Tamiya Vintage Wheels and Tires

[Kalameja]

I'd love some recommendations for set of street tires that will fit the vintage Hornet/grasshopper/etc. 

I've heard the Brat tires could work but the wheels don't look like they will fit the axles. 

I bought a set of 1.6 slicks but they inside diameter is too big and do not grip the wheel at all. 

Suggestions?

 

[Biz73]

Awhile back I bought set of stainless steel wheel hardware from Team CRP. It came with axle nuts that weren't as thick as the Tamiya ones and it allowed me to put FAV wheels on Grasshopper. They use the same tires as the Brat. It works great, and the upside is that the hardware is cap screws instead of phillips.

[mongoose1983]

3 hours ago, Kalameja said:

I'd love some recommendations for set of street tires that will fit the vintage Hornet/grasshopper/etc. 

I've heard the Brat tires could work but the wheels don't look like they will fit the axles. 

I bought a set of 1.6 slicks but they inside diameter is too big and do not grip the wheel at all. 

Suggestions?

You can use all them alright, Subaru Brat, Fast Attack Vehicle, Rough Rider. Although they look different, they are direct fit!

 

[Jason1145]

4 hours ago, mongoose1983 said:

You can use all them alright, Subaru Brat, Fast Attack Vehicle, Rough Rider. Although they look different, they are direct fit!

 

The Hornet tyres look like they can wear out quickly on tarmac, would the Grasshopper ones last better?

[KEV THE REV]

The GH tyres are off-road / sand tyres and won't last long , FAV or Buggy Champ are probably the best option tyres / wheels and they are in good supply

[Static Age]

6 hours ago, mongoose1983 said:

You can use all them alright, Subaru Brat, Fast Attack Vehicle, Rough Rider. Although they look different, they are direct fit!

 

This is the cheapest & easiest solution. The other option is hex adaptors which will allow you to fit a huge choice of modern wheels & tyres. Ruins the look of the vintage buggy's in my opinion. 

 

[Jason1145]

Well I don’t know about Kalemaja but I think I’ll grab a set of those FAV rear tyres for my Hornet, thanks gents.

[Static Age]

You'll need the FAV or Brat rear wheels too.

[Jason1145]

1 hour ago, Static Age said:

You'll need the FAV or Brat rear wheels too.

****, I read this as the FAV rear tyres would fit the Hornet rear wheels!

[KEV THE REV]

I did point out 'wheels & tyres'  in my reply , get some & get bashing , you know you'll love it !!

[Jason1145]

Yeah I think it was Mongooses reply that misled me... poop!

Well I've got some rear FAV tyres on the way to me now... I'm gonna try fit them on my Hornet wheels atleast then I'll know exactly what the deal is

For clarity, how are the FAV wheels different to the Hornet?

[Terz1]

I think they are larger but visually look very similar. I made the same mistake once and ordered a set of fav tyres then found out later the inner diameter of the tyre would be too large. The company were nice though and let me cancel the order. Hopefully simeone can confirm this.

[KEV THE REV]

fav etc f and r wheels are larger diameter than gh and hornet 

[Kalameja]

Thanks for the feedback! I'll grab a set of new tires and a vintage set of Brat wheels. No need to modify the wheels to work with the Hornet stock axles?

[Kalameja]

18 hours ago, mongoose1983 said:

You can use all them alright, Subaru Brat, Fast Attack Vehicle, Rough Rider. Although they look different, they are direct fit!

 

Tires will work but only with Brat wheels, correct? You can't use Hornet stock rims/wheels with the Brat wheels. Correct?

Will the Brat styles wheels work with stock Hornet axles and the 5 pronged disc?

[Saito2]

Correct. You can't use stock Hornet rims/wheels with Brat tires. Yes, the Brat wheels and tires will fit the stock Hornet 5 pronged disc wheel adapter.

[Biz73]

I don't know how thick the Brat wheels are, but with FAV wheels the nylon on the axle nut barely touches the threads, especially with the taper at the very end of the axle. It might be fine, but I didn't feel confident that it would lock. I got a set of Team CRP stainless wheel hardware(part #5140) and it came with thinner axle nuts. You can just slightly sand the FAV wheels to make them thinner.

 

[Jason1145]

Pfft totally lost now.

ive got a Hornet.

Ive ordered FAV rear tyres.

do I need to order FAV rear wheels to fit the FAV rear tyres and will these FAV rear wheels fit onto my Hornet?

Or after what Biz said should I buy Brat rear wheels to fit my FAV rear tyres on as they will have more axle thread showing than the FAV rear wheel?

 

[mongoose1983]

1 hour ago, Jason1145 said:

Pfft totally lost now.

ive got a Hornet.

Ive ordered FAV rear tyres.

do I need to order FAV rear wheels to fit the FAV rear tyres and will these FAV rear wheels fit onto my Hornet?

Or after what Biz said should I buy Brat rear wheels to fit my FAV rear tyres on as they will have more axle thread showing than the FAV rear wheel?

You can use Brat or FAV wheels with the tires, Jason. Also, all of the off-road buggy wheels made by Tamiya between 1979 and 1985 fit the exact same adapter on the axle, so you can use any type. You can even use original Holiday Buggy / Sand Rover rear wheel/tire combination!

• Rough Rider, Subaru Brat, and Fast Attack Vehicle rear tires are the exactly same.
• Rough Rider and Fast Attack Vehicle wheels are the exact same wheel, only different color.
• Rough Rider and FAV wheels are NOT the same as Brat, but both type of wheels go with the same tire (Sand Blaster 915).

Have a good weekend!

[Jason1145]

Thank you Mongoose, I only want streetctyres as I've worn those knobbly tyres down quickly in the past,  I'll look to grab a set of FAV rear wheels now, have a great weekend too.

[KEV THE REV]

Good choice , and if you add the FAV front wheels and tyres you will have the on road rubber you need , and the style will still be 'buggy' and have the original look

[Frog Jumper]

Cut from another thread:  " The BC/FAV/RR wheels are 1.75 inches. The Hornet/GH/SC/SS/F wheels are 1.5 inches. "

The Brat wheels are also 1.75", but are slightly different (4 spoke instead of 5).  They should fit regardless, the difference is purely aesthetic, IMO.  There might be slight differences in offset/thickness, but I've never noticed on my Frog...  The Brat front wheels will also fit the rear tires from the BC/FAV/RR, instead of the front tires.  

Blackfoot wheels should also fit onto most of these vehicles (since it used the same hub style), but there may be other issues (the Frog's front bumper restricts how large your tires can be for instance).

Hope this helps a little...

Terry

 

[Frog Jumper]

And to your questions about recommending a street tire for your GH, I recommend using the Brat wheels and tires on all four corners.  I did this shortly for my own GH before moving onto 2.2 HPI wheels and 2.2 Pro-Line tires...

Terry

 

[Biz73]

Quote

 

These guys have had no issues, so I guess it's not an issue. These guys would have more experience than me.

The point I was trying to make is that the nylon at the end of the axle nut barely catches the thread, and there is a slight taper at the end of the axle. I didn't feel comfortable running it because I didn't want it to rattle loose and lose it halfway through a run. I've been skateboarding most of my life and have had bad experiences when a kingpin nut rattles loose and your hanger falls off at the wrong time, so I'm more paranoid than most

[Biz73]

The pic is with the thinner bolt, and the first thread of the axle is just popping through.