The Project
Make some super light super cheap super robust 6" wheels for my beetle weight Real Genius
Design Goals
- Cheap
- Light
- Easy to make
- Robust
Things needed
- Foam Roller
- Silicon Caulk (for traction)
- 3d printed hub
- Dead Axel (I knew it was a non starter to direct mount these)
The Story
These wheels ride on a dead axel in Real Genius and are gear driven from 2 84:1 planetary gear motors.
I ordered a few foam rollers from Amazon, printed a cutting and drilling jig, cut them by hand, used a router to pocket them, then chamfered them by hand.
Real Genius Drive Setup


Build Sequence:
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The Results
These wheels worked great and held up remarkably well. I took 3rd at Sept 21 WRC and didn't change wheels once.