So apparently the holes on the wheels are too small for the high strength metal inserts.
Do I just force it in…? (And just ignore that doing it will damage the plastic wheel body?)
Or should I maybe put the inserts into fridge and hope that it gets a bit smaller???
Thanks…
vex tolerances are poor
get used to it : )
they should fit in without doing any real damage. you may have to give it a tap or two with a hammer.
Put a low strength shaft through the wheel with inserts on both sides. Make sure the inserts are lined up just right with the holes (they can normally go in a little bit easily). Set the wheel on top of a spacer and push down on the wheel (demonstrated on a gear)
My personal method is whacking it with the side of plyers, or compressing between the gear/wheel and a table
Lol yea
I ended up kinda forced them in
That worked!
Used a little different set up but yea that is definitely a great method.
TY
No the holes were just too small for any insert.
I ended up forced them in but shafts are going through nicely, so whatever 
TY tho
Lol yea I did that…
Then I saw the comment above where he lined up the inserts with a shaft, then try to whack it in or whatever.
So I improved his method by putting a shaft coupler [(276-1843-001)] inside the whole first, just to make sure that the shaft is at the center, then line up the inserts and etc.
Hope this improves ur experience with VEX TY
And I improved your method by putting a shaft coupler [(276-1843-001)] inside the hole first, just to make sure that the shaft is at the center, then line up the inserts and etc.
Worked out nicely
Glad you got your problems fixed!
That’s a very clever life hack to use shaft coupler as a starter. Another part that can be used, if you don’t have couplers, is an insert for a 12T HS pinion.
But if you feel that it takes excessive force to install the inserts, you may be risking putting extra strain on the plastic of the gear and they may end up fracturing under the load. To avoid that, I would try to file off the sharp edges of the metal inserts (very very slightly).
Another trick to deal with the very tight metal inserts is a special insert puller tool, which could be easily made from an old shaft with a grinder:
First, you insert its head into the square hole, turn it 45 deg, then pull - saves a lot of headache.