fyi, the axle bolts are 1/4-20x2"

picked up some stainless ones from HD yesterday after hacksawing my existing ones out....
now if i can just get some of the spacer/bushings from LW

well the transplant didn't go as well as hoped
sawed out both wheels, managed to extract one bolt stub with dremel wheel and flathead screwdriver easy enough

other one wouldn't budge (even though i made sure it turned in and out with wrench before cutting loose the wheel)

drilled it out to try to get it extracted with a small screw/nut, didn't work, bought a cheap screw extractor kit, the smaller one rounded off where the wrench is supposed to turn it, and the larger one i tried next snapped off right at the surface level of the housing.
tried dremel wheel and screwdriver trick again with no luck, put a few drops of pb blaster in from other side to sit overnight and i'll try it again tomorrow.

have a feeling i'll be calling LW to see about sending it back for a new bottom casing and general refresh

Time to get a cutting torch !

See if you can turn it the other way (in) and thread it through into the inside of the bag. Not sure if every generation of the bottom is the same but on my bag i was able to access the inside ends of the bolts behind the liner and pull one stub through that way..

yeah i tried both ways, not sure what happened between breaking the bolts loose and cutting out the wheels

emailed lw/sos see what they say
might just ask if i can buy a new bottom casing and the rivets to replace the old one.

Put something heavy behind the frame part (like another hammer or vice) when you hit it with a big F hammer. The part is probably just bouncing absorbing your blows.
Don't let it win.

Sounds like your attempt to replace the wheels is turning out similar to mine. I ended up taking a block of hardwood and drilling out a hole with a foersner bit. The hole needs to be slightly larger than the axle bolt, but still small enough where the circumference supports the wheel housing. I then chucked up a steel punch in a rivet gun and drove the axle out.

I, of course, applied liberal amounts of PB Blaster and even made up a few new cuss words along the way. I even managed to bang the bejesus out of a finger or two. Ah, memories.

I also tried heat and cold in hopes of taking advantage of a disparity in rates of thermal expansion. Heat is pretty obvious--use a torch. For cold, one easy source is a can of compressed air shaken and turned upside down.

Kids, don't try this at home! :-)

My Feedback.

This is my third LuggageWorks bag. It is the larger bag, 25.5" tall. I've had another tall and the shorter one before this.

In less than two years, deadheading on Delta and American has killed this bag. Both DAL and AA have collapsed it, DAL twice! By collapse I mean they diagonally crushed the bag, making it a trapezoid instead of a rectangle! The zippers tabs on the sides of the bags have broken off. The screws for the top rings on the extendable roller bar have been missing for quite a while.

Also the ring that holds an extra bag (a pubs brief case, or pubs kit, or back pack)... I've had two broken by the airlines. They don't last either.

In short, this bag is way too heavy and it can't hold up to the abuse of the legacies.

I'm not buying a fourth. I'm sorry.

i ended up ordering a new bottom casing, once the old one is out i'll see if some local machinist might have the wherewithal to get the extrator and remains of the bolt out with out damaging the casing threading.
if he can't oh well, if he can, then i'll install it into my first pns bag that has a busted plate on the wheel casing (where the axle bolt head rests)

...and just 2 years later we've got Stealth Premier


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