Drift Tire Question

[taliesin]

Does anyone have any tips for mounting the hard drift tires onto the wheels? The tires are very stiff and have small ridges inside corresponding to the glue channels on the wheel, but they are way to stiff to just pop over the edge of the rim.

Boil them? Heat gun? Gorilla strength?

I know there is a trick I'm missing, right?

[floppydisk35]

Does anyone have any tips for mounting the hard drift tires onto the wheels? The tires are very stiff and have small ridges inside corresponding to the glue channels on the wheel, but they are way to stiff to just pop over the edge of the rim.

Boil them? Heat gun? Gorilla strength?

I know there is a trick I'm missing, right?

I managed to ruin them into trying to fit them over a wheel. And there's nothing on Google.

[Jonny555]

I mounted some a few weeks back for a friend. I put them in hot water for a short while and they went onto the wheel easily.

[taliesin]

How long do they need to dry then before gluing?

Hot water like boiling hot?

[Bluefoot]

I managed to get mine on using a heat-gun, difficult though. You need to heat them up until they are softish, I think I would try boiling water next time.

No need to glue them - they are tight-as.

[redzone]

no no no, by FAR the easiest way is to put them in an oven on a 60 degree setting for a few minutes until they're hot but not too hot to touch, then they push straight on. no need to glue them.

also make sure u lay them flat in the oven, less chance of deformation then.

i have done it this way HEAPS of times, never had a problem, not one deformation. mates have tried boiling water but it doesnt work anywhere near as well.

[VagabondStarJXF]

I put mine (a set of directional HPI T-Drifts) in hot but not quite boiling water then, one at a time, I place them on a clean flat surface, put a wheel in place on top of it (face down) then, using something hard and flat (like a table/place mat), I pressed down firmly until the first ridge is passed, then I checked it to see how it is doing before pressing it over the second ridge. It takes a bit of effort and you need to work reasonably fast to get the wheel on before the tyre cools too much. My only warning is that I haven't figured a way to remove them without either ruining the tyre or the wheel so make sure they're on the wheels you want to use and that they're correctly aligned if they're directional tyres. I almost made the mistake of putting the tyres the wrong way round. Thankfully I spotted my mistake at the point where I checked to see how it was fitting.

edit:

I don't think they need gluing. They're so tight fitting that they don't move at all.

[bjr250]

I put mine (a set of directional HPI T-Drifts) in hot but not quite boiling water then, one at a time, I place them on a clean flat surface, put a wheel in place on top of it (face down) then, using something hard and flat (like a table/place mat), I pressed down firmly until the first ridge is passed, then I checked it to see how it is doing before pressing it over the second ridge. It takes a bit of effort and you need to work reasonably fast to get the wheel on before the tyre cools too much. My only warning is that I haven't figured a way to remove them without either ruining the tyre or the wheel so make sure they're on the wheels you want to use and that they're correctly aligned if they're directional tyres. I almost made the mistake of putting the tyres the wrong way round. Thankfully I spotted my mistake at the point where I checked to see how it was fitting.

edit:

I don't think they need gluing. They're so tight fitting that they don't move at all.

My method for HPI T-Drifts is similar to this but I use a hair dryer ( a heat gun would be better) as the source of heat.

I place the tyre on the tiled bathroom floor (any flat hard surface would do) and aim the hair dryer at the middle of the tyre and wait until I can feel that the tread of the tyre has heated up.

Working quickly I then place the wheel on top of the tyre and stand on the assembly so that my heal will push the wheel into the tyre by using my body weight.

It is possible to do the two step method for getting them over the ridges as described above and this is highly recommended

[taliesin]

I'm glad to see this wasn't a stupid question - I was having serious difficulty getting them onto the rims and I thought I must be doing something very wrong. Turns out it really is that hard to get them on the wheels! Thank you for all the replies. I will give it a second try now.

[Skottoman]

I also had problems, but this is what I did, and it worked easily!

Put the tires in HOT water. Not boiling, hot enough you can reach into the bowl and pull them out.

Put the rims in the FREEZER.

Once all are up to temp, grab ONE rim, and ONE tire. Set the rim on it's back. Put the tire on top, and with the palm of your hand, PRESS it all the way down.

Snapped right on. No problems. If one gives you problems, put it back in the Hot water or Freezer.

Easy as that.

Cheers,

Skottoman

[taliesin]

I like the simplicity of that. Will try!

[slydar]

boil kettle. pour into cup. drop tire in. keep it submerged with a fork/other random kitchen object. leave it there for 30/35 seconds. scoop it out with said object. work in onto rim with hands.

its good to have something pointy handy, the inner bead doesnt always seat perfectly.

no glue needed.

[redzone]

why not just use an oven? its a billion times easier..