hydrogen

I got a squeaky wheel on one of my suitcases. Does anyone know how to fix this? I've never had this problem before.

Do I just get some WD40 and lube 'er up? Does anyone have any better suggestions based on personal experience?

sdemw

Wd 40 will just make it worse over time as it will attract dust etc..
depending on the brand you can just replace the bearing or the wheel/bearing combo. If you're more adventurous just grease the bearing itself. Most of them look similar to roller blade bearings: http://www.livestrong.com/article/18...rblade-wheels/

AATrout

The advice on avoiding WD-40 as a lube is spot on. It's ok for displacing water or used with something like a scothbrite pad for removing surface rust, but don't use it as a lubricant. I would take the wheel set apart; you'll have to remove the corner guard, probably by accessing the screws under the bag liner. You may find the wheel is just jammed with a piece of string; or as I once found, about an 18" long piece of dental floss that was caught in there (no idea how or where my bag picked up floss)

You may or may not be able to remove the bearings. If you can, soak them in WD-40 or paint on some naval jelly if you see any rust. When they are clean and wiped free of WD-40 or the jelly, I would lightly lube them with something like 3-in-1 oil. Or Breakfree CLP which is used in firearms. It's a great lube and doesn't attract dust or dirt. You can get small bottles in sporting goods stores, some hardwares, and on Amazon.

http://www.break-free.com/?location=/products/index.asp

hydrogen

Holy, you guys make it sound like it is a difficult and laborious process. FYI, it's my Samsonite FLite, and I don't think I can find any accessible screws. Is there easier way to solve this without essentially taking the bag apart?

This bag is less than 2 years old, and I'd like to solve this problem sometime soon. Last time I traveled with it, it was first off the belt, and I'm quite sure that I annoyed everyone at the bag claim as it has a nails-on-chalkboard high pitch screech.

NeverFirst

Frankly, no. You could try a squirt of teflon lube (or similar) up into the wheels and see if that flushes anything out (see your local cycle shop for aerosol teflon lube).

It depends what's causing the squeak. With an old suitcase I had, the axle through one of the wheels had bent slightly. No amount of oiling was going to fix that, but I picked up some new skate wheels and replaced the whole lot.

That was only a few minutes' work though - the screws (once you find them) really are pretty easy to remove & replace.

This video might be useful; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WIMdcZtgNDg

hydrogen

I'll give the teflon lube a go first. Since the space between the wheel and the axle/surrounding area isn't very wide, how do I get it in there (haha)? The bottle doesn't look like it has a "straw" for lubricating in tight spaces.

gobluetwo

Try any type of silicone lube (which is basically what teflon lube is). I have a can of pyroil silicone lube at home, which I bought at a local auto parts store, and it comes with a straw. It's a dry lube, meaning it won't stay wet or leave a greasy residue like WD40 (hence dust magnet). You will have to spray it on occasion, but a lot of other household uses for it, so worth it.

sdemw

The simple solution might be to find a luggage repair shop and have them switch the wheel bearing out. It shouldn't be too costly.
Otherwise give the silicone lubricant a try or check out one of the roller blade stores, they have solutions, as roller blades have these issues as the bearings quite dirty.
Maybe try an item here:
http://www.skates.com/Skate-Bearings-s/34.htm

AATrout

Are you really this helpless? It's about 5 minutes to remove a corner guard and yank out a wheel set. If you can't access the wheels then buy a new bag. If you don't have the tools or the patience to handle something as mundane as this then just take the bag to a repair facility.

hydrogen

So I picked up this thing called Liquid Wrench (with Cerflon) today. Does this sound somewhat right?

Also, assuming that I somehow screw up, what is the worst that can happen?

sdemw

Not so sure about liquid wrench - it's probably some sort of silicone. I doubt you can do too much damage!