Bull Found the Problem with the Castor Wheels on RT-700

[Jim6820]

This is simply a weakness of the product which could easily be remedied by the company by offering affordable, better quality replacments for sale. Or better yet, provide them free of charge to replace the bad ones they put on the RT-700.

Recteq produces price-point products; every penny counts toward reaching the price-point. And, the corporate bean counters make sure of it! That’s why the grills are produced in China where costs are lower. And, why cheaper, foreign-made parts are used. So, there’s not much chance of the company offering various upgraded parts. You get what you pay for.

This is why I try to avoid buying Chinese-made products. I knowingly made an exception when I bought my Recteq RT-340 and understood that there would be some things I would need to upgrade on my own. There were and I have!

Having owned this Chinese-made grill for a couple of years now, I am basically getting what I paid for. It smokes protein like it should. The wi-fi connection/app has never worked correctly so I use a third-party wireless thermometer to monitor cooks.

With the now-increased prices on Recteq products, I don’t think I would make an exception again. There are other choices, though more expensive, that I would go with. And, again, I would get what I’m willing to pay for. YMMV

 

[Raiderspy1]

Most likely others on this forum are aware of this, but after having replaced one of the wheels on my RT-700 because it was "bent", I realized the other day I am seeing a similar situation with the new replacement wheel. Then I remembered finding some strange small BB like looking balls on my garage floor... Bingo, the sideways pressure on the stem castors is opening up the ball bearing housing of the castor just enough to allow ball bearings to come out. This leads to a "leaning" effect on the castors when observed from a low angle.

In other words, the castors provided with the RT-700 aren't able to bear the combination of weight and sideways movement required to "spin" the castor on it's vertical axis. At least in my case that is proving to be true. Since I suspect, if I obtain another replacement castor from Recteq it will just do the same thing, I've been looking for a hefty enough replacement castor. If anyone knows of a castor with enough strength to handle the aforementioned stress please let me know.

Here are the specs on these castors:
Type: Threaded Stem Castor
Stem Length: 1.5"
Stem Width: .5"
Wheel Diameter: 3"
Total Height: 4" (From bottom of wheel to the base of the castor stem)

Thanks in advance for any suggestions.
P.S. I do not want to retrofit the entire wheel assemblies as mentioned in other threads - I just want an easy castor replacement if possible)

There is a YouTube video where a guy replaces his wheels with heavy duty wheels

 

[Raiderspy1]

Well Guys, these aren't the right size either. So please don't order them. So the 1/2' threaded stems were too wide, and the 3/8" stems are too narrow. I think I have no other choice than to try to find a local supplier where I can actually bring the bad casters in and actually make sure they match. I will update this thread once I know the TRUE width.

There is a YouTube video of a guy replacing them

 

[BugEater Keven]

All, Today I opened a warranty replacement request for my RT-700 Castoring wheels FOR THE THIRD TIME in a year. These wheels are awful and should be recalled and replaced with wheels of adequate quality so they don't fail over and over. I am guessing, based on the two warranty claims for the exact same problem (Bearings falling out of the caster housing) that Recteq will send me two more, substandard wheels. But to be honest, I think it is time they do something to fix the problem rather than bandaging it. They really should either upgrade the wheels to an acceptable level of quality, or provide affordable pricing on the RT-700 cart.

Am I the only one having these problems with the bearing falling out of the wheel housing for the caster?

 

[RHEINLEIN]

Most likely others on this forum are aware of this, but after having replaced one of the wheels on my RT-700 because it was "bent", I realized the other day I am seeing a similar situation with the new replacement wheel. Then I remembered finding some strange small BB like looking balls on my garage floor... Bingo, the sideways pressure on the stem castors is opening up the ball bearing housing of the castor just enough to allow ball bearings to come out. This leads to a "leaning" effect on the castors when observed from a low angle.

In other words, the castors provided with the RT-700 aren't able to bear the combination of weight and sideways movement required to "spin" the castor on it's vertical axis. At least in my case that is proving to be true. Since I suspect, if I obtain another replacement castor from Recteq it will just do the same thing, I've been looking for a hefty enough replacement castor. If anyone knows of a castor with enough strength to handle the aforementioned stress please let me know.

