When I was a kid, the wheel rim #3482 was ubiquitous in LEGO® sets. Nowadays, it has gone out of production and is no longer used, and with good reason: the design simply wasn't that good… at least not for an injection-moulded part. Many of the rims in my collection have cracked. The LEGO replacement parts store still lists the yellow version because that was the last one ever used, but even that has been out of stock for as long as I started checking for it.

I re-modelled the rim from one of the intact parts, and I am pretty certain that when printed in the right manner, the print can be stronger than the original parts thanks to the fact that the plastic is deposited in layers perpendicular to the forces the part has to endure.

Two variations are provided: the exact model, and an ‘easyPrint’ variation. The latter is about 0.2 mm thicker on one side, which makes it entirely flush with the print bed, and as the name says, easier to print. You can post-process this into an accurate part by sanding down the thicker part of the outer rim until it is 7.20 mm wide. The extra thickness is barely visible however, and in most cases you can hide it at the inside of your LEGO model anyway.

To get the most accurate print without having to do mechanical post-processing, you should print the exact model with a support in a soluble material. You can either configure your slicer to make both a raft and supports, or use the support I provided.

Each variation also comes in a ‘tol_1’ version. This has 0.1 mm extra margin on the axle hole. This is probably the part you want to try printing first, because FDM printers tend to print tiny details slightly too small. If the tol_1 print has too loose a fit, try the exact model.

I have also made a model of the matching 3483 tire that can be printed in flexible filament.

Disclaimer: this is offered as a replacement part for personal use only and is not endorsed by the LEGO® company. It is not to be sold for profit, i.e. if you print it for someone else, you may only charge production costs.