alucard13

i know this is going to be a silly question, but when you glue the tires do you just glue the outisde of where the wheel and tire meet or do you glue the inside of where the tire and wheel meet?

also in a set of hpi tires that i got two little plastic circles came with it. what are those for? Do i put them in between anything?

me43

i belive you glue the walls of the tire that touch the wheel

RedScorp

You need to slide those "circles" which are called inserts over the rim and place them in the middle of the rim width. Then you need to put the tire rubber on the rims on top of the inserts and make sure that the insert is even across the width of the tire.

When all that is complete, have a roll of electrical tape handy and your CA (tire glue) and with the bottle in one hand take your assembled tire in the other and pull up the sidewall of the tire and run a small layer of CA around the lip of the rim and let the tire rubber sit back down on the edge. DO NOT GLUE THE COMPLETE TIRE TO THE RIM! When you have done this with both sides of the tire wrap a band of electrical tape around each edge of the tire to hold everything in place and to make sure everything gets a good glueing.

If you haven't glued tires before I would suggest you have someone that has show you first. You don't want to mess up a set of tires at close to 30 bucks a set.

Im2lazy

It is a lot easier to put the insert into the tire first. You then just pull the tire on. Before you glue your tire, make sure the bead fits properly, and the insert isn't bunched up. Rubber bands are easier, faster and reusable, so I prefer it to electrical tape, but when I forget to bring rubber bands to the track (I'm a last minute guy), I use tape. I just think it is more of a hassle. Also, don't forget to clean the tire bead with motor spray and same goes for the wheel slot that the tire bead is inserted into.

For on road rims, it would be good (but definitely not necessary) to enlarge the vent hole with a reamer or x-acto so that it is about twice the size as it was when it came from the factory.

alucard13

thanx for the info guys. I will check with my lhs to have them show me how to do it for the first time.

nitrosaurus

How long do you have to wait before you can start using the freashly glued tires?

RedScorp

Since CA bonds almost instananeously there isn't a long wait time until you can use them....unless you're using a slow acting CA. I would wait about 30 minutes to make sure everything sets before using them.

It is also important that if you are racing on a new set of tires that you put in a few practice sessions first. The reason why is because you need scuff the tires so they stick better. If you don't have time, you can use a dremel sanding bit to scuff the tire surface, a piece of sandpaper also does the same job.

Im2lazy

New tires like the Sorex, Yokomo, Take-offs and team Orion tires work best on their first runs. Older tires such as the ones offered by Proline and Losi need to be used a couple times before they are at their best.

alucard13

what about hpi tires?

popsracer

Funny, 99% of my racing is on Asphalt and I have not found any difference in grip between brand new tires and used ones. I will run my tires until the belt is showing (or the rims break).

Gluing:

I always thin Tire specific CA for my Touring Car tires. Much better bond than general hobby CA.
I rough up the Tire bead with a Dremel and sanding drum, do the same to the inside lip on the wheels with sandpaper or a Dremel wire wheel.
Mount them, then lightly peal away the bead and apply the CA in about 5-6 places (it will follow the bead around as you glue). Then quickly, holding the glued side up. wrap several layers of electrical tape on the tire edge that was just glued.
Move on the the next one. They're dry when you can no longer smell the CA. Remove the Tape and repeat on the other side.

One thing that I have noted over the years of gluing tires is that Sorex tires are a Joy to glue. The Tire bead is easy to seat and reseat when gluing. Pro-Line Tires are the biggest pain to glue.

Im2lazy

They start to overheat more quickly after a couple days of racing.

My main point was not to take a dremel tool to them, as there is no reason to. With other tires you need to, but not here.

FREAKAH

I wash the wheels and tires in a 25/75 solution of Simple Green and water to remove the mold release compounds and then rinse them thoroughly. I do this the night before I mount and glue them. I scuff the wheel bead groove and tire bead with sandpaper to make sure the CA bites. I then go about glueing them the usual way with thin CA and tape or rubber bands.

Like Popsracer, I use rubber tire specific thin CA glue. Losi or Pro-Line tire glue works great. Re-labeled cheapo hobby CA doesn't cut it cause the tire comes apart often. It aint fun to have a excellent handling car go to crap midway through a qualifier only to find out it was because your tires came off the wheel.

Use the little Teflon tube that comes with the Losi CA(or buy 'em from your LHS) to apply the glue. It makes for a clean glue joint without wasting good glue. My glue joints comes out looking like(or better) those on pre-glued off-road tires from Losi and TRC.