“Made in China” wheels

[DuckOfAllTrades]

in going through and matching the mold numbers, I noticed I had a lot of #3 molds. Inspecting them, I noticed most, 10 out of 13 were labeled “made in China” and had a few questions. They look exactly the same except for that and are labeled as official.

1. Are these wheels just as good as the Made in USA ones!
2. Are they the same?
3. Would you recommend matching #3 China with #3 USA?

I’m also curious as to HOW I wound up with them. As far as I know all my wheels are from the official kit.

Thanks in advance.

 

[Joe]

Duck,
not a pro here, from what I've seen out here in SoCal, box kits have nails with crimps and USA wheels.

The wheels from China are Revell brand wheels. They're considered official wheels and usually come in a small tube container along with axles without crimps. Most posts I've read consider them inferior because the bore is bigger and/or they weigh more. I don't know about the bore, but in terms of diameter (measured with a vernier) they are the same and they weigh the same as boxed kit USA wheels. For scout races with strict rules they are okay.

I think someone did an old switcharoo with the box contents. They could be left overs from your source pack people or someone bought them and returned them in lieu of what they found/hunted for in the box.

 

[DuckOfAllTrades]

Thanks Joe! That clears up the mystery. Now
That I think of it, I may have bought 2 wedge kits from Michaels marked official but from Revell a few years back. May have even bought wheels! I’m getting too old to remember. That makes sense. I knew something was up. Curious they all came with the same mold number, I haven’t run across them in my other mold matched sets.

When I saw them, I thought they looked cheap. I put them in a bag labeled “wheels to use for RR high wheels.” Guess they are good from something!

 

[TRE]

I will buy them from you

 

[txchemist]

Do not know present, but initially it looked like the Chinese put the same mold number on every position in the mold- not too helpful for monitoring the process ( like someone was going to do that, right?) but made it easy for everyone to find "matched" sets. China has a problem with too many PhD's and no jobs, so there are a few of them working on improving things. They have made many changes to the mold over the years and all I will say is 53 out of 54 Cub Scouts I have made prep both US and China wheels & axles and test them on the same car have a strong opinion.

 

[txchemist]

They also tested all the Revell "wood" bodies- beyond terrible! next to impossible to get a reasonable axle drill in that crud they call wood. Also ify is the out of the box pine- especially if you get a chunk near the center of the tree.
DD4H sugar pine is so superior, even a Cub can tell the difference.

 

[mike-E]

I found the Chinese wheels to be a harder plastic but the bores were about .002 bigger and about half had defects in the bores too.

 

[mike-E]

I am extremely curious to know if any pros are running "made in China" wheels. Will anyone who actually gets to see the races in person answer this question?

 

[TRE]

The top guys are winning with them

 

[Reecedad]

I am extremely curious to know if any pros are running "made in China" wheels. Will anyone who actually gets to see the races in person answer this question?

Yes, the guys winning are using them

 

[Reecedad]

I found the Chinese wheels to be a harder plastic but the bores were about .002 bigger and about half had defects in the bores too.

The Revell wheels I own all have smaller bores

 

[TRE]

The Revell wheels I own all have smaller bores

Most all of them are smaller bores

 

[txchemist]

mold changed and so look at the date- anything past 2016 for sure will have both a smaller bore ( usually smooth and uniform) and weight is less than BSA wheel- most old data does not apply anymore.

 

[mike-E]

Wow, thank you all for the responses. Any particular stores in which to purchase these new mold wheels? I bought them previously at Hobby Lobby, but the shelf has been empty for a few months, and I'm pretty sure before that the ones still around had been there for a couple years.

 

[TRE]

Revell is out of business in the us...no more pinewood derby from them

 

[mike-E]

Well, that stinks.

 

[Pinewood Outlaw]

I noticed when using the pro wheel shaver that the revel wheels seemed to shave easier than the made in U.S.A wheels....or least to me

 

[TRE]

Wow, thank you all for the responses. Any particular stores in which to purchase these new mold wheels? I bought them previously at Hobby Lobby, but the shelf has been empty for a few months, and I'm pretty sure before that the ones still around had been there for a couple years.

I have about 60 sets..i sell them machined for 40 per set

 

[Reecedad]

Would you consider selling any that are not machine?

 

[TRE]

Would you consider selling any that are not machine?

No