The wheels I ordered arrived today and the 5" wheels fit fine. The 6" wheels have a hole too large for the axle so I would have to add a brass tube extension or a brass inset to the wheel. At any rate, I'm not thrilled about the quality of these wheels. They seem rock hard.
So this prompted me to take another look at the inflation problem. The basic problem is that no air was going into the tire. I believe there are two reasons for this: 1) The silicon tubing over the valve is perhaps too stiff as opposed to the thin rubber tubing found on a bicycle valve and 2) the needle supplied with the wheels doesn't fit snugly in the valve. Nothing I can do right now about the first problem (but I might try to find some thin surgical tubing). For the second problem I put some tape around the end of the needle.
This seemed to work. Immediately it became VERY hard to pump air and the tires slowly started to fill. Which leads me to another question: HOW HARD SHOULD INFLATABLE TIRES BE? Mine seems to be as inflated as I can get it now and it still seems pretty soft...definitely too soft for a model of this weight.
So it's Goldielock's time: These wheels are TOO hard; these wheels are TOO soft...
Last edited by abufletcher; 02-24-2015 at 06:04 AM.