Folks,

I have a pair of Tumi T3 26" suitcases that I purchased back in 2006 (7 years old now). On a trip last week one of the wheels was completely smashed off. I checked the Tumi website and they do not have any parts listed there. I called Tumi and they guided me toward shipping them my bag, they would then fix it for $40 USD, and then I would pay the return shipping as well. Or, they told me they would give me 35% credit toward a new suitcase, and of course the T3 is discontinued and the closest thing costs $999. OUCH! So I asked if they can just sell me the wheel and can I repair it myself. The lady said yes, they will sell me the wheel but that I might need some special hardware to do the repair, and that most people wind up sending the wheel and the suitcase to Tumi after doing this. I took my chances! The wheel assembly cost $10 and the shipping cost $5, and I received the part about 3 days later.

I inspected the inside of the bag and there is a zipper along the inner lining that you can only see if you lift up the side pockets that are connected by Velcro. Beneath the lining it is extremely easy to get at the 6 (six) Philips screws that hold in the entire wheel assembly. It took me about 5 minutes to swap out the wheel and zip the lining back up. DONE!

I am not going to get on the phone and order 4 more wheels (2 right, 2 left) before they discontinue that part. This should get me another 5 to 10 years out of these suitcases. I hope this helps someone else!