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Need new wheels for my rolling carry-on

The outer 'covering' came off of the wheels while rolling in the Minnesota snow. I called the Rick Steves office and they offered no help but told me to search for a luggage repair place on the web. Does anyone have a recommendation in Seattle to get new wheels. Is it something I could do myself if I found replacement wheels? I'd like to keep using my bag since the body is still in good condition. Thanks for your help!

Posted by
5188 posts

Kim,
What kind of wheels are they?
One of my roller carry-on has inline skate wheels, while my other one has smaller (different) type of wheels.

Honestly, I don't know if wheels can be replaced. I just checked my roller carry-on & it doesn't look like I'd be able to replace the wheels.
What suitcase company is it?
Some companies are very good & offer great customer service.

Years ago I had an "Olympia" roller suitcase, & it's pulling handle became stuck & the suitcase became useless, as a "roller" suitcase.
I called the company & low & behold there was a factory dealer near my hometown & they replaced it for free!

Good luck!

Posted by
16893 posts

I believe that my brother did once replace the wheel assembly on a bag with pretty standard tools. This luggage repair shop was recommended to me as having been in business for many years:

TW Carrol & Co
350 Upland Drive
Tukwila, WA 98188
info@twcarrol.com | Phone: 206.575.1064 | Fax: 206.757.1065 | 800.283.0006

Posted by
19656 posts

Hah! Mine disintegrated in the middle of Malpensa airport. Now in the "nonmobile" suitcase inventory.

Posted by
3938 posts

We gave our granddaughter our 17yo Magellan roller a couple of years ago. Last year right before her 1 month trip to Europe the outer covering of one wheel came apart. It was such a slight difference that we asked her if she wanted to take it the way it was, trade for another one of ours, get a new one, get it repaired (no time)? She loves Magellan so she opted to take "him" as is. So far so good. She took him on a school winter break trip to Montreal yesterday. Maybe the other wheel covering will freeze off up there and then the wheels will be perfectly the same diameter again.

I had looked at YouTube to see how to replace the wheels and priced out new wheels. We also have a dedicated luggage repair shop in town. We all concluded that when Magellans time has come we'll give him up and get her another suitcase instead of replacing the wheels. That was before I saw the excellent tip to take luggage to a skateboard shop. We've got lots of those here. Thanks for one more idea.

Posted by
5835 posts

Roller bags for snow country need to be robust. We're touring in Finland where gravel and rock is spread on the snow and ice. The Helsinki train platform was free of snow and ice this afternoon but still covered by rock, Roller bag wheels get hammered.

Posted by
7049 posts

Have you tried looking for parts on the web - e.g., eBay? Replacing wheels shouldn't be as hard as it is - and it would be a shame to get rid of the whole bag for something that probably costs less than $5 (plus more costly labor of course)

Posted by
4 posts

Thanks everyone! My bag that needs new wheels is a Rick Steves rolling carry-on, although a few years old. The product details for the bag don't say what kind of wheels they are. I'm going to try Omni Luggage Repair in Georgetown, near my work, since they have glowing reviews on Yelp. I'll let you know how they do.

Posted by
14812 posts

KIm....look inside the bag. There may be a name with the manufactuer in it.

It will probably be either Ricardo of Beverly Hills or Kiva.

If Ricardo, they are based in Seattle and may be able to help you with specifications of the wheels. If it's Kiva, they have gone out of business. However, one of the founders now runs LiteGear Bags and may be able to help you.

Posted by
1 posts

Funny - the same wheel issue just happened to me. Let me know if you were able to fix yours locally. I love my Rick Steves carry-on and hope I can replace the wheels.

Posted by
77 posts

My experience was with a Samsonite standard suitcase..................I contacted the company and after many conversations and telling them the right code numbers from the label inside the case.......................they sent me the wrong wheel anyhow.

Then the local recommended suitcase repair place wanted me to mail the suitcase to their HQ at my expense.

To make a long story shorter (too late?) we went to Lowe's and bought some standard replacement wheels (perhaps intended for a dolly?). It is not a perfect match, but it works, and the total cost was only a few dollars.

Posted by
4 posts

Hi folks,
I brought my Rick Steves rolling carry-on to Omni Luggage here in Seattle but they wanted $60. Too steep for me considering the bag is several years old. They said they would need to replace the whole 'plastic housing' that the wheel assembly is a part of. I'll try the other suggestion in Tukwila and let you know how it goes.
Kim

Posted by
544 posts

I'm loyal to Eagle Creek after I broke the handle on my carryon. I called to see about getting it repaired, but all I had to do was mail it in and they fixed it and mailed it back to me for free. The bag was 8 years old at the time.