Here are the specs on these castors:
Type: Threaded Stem Castor
Stem Length: 1.5"
Stem Width: .5"
Wheel Diameter: 3"
Total Height: 4" (From bottom of wheel to the base of the castor stem)

Thanks in advance for any suggestions.
P.S. I do not want to retrofit the entire wheel assemblies as mentioned in other threads - I just want an easy castor replacement if possible)

@BugEater Keven Have you asked RT to resolve ? Perhaps they have upgrades as needed?

 

[TheRicker]

Understood. Thanks all for your feedback and assistance. I contacted Reqteq support and the bottom line is, their solution is to replace my substandard quality Reqtec casters with two more substandard quality Reqtec casters.

Although they were apologetic and promptly sent out the replacements, this leaves me with a lowered opinion of Recteq quality to the point where, I will no longer recommend the brand to others. This is simply a weakness of the product which could easily be remedied by the company by offering affordable, better quality replacments for sale. Or better yet, provide them free of charge to replace the bad ones they put on the RT-700.

It doesn't make sense that a gently used RT-700 always rolled a short distance on concrete should have multiple caster failures. I am 62 years old and always move it carefully trying to avoid additional caster failures. But they still happen. Am I the only one with this problem?

I had one of my smaller wheels lose bearings. I believe it occurred due to stopping and turning the grill in one of the expansion cuts in my concrete patio. I had no problems for 3 years. My replacement from Recteq is working fine. But I am being careful how I move it over the expansion cut which is right where I make a 90-degree turn from the patio to my covered porch.

 

[PRC]

I had one of my smaller wheels lose bearings. I believe it occurred due to stopping and turning the grill in one of the expansion cuts in my concrete patio. I had no problems for 3 years. My replacement from Recteq is working fine. But I am being careful how I move it over the expansion cut which is right where I make a 90-degree turn from the patio to my covered porch.

I just had the exact same thing happen yesterday. It was the second caster wheel failure I have had in 1 1/2 years on my 1250. My porch is made out of have pavers so it is impossible not to have the wheels in between individual pavers when turning it. The upside is RT sends out new castors very quickly. I had a Traeger for over 10 years which had similar casters and never had one failure. The difference could be the weight of the RT is much heavier than the Traeger. The RT CS guy said he believed they have upgraded the casters, that would be welcome if they really have.

 

[TheRicker]

I just had the exact same thing happen yesterday. It was the second caster wheel failure I have had in 1 1/2 years on my 1250. My porch is made out of have pavers so it is impossible not to have the wheels in between individual pavers when turning it. The upside is RT sends out new castors very quickly. I had a Traeger for over 10 years which had similar casters and never had one failure. The difference could be the weight of the RT is much heavier than the Traeger. The RT CS guy said he believed they have upgraded the casters, that would be welcome if they really have.

The expansion slots/cracks in my concert are a good 1 1/2” - 2” wide. Based on my experience, your pavers situation may be a greater challenge.

 

[BugEater Keven]

Yep, I actually hurt my back a while ago because I always lift the Rt-700 when turning it near any concrete cracks, just to avoid this problem with the wheels. I even try to keep the hopper less than half full to reduce the weight. None of this has helped in the long run. I tried to find higher quality wheels on the open market, but since these are stem casters, matching the wheel size, stem length and width to a quality caster has proven to be a challenge.

 

[Threadcutter]

All, Today I opened a warranty replacement request for my RT-700 Castoring wheels FOR THE THIRD TIME in a year. These wheels are awful and should be recalled and replaced with wheels of adequate quality so they don't fail over and over. I am guessing, based on the two warranty claims for the exact same problem (Bearings falling out of the caster housing) that Recteq will send me two more, substandard wheels. But to be honest, I think it is time they do something to fix the problem rather than bandaging it. They really should either upgrade the wheels to an acceptable level of quality, or provide affordable pricing on the RT-700 cart.

Am I the only one having these problems with the bearing falling out of the wheel housing for the caster?

It's pretty evident by now that RT are not going to fix the problem. All of the "standard" wheels and casters on the 700's are pure rubbish. Yeah, conveniently, their solution is for their customers to buy the Comp Cart. Uhhhh, no. I'll save that money (and other money) and buy one of their competitor's products the next time around. I'll happily spend more, somewhere else. Like maybe Yoder.

RT are just playing a numbers game. Sending out replacement cheap, cheesy, flimsy casters is cheaper (for them) than fixing the original problem by putting stouter casters on them as standard.

Oh, and "upgrading" them isn't necessarily a nightmare, but it ain't fun. They don't make it easy.