Any uses for plastic bearings?

[Nobbi1977 1793]

I am on kit number 4 and have started to get quite a collection of the plastic bearings. I assume 99% of builders on here scrap them for steel so what do we do with them?

Anyone come up with any practical or amusing uses?

[kiza120898 7]

I use them for self queen rcs don't need bearings for rcs that don't move

[Tamiyabigstuff 832]

They make useful spacers - used a couple on the MFU install in my Globe Liner.

I also thought they might be useful in the garden for creating a 'bird deterrent' over a vegetable patch.

Apart from that....

Maybe this will be the start of a 'Uses for plastic bearings' thread ???

[Tamiya1/10 382]

Make a necklace with the metal key as the cross center piece. You are now protected from the dark side.

[GregM 1109]

I use them as spacers, too. They can be useful here and there for some non-RC applications.

[KEV THE REV 2319]

body ride height adjusters . I also use them as spacers on axles to fill the gap between wheel nut and drive plates when I take the wheels off cars for storage so that the drive pin doesn't fall out behind the drive plate

[b3nchy 35]

+1 on spacers. I also used 1 to make a micro fishing rod reel

[markbt73 5316]

I used some once to repair a motor for something, don't remember what (old dishwasher, maybe?). It had little nylon feet that had deteriorated, and I needed something to replace them, and the plastic bushings happened to be the right inside diameter, and just a little smaller than the originals on the outside.

I think I used some for rollers/glides on a desk drawer once, too.

They also make great stand-offs for circuit boards, because they don't conduct.

Anything at all, really, except supporting gears and axles.

[Incredible_Serious 107]

I also use them as spacers on axles to fill the gap between wheel nut and drive plates when I take the wheels off cars for storage so that the drive pin doesn't fall out behind the drive plate

This right here is my main use... so you can build up a car but not have the wheels mounted. Perfect for storage, or for posting a car... you don't have to tighten the nyloc nuts down fully, and you get to keep the drive pins and hexes in place.

I've also seen them used to space out body posts... and sometimes I throw them at people on trains (well, maybe not the last one).

Alex

[danb1974 93]

Though about using them if I decide to have fun in mud/water and not care about performance but choose not to have to wash and dry the car after (rubber sealed bearings are not that sealed)

[MadInventor 3884]

If painting components like 2wd front wheels or axles, I use them with a bit of blue tack in the middle to mask off the surface that the bearing sits in. I also tend to put them back into a model before selling it and keep the added roller bearings out of it.

[Sayer 742]

..I also tend to put them back into a model before selling it and keep the added roller bearings out of it.

Jerk!

[Pintopower 1456]

I use them when I go to the beach. Just replace the bearings for the day. Sand and salt are murder on bearings.

[berman 5315]

Mini Quoits?

I don't agree with using them at all, sand and dirt will destroy your axles (and gearbox shafts) when the plastic bushing and grease form an abrasive paste and scour your axles making more slop when you replace it with another plastic bushing or even a ball race bearing.

When even club sponsor Stellamodels sell ball bearings in packs at approx 38c each there really is no excuse for a runner to be using friction bushings.

Even Tamiya is sloooooowwwwllyyy waking up and smelling the coffee.... now hows about dem pinions, Tamiya? and maybe your c**ptastic molex plugs... and while we are on the topic, lets try Lithium Polymer technology ... :lol:

[bromvw 744]

Their good to level out furniture on a uneven floor - about the only use i have for them

[Nobbi1977 1793]

There must be bags of these dam things in every house hold. Maybe we need a competition to find the best use for them or for the best item/model made from them.

[danb1974 93]

Tamiya has no interest changing from bushings and spring shocks and deans and all the '80s while they sell like icecream in the summer. And then sell upgrades for a truckload of money (many people spend on upgrades as much many as on the chassis itself).

Stop buying cheap chassis and they will begin to notice. But (almost) everyone wants cheap, so...

[skip665 169]

I keep a bag of them "just in case" but the majority go straight in the bin...!

[ukfox 347]

The plastic bushings normally go straight in the bin,

Although I have just built a shelfer that will never be run, so I used the plastic ones

I do keep the bronze bushings,

Have used the bronze ones for when running near salt water.

the normal ball races seize solid and can be a right pain to remove