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Reading the excellent replies to the thread "Questions from a novice on magnet free cars" got me to think about a question that I had thought about many times before but never posted on. I didn't want to hijack that thread so I'll post it here.

If you true a set of Zero Grip tires do they lose their zero grip properties?

It's difficult to know if the tires are in fact 100% true until you take them to a tire truer and see the results. I've never trued Zero Grips, assuming that to do so would ruin their low friction properties. That, and SCANC doesn't allow Zero Grips for most classes. But proxy racing is a different story. What's a racer to do?

Thanks for that Alwyn. Your reply brings up another question regarding applying varnish. When I've tried that in the past I usually get results that are visibly not true, meaning I would need to true the tires again, bringing me back to my original question. I have been thinking about something different - truing the tires with a bit of camber so the tire rides along a thin ridge. But where to put the ridge - on the outer edge, the inner edge, or along the centerline of the tire?

Early Mattel Hot Wheels were designed in a somewhat similar fashion. The thought being that this would reduce rolling resistance.

I always true zero grip tires and then coat them with two coats of super glue and then re-true them.

I put silicone tires on the front of a car to see if it helped or hurt the performance. Didn't notice a difference. My thinking was if the front tires got some grip maybe it would eliminate some side loading on the guide flag. I know a guy who always waxes his guide flag before each race to help it slide through the slot easier. Don't know if it helps or not but I don't think it could hurt.

I sand mine at a slight angle so the outer ridge rides the track. I do it that way simply for the overall appearance of the car. Less contact either way, inner or outer, and I have tested and not seen any difference.

I don't use nail polish or superglue anymore. Dislike the sound of the "marbles on a table" sound.

Zero grip can be achieved without all of that.

Most times, just run the car. The fronts will get dirty and basically be zero grip very quickly. I sometimes coat them with FUTURE to speed up the process. It makes anything zero grip without that horrible sound.

No rules prevent my methods, so I imagine it depends on where and who you race with.

Hi Steve, Not only do I true all fronts tires including "Zero" grips (truing will not affect the "Zero" ;) ), but, I think it is a very good idea to glue them first........while fronts (particularly "Zero's" and any coated tire) really do not suffer from much lateral loading, all you need is one flukey off (where the tire may catch something) to lift it from the wheel,....so,...two minutes worth of work is a good piece of insurance to my mind.

If you can coat them (rules) by all means go ahead, and you can add running independently rotating front wheels into the mix.....neither of these will dramatically alter the performance of the car,..but,....everything counts in small amounts. :)

Cheers
Chris Walker

PS You certainly can camber the front tires (larger dia. on the outside for our cars), but if you have nice slippery, round, independently rotating front wheels, the difference in friction is virtually non existent.
Cambering the front tires (larger dia. on the inside) was experimented with quite extensively several years ago, but, the cars then had sponge tires (unlike the relatively "hard" tires on todays cars), and this was thought to let the front end transition (roll) progressively, as the outside rear tire compressed......lots of discussion/theories on this , but, this is a different thread ;)

Thanks for your advice Chris. Also for your advice on the axle tube for the NSR motor pod. I'm using one with an NSR angle winder and it has made a big improvement in the handling of the car. Much less chatter and hop now. :)

I finished 7th in the GRP5 proxy as well as a top qualifying car with stock plastic rims an tyres....
So I didn’t glue or true the fronts.... Go figure.....

Rossko

Maybe you would have finished better than 7th if you had glued/trued ;)

Why would you add anything to zero grip tires? Nail polish, or anything? Then what is the point of having zero grip tires. Are they not zero grip out of the package? So all along I’ve been wasting $ on labeled zero grip tires?!

Quick thought, hopefully without thread jacking. I attribute front wheel drag to the fact that with a solid one piece axle both wheels are rotating at the same speed, while when cornering the outer one needs to turn faster. That means one or both front tires will be dragging/slipping at times, and both can effect performance.

If the front wheels can turn independently wouldn't this eliminate most of the issue. For this reason I like chassis setups that don't have a solid front axle. Is there a relatively simple way to make this happen with solid axles and press on wheels?