RC10Nick

iTrader: (9)

That's actually a neat idea. I replaced the bed leveling springs on my printer with silicone bushings but didn't think to do the same with car springs. It might not scale up, but for that little pancar it seems like a cool idea.

2wdMod

iTrader: (42)

I actually cant claim the idea as mine..One of the first race grade cars I had was an associated rc12l that used a piece of silicone tubing for the center shock on the rear pod.. I was always amazed at how well that simple shock worked..

2wdMod

iTrader: (42)

BTW , just wanted to update.. I have been running my cast silicone tires on the RCP track for about 3 months now.. Still no track damage, still no issues with running purchased compounds and them not hooking up.. I am going to maintain my position that food safe silicones do not leach chemicals out and therefore do not destroy the track surface.. I will say this , the 15a wears super fast!! I have went through 3 pair of rear tires on the 1/36 car so far running 15A in R and went to 30A in front..

herbertholt33

I hope everything goes well for you! I discovered that even in the slot car industry, where silicone and urethane tires are more common, there is still strong opposition to their use. The rubber purists who know all the tire voodoo don't like that urethane tires maintain consistent high levels of grip without needing to be treated in any way similar to the dispute about brushed and brushless tires back in the very early.

2wdMod

iTrader: (42)

when silicone was outlawed there was no such thing as compounds that were food safe and didnt leach chemicals. I run about 5-6 full runs on silicone per week right now. Literally NO damage to the track surface .. NO issue with traction due to residues with purchased tires. NONE of these things that I have been told for 25 years that would happen . and its NOT like am running stock miniz ..I am running on 2s TRYING to get things to damage the track and it STILL isnt happening..Been running silicone on it like this for 5 months now. At this point I kinda wish something would happen , I am SOOO tired of running this layout, LOL.. Lord know how many laps I have turned on it at this point..LOL ,But going to keep running on it until I see damage or I hit the 1 year marker .. at that point I'm gonna call the myth busted.. The myth at hand is that silicone destroys RCP. so if you have info on THAT share away . See the issue is nobody but myself is reporting any ACTUAL experience on the matter.. Just telling me what you did about what some slot car guys say, and that silicone attacks RCP.. ALL of it seems to be 2nd hand information .. People repeating what someone else said who is just repeating what others said.. and when you google it as recently as 2016 people were still trying to use silicone caulk which is most definitely NOT food safe and DOES leach chemicals purposely to adhere to surfaces.. And THAT seems to be where the entire myth about silicone attacking RCP is coming from.. People were using silicone compounds that are chemically designed to leach to help bond to surfaces.Its caulk for cripes sake. Todays non toxic 2 part compounds are meant to be food safe so they do NOT leach chemicals . 2 completely different silicones with different cure methods. Anything pre-mixed is "Tin cured" meaning it has additional chemicals that evaporate out of it causing the curing process. 2 part silicones are cured by chemical reaction and do not need to be able to "vent " or evaporate chemicals to cure.. Tin cured compounds have to be exposed to a way to evaporate off the chemicals .. so If they are not exposed to open air they WILL NOT CURE.. Thats why your caulk is still good 3 months after you open it as long as you put the top back on the tube.. 2 part non toxic compounds are 'Platinum Cure" they do not need to be exposed to air to cure .. once mixed they will cure in the specified time regardless if they are exposed to open air or not.. Once mixed , the clock is ticking with platinum cure , you can NOT store it , or stop the reaction.

RC10Nick

iTrader: (9)

I'm actually a bit less concerned about the rules for the larger scale tires I'm working on. Interestingly the ROAR rules define a rubber tire as "a tire molded using rubber or similar synthetic material" so for my application I don't think I have too much to worry about. In fact, the way its written I think even a molded silicone tire would be completely legal. The only other statement in the rules is "tires will be black" which I find interesting. "will be" is not the same as "shall be" or "are required to be."