Good news, I removed the wheels and the brass tube sleeve I made for the axels hasn't worn down at all on any of the road wheels. Theres a small amount of play but is acceptable. I think once I've put bushings in the suspension arms it will hardly be noticable. I therefore won't be installing bearings so can scrap that from the to do list. I would recommend doing this to all HL tanks as well because the plastic axels are the first thing that wears out causing the wheels to wobble leading to alignment issues. Much cheaper and easier than BBearings too!