Tire Inserts for FAV, Sand Scorcher Wheels

[spice 1]

Does anyone know what tire inserts would be suitable for FAV and Sand Scorcher rear wheels?

Thanks.

Daniel

[mongoose1983 3335]

Hi Daniel.

Well, back in the good old days, there was no such thing as tire inserts. And actually for most vintage Tamiya RC cars the tires themselves were a huge part of the suspension. I wonder what's the reason for you to want inserts in your tires?

Cheers

[spice 1]

I am more concerned with Super Champ spike rear tires as I found them too soft and would like to firm up the tires. I thought about using cotton balls but was wondering if there is anything else more practical.

Thanks.

Daniel

[bromvw 744]

How about foam pipe lagging ? Just cut it to size .

[apsilon 0]

IMO the new tyres in the re res (at least the few I've seen) all seem to be thinner and softer than I remember the originals being. Certainly softer than the originals I still have but that could be due to age.

When I mounted one of the tyres from my new Super Hotshot the other day and gave it a squeeze it didn't return to shape as the tyre is too soft, there's no insert and there's no holes in the rim so it basically created a vacuum seal when I squeezed some air out it couldn't get back in as there's not enough pressure pushing the tread back out. I could see similar happening when you land a jump unless you seal all around the tyre very well with ca and I never bothered doing that.

I've been tossing up making some inserts or at least drilling a tiny hole in the rim. Has no one else come across this?

[WillyChang 1814]

punch a small hole or 3 (use those holepunchers for leather waistbelt) into the tyrethread between the spikes

yeah into the tyre, not the wheel

Supershot pinspikes aren't glovesoft, they should be selfsupporting.

Although the Avante did come with opencell foam donuts to stuff them with...

Frog tyres usually work best empty unless your car is abnormally heavy.

[apsilon 0]

yeah into the tyre, not the wheel

I know some people prefer to punch the tyre but why not the wheel? Most RC wheels have holes in them. In fact other than the old 2 piece wheels from my old Pajero I don't think I've seen wheels without breather holes. The original hotshot and the "gold" plated Super Hotshot wheels each have at least 4 holes.

The pin spikes are self supporting but they sag more than I remember. Much larger contact patch but I can also see the rim bottoming out over bumps.

[WillyChang 1814]

holes in wheel lets it breathe, but dust & water get sucked in & they stay in

holes in tyre tread let the dust & water escape much faster. Doesn't hurt tyre performance.

[apsilon 0]

holes in wheel lets it breathe, but dust & water get sucked in & they stay in

holes in tyre tread let the dust & water escape much faster. Doesn't hurt tyre performance.

Makes sense, anything that gets inside (though I've never had anything make it in but I don't drive through water) would be thrown to the outside while the tyre is spinning.

Back to the original topic, you can make inserts out of any foam of suitable size and firmness. It doesn't have to be a donut, a strip will work. You could glue the ends together if you wanted to.

[spice 1]

Might have some foam lying around from packaging, will try different solutions and see what works best.

Not ready to drill holes in tires, just want to firm them up for my Super Champs which I have a few currently restoring as runners.

[TA-Mark 195]

Baja 5B air cleaner foam filter is just the right size to fit onto a 1.5" wheel. You'll get 2 rear wheels from each filter. They'll make getting the wheel into the tyre very hard without destroying the foam. The wheels are hard enough to get in there without trying to be gentle to avoid damaging the "insert".