Island shops a few years ago, I learned that some of the wheels on the Racer trains are originals that had been running for 27 years. Yes, they wear, but they wear slowly enough that they last for years.

A steel coaster wheel is typically a Urethane tire wrapped around an aluminum hub. Urethane is such a good insulator that heat tends to build up in the wheel, melting the urethane inside the tire. That's not exactly desirable, but it isn't a wheel failure either. The wheel fails when the melted urethane finds a way to squirt out, either through the edge where the tire is bonded to the wheel, or through the surface. When that happens, it's time for a new wheel.

(Material on urethane wheels adapted from a presentation given by representatives of Uremet at the Northwest Showmens Club Safety Seminar, 02/2002)

--Dave Althoff, Jr.

*** This post was edited by RideMan on 7/13/2002. ***

So a urethane on a coaster can basicly last an hour, month or a season depending on the heat build up. I guess you can even get a bum wheel too.

Is the heat due to the weather (90 degree days), or more due to the speed of the ride and the heat from the bearings?

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Knoebels visits in 2002. 6

The urethane tire is a soft, resilient material. As the wheel runs, the tire material is squeezed and builds up heat internally. Part of the problem is that the heat builds up in an insulating material and can't get out easily; it would have to come out through the wheel hub or through the surface. Hot days will make it worse, but as I understand it, the main difficulty is with high-speed running on a plastic tire.

--Dave Althoff, Jr.

And sometimes, as in the case of my Maggie ride last year, the material can chip off without warning, causing a loud, bumpy ride! I've seen this happen on a couple Arrows, and its more of an annoyance than anything.
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Brad's California Adventure: 8 days, 18 parks, 55 coasters, 2 TV shoots & a winner, Matterhorn!
Model coasters and rides

Geez, no wonder they switched MF to metal-based wheels.

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AHHH-SCHWARZKOPF!
-Coaster Enthusuiast Sneezing