Adding Wheels to a Snowboard Bag

If you're like me, then you might have wished at one point or another that your snowboard bag had wheels! This tutorial will show you how to add wheels yourself so you can avoid spending money on a new bag. Also, this solution will not hurt the base of your board inside the bag. The finished product can be found here.

1. Snowboard bag

2. Thin wood board (probably 1/4" thick)

3. Two (2) wheels w/ mounting bracket (mine were 2" swivel wheels [non-swivel is better so it doesn't roll side-to-side])

4. Nuts & Bolts that fit the wheels (mine were 1/4" carriage bolts with 1/4" lock nuts) --DO NOT USE CARRIAGE BOLTS! It is almost impossible to tighten them fully due to their round/flat heads.

5. Felt/foam sliding pads w/ sticky back (used for putting under furniture to protect floor)

6. Some kind of thin, rubber sheet (for water-proofing [I used old, tire inner-tubes])

7. Tools:

- Drill (bits used were 3/16" [pilot holes] and 5/16" [bolt holes])

- Jigsaw w/ wood blade (can be any kind of saw)

- Flashlight (for visibility inside bag)

- Wrenches/pliers

- T-Snips or industrial scissors

- Pencils

Total Cost: ~$15 (your cost may differ depending on what you need/already have)

Next, take your wood board and determine how wide it should be. I did this by placing it inside my bag and then drawing approximately where I should cut it.

After the board is cut down to size, you can also shape it like the tip of a snowboard would be (shown in my hand). You can check your measurements by placing the wood in your bag to see if it fits.

Lastly, sand down the edges of the wood so that there is a smaller risk of it damaging your snowboard.

In the end, (due to some modifications) my board had the profile shown and was roughly 8-1/2" wide and 5-1/2" tall.

Next you can take your rubber source and cut two pieces that are a little bigger than your wheel's brackets. These will be used to prevent any water from entering/exiting the bag.

Place your wheel mounts on the rubber pieces and use them a templates for the pilot holes. Holes in rubber will not be that big, regardless of what size bit you use.

Flipping the board over, position your wheel mounts so that they are 3/4" away from the top and 1-1/2" away from the sides. From here you can pencil in where the holes should be drilled, or just make pilot holes. The final holes should be a little bigger than the holes on the bracket (mine was 5/16").

Now comes the tricky part (for me, at least). I HIGHLY RECOMMEND, that you place a spare piece of wood inside your bag during this step, as you are likely to drill through both sides of the bag (like I did).

First, flip the bag over so that the top is the side on the ground. Using your wood piece as a template, drill pilot holes through the bag (be careful not to go too far [the material is really thin]).

Flip the bag over again (top-side up) and place the scrap wood on the ground. Using the same bit you used for the wood holes, drill out the pilot holes. Once this step is finished, the inside of the bag should look like the third picture.

Feed your bolts through the holes in the wood (top-side down), and then apply the rubber pieces over them. Be sure to push the rubber as far down on the bolts as possible.

Next, insert the assembly into the bag and flip it over. With one hand on the inside, line the board up and push the bolts through the bag.

Apply your wheel mounts over the bolts.

Lastly, tighten down the bolts with pliers on the inside and outside. Be sure to make them tight enough to ensure a water-tight seal with the rubber.

Peel the sticky-protector sheet off the back of your sliding pads. Apply them to the bag/wood as shown in the pictures, ensuring that they create a smooth transition onto the wood. Also, try to cover any bolt-heads so they will not hurt your snowboard. This finished step should look like the third picture.

Place your snowboard in the bag, zip it up, and give it a run! The bag should follow right-behind you wherever you go.

As I stated at the intro, be sure to get non-swivel wheels. I used swivel wheels for my project and they drifted terribly. I ended up making a bracket out of foam pads and nails to hold them in one direction.

If you have any comments or questions, send me a message or leave it in the comments.

Hope this helped!

~ M i c a h