A unitary wheel and tire assembly for a wheelchair having an axle that includes a wheel portion and a tire portion. The wheel portion is molded from a first material and has a hub for rotative mounting to the axle of the wheelchair, a plurality of spokes extending at their innermost ends radially outwardly from the hub, and a circumferential rim connecting the plurality of spokes at their outermost ends. The circumferential rim has a radially outwardly opening annular channel extending completely therearound with a plurality of spaced-apart tabs extending radially outwardly therefrom with throughbores therethrough. The tire portion is molded from a second material onto the circumferential rim of the wheel portion, and when the second material is molten, it enters and completely fills and engages the radially outwardly opening annular channel in the circumferential rim and enters and completely fills and engages the throughbores in the plurality of spaced-apart tabs in the radially outwardly opening annular channel in the circumferential rim and completely engages and encases the plurality of spaced-apart tabs in the radially outwardly opening annular channel in the circumferential rim, and when the second material has hardened, the tire portion becomes unitary and inseparable from the wheel portion without wheel structure destruction.

A caster wheel assembly for a wheeled device, such as a wheelchair, includes a housing suitable for connection to a wheeled device, a caster fork configured to mount a caster wheel for rotation, and a caster bolt connected to the caster fork and inserted into the housing for rotation within the housing. Also included is a damping insert applying a biasing force between the caster bolt and the housing to dampen the rotation of the caster bolt with respect to the housing.

A wheelchair has a frame assembly with longitudinal beams having grooves accommodating connecting members that retain the connecting members without welds on the beams. Expansion devices hold the connecting members in fixed positions on the beams. Supports secured to the connecting members are attached to wheels, a back rest, and a foot rest assembly.

A suspension fork for caster wheels providing shock absorption, comfort and safety while maintaining the original castering characteristics. A fork supporting a wheel on an axle is allowed to pivot about a second axle or pin located at the opposite end of the fork, forward and above the trailing wheel. The forward pivot is housed inside an upper block, which acts as a mounting fixture to the desired vehicle. A stem bolt protrudes from the upper block into the vehicle's caster housing containing bearings providing sideways rotation for steering purposes. The pivoting action of the fork and wheel about the upper block is controlled by a spring/dampener of polymer seated between the two blocks. Rigid tabs or mechanical lock outs limit the range of fork pivot and capture the elastomeric material until the forward pin is removed. Standardized axle and stem bolt dimensions allow the suspension caster to readily replace a conventional rigid caster fork.