rodak Messages: 511 Registered: October 2001 Location: Georgia
Senior Member
One of the casters on my K200 is missing some bearings, and the cabinet tends to swerve pretty bad to one side - really annoying. Perusing old posts here it seems Grainger was the go-to supplier for good ball casters, but at one point I saw it mentioned that they were no longer made, or priced too high. Well, taking the supplied part number (5X758) to grainger.com showed they were indeed discontinued, but they had a link to a replacement:
Looks pretty good, and the price is certainly right, almost too good - a buck.43 each? Even with shipping, a set of four will set me back less than 20 bucks.
Anyone see anything wrong with these? The size and weight capacity appear to be the same.
rodak Messages: 511 Registered: October 2001 Location: Georgia
Senior Member
Casters came in today, and they're exact replacements! Look exactly like the originals and fit perfectly - no re-drilling necessary.
The only tricky bit is getting some of the old screws off. I removed the bottom plates(which was no problem), and was able to get one caster off, but on the 2nd one, it started stripping one of the screws, as the nut was so frozen onto it. Second screw did the same thing so I stopped. Any suggestions other than soaking it in Liquid Wrench (which I'm doing tonight)?
stevem Messages: 4736 Registered: June 2004 Location: NY
Senior Member
I use a spray called PB blaster, it puts LW to shame!
What I do before trying to break any screw free that's been tightened down for decades and especially if it shows traces of rust is to first beat on it with a big near sharp nose punch while it's supported well so all of the impact goes into the screw.
This will action will stretch the threads out some and loosen it up.
As far as getting the screw out at that point if the head is too chewed up for a screw driver then just like with auto repair work get a left handed drill bit to drill it out with.
When worse comes to worse I have made a new main bar out of 1/8" thick Aluminum bar stock.
It's sold in 3 ft lengths.
rodak Messages: 511 Registered: October 2001 Location: Georgia
Senior Member
Thanks. I'll look for PB Blaster.
Soaking in Liquid Wrench didn't help. I was able to replace the other three casters, and now the cab will roll nicely without constantly wanting to turn in one direction, which was what started me down this path.
If I wind up having to drill out the stuck screws, do you know of a source for replacements? I could check Ace Hardware, but those screws don't look like something I'd be likely to find there, they seem just a bit unusual.