How should I assemble the Mecanum wheels?

[ernest_barnes]

I have a Vex IQ bot that uses the omni wheels. They cause a lot of vibration, especially when the bot is turning.

I wanted to experiment with the Vex EDR mecanum wheels, so I bought a set. When I received them, there were no instructions or information about how the hubs should be mounted. There were two sets, one is locking and the other is non-locking. The non-locking hubs fit into the wheel without problem, but I wanted to use the locking hub. They are a really tight fit. I considered just hammering them in, but was concerned about whether the two of them that are required per wheel would line up, so the axle would fit through.

So the question is how is one supposed to get the locking hubs to fit? I hope there is a better answer than “when in doubt, get a bigger hammer.”

[Illyana]

Please, don’t hammer inserts in, because the plastic hubs could fracture. If they don’t fracture right away, they could still do later, because of extra stress.

We had multiple new wheels fracture last year and now we have to enlarge the holes with small file until you could push the inserts in, gently by hand.

Also make sure inserts don’t have very sharp corners.