Beach Walker: Golf Cart Wheels How-To

THIS POST IS LONG.
You may have noticed that in some of the videos, E's Beach Walker has different back wheels. That's b/c my Dad was trying to see what "type" of wheels might work best. Below are shown two types.

TYPE 1.

When we were at the beach, my Dad said that the wheels he had fit perfectly--but they were on a golf cart (or caddy, I'm not sure of the right term) that he got used, and he hadn't seen that type again. Anyway, here is that cart and the wheel, shown front and back:




In order to mount this wheel to our Beach Model walker, you'll need 4 things: a screw (cut short with a hacksaw--and I don't know the diameter b/c Dad just used one that he already had, that happened to fit into the wheel axle), two washers, and a 1"-to-1 1/2" PVC adapter piece.


1. Put the adapter piece flush with the inner part of the golf cart wheel, with the lip against the wheel (if you reverse this, the wheel won't mount). This part just happens to fit right on this particular wheel just right.


2. Put on the washers--large first, than small.


3. Place the screw through the washers, into the golf cart wheel fitting and turn until tight.




Voila! This adapter piece fits right into the bottom 1 1/2" piece of the Beach Walker. FYI: I have not cemented in the bottom pieces, all shown in the above picture. That way, if E suddenly gets bigger and we need to add a section, or we have to change a wheel, we just take it off. With enough pressure, the bottom wheels stay on just fine without cement.

TYPE 2.

There is another "standard" golf cart wheel, my Dad says these are what he sees in stores. You can still use them, but they can be a little tricky. All you need for this model is a 1"-to-1 1/2" PVC adapter, and a file. Here is that model, shown front and back:


1. To get this wheel off, all you have to do is flip open the wheel lock (shown open, by Dad's thumb) and it comes right out. (Note: the white PVC part, though shown below, isn't part of the normal golf cart assembly.) The portion that attaches the wheel to the cart looks like a black rectangle with a little jut sticking out on one side (the part that locks the wheel in place).


2. The adapter piece (again, lip-side toward the wheel) fits over this black box. It is an extremely tight fit. Most likely, you'll need to file down the edges of the black rectangle to get it to fit into the PVC adapter. Don't file down too much; you want to file it down just enough so that you can force it into the PVC adapter. Make sure the adapter is facing the right way, b/c once you get it on, it isn't coming off. The best way to force the PVC over the rectangular piece is to hammer a flush "buffer" over the PVC adapter (we used another PVC piece and a washer to get even pressure while hammering--shown below).


hammer assembly: place another piece of PVC, then a washer; turn wheel-side down: hammer away!


Just fit this wheel into the bottom of the Beach Walker as shown in the previous example. These wheels roll extremely well, are very lightweight, and are pretty big. I haven't seen golf cart wheels for sale separate from the golf cart; it could be b/c I'm looking under the wrong search term. Either way, I imagine there's a way to buy these wheels (ahem; cheap) without having to buy the cart. I imagine a pro shop or a secondhand store (craigslist even) may help.