Retail wheels and axles
Rookie question: When a race is for a modified car but it states retail wheels and axels or FTE allowed, does that mean you have to use the exact wheels and axels that came on that car, or can you take another wheel set off another factory car and use. Specifically is it acceptable to trade a car that came out with real riders for a normal factory set in a build?
Discussion
Rookie answer:
Rubber for show, plastic for go.
That's all you really need to know.
- Th! — TripleCrossRacers
- yup, and hey dude! haven't heard from ya in a bit, glad to see ya back! — dr_dodge
Can you buy plastic wheels? All I see from Amazon, Etsy, Temu etc. are rubber. Do you have to just refurb or swap from other Hot Wheel cars?
- You will find very little online in the way of non-rubber tires. Wheel and Axel swaps are usually tyhe way to go unless you make your own axels. — JBlotner42
- Welcome to Redline Derby new comer! — Dutch_Clutch_Racing
- I typically use the fantasy peg warmers at my local Walmart and grocery store for wheel donors. — HSLmotorsports
- Yes, I was given some plastic wheels/axles to try long ago. And at the time I checked, one could buy them online. The wheels in the small sample I got, were quite good quality, on a .8mm axle. However in cost terms, much cheaper to buy Hot Wheels donor cars, especially when they are on sale. Cheers. — CutRock_R_Marc_D
After more searching of the Interwebs than I want to admit, I did find plastic wheels for hot wheels cars. It's from a guy in Indonesia, who goes by the name threeinches on eBay. But as Cutrock_R correctly identifies it's not cheap, but they are high-quality. You are better off as others have suggested buying models that are suitable for swapping off of the pegs. I try to keep two or three models in stock in my cabinet for the inevitable swap.
As a semi-noob, I think the only truely viable method currently is to buy and test tons of cars, find the fast ones and either use them as the basis for your build or farm the wheels for your next build. Guys who have been hot wheels hoarders for years have an advantage in that they have purchased, along the way, a pile of cars that are no longer available on the pegs. Some of those cars are known to be top performers and more often than not, have good wheel sets. Those of us new to racing and hoarding are at a disadvantage because trying to find and purchase those cars can be mighty expensive.
We do have a bit of an advantage being a member on this great site in that guys will routinely post about the cars they find and their performance as well as race results that give insight into some potentially fast cars.
So bottom line... you need to buy a lot of cars and you need a test drag track and start your search for speed if you want to be a top competitor... or you can do like me and buy one offs from the pegs or ebay, mod them as best you can and hope the wheels on that car you found are good enough to get you down the track with a decent time. You probably won't be super competitive but you will learn build skills and be able to enjoy racing while you build a knowledge and skill base that can help you decide if you want to dive deeper into diecast racing.
Enjoy the ride!
- If I am building a racecar, I always try to start with 3 cars. best wheels, and it is also surprising how the same castings are very different — dr_dodge
- Yes indeed! I wish I had 3 of the same castings for cars to choose from... — Stoopid_Fish_Racing
It typically means that the only wheels/axles you can use are ones from other Hot Wheels/Matchbox. Some builders use sewing pins as axles which means they aren't allowed in this type of race. In most cases, it's alright to farm the wheels off of another car though. Sometimes race hosts will go a step further with rules and specify you can only use black wheels (no clear/color ones) for realism.
To answer your final question, yes you can put plastic wheels on a car that originally came with real riders.