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I noticed in one of my boxes my older Carrera tires were melting. What gives - has that ever happened to anybody elses Carrera tires? I was wondering if the humidity of the tropics (Hawaii) has anything to do with it?

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Yikes!

I live in Florida and several of my Carrera cars have had the same problem. Tires turning to goo.

I think you'll find that it happens to a variety of cars around the globe. I keep hoping someone starts making replacement fronts before they all disappear.

Yes, and my cars live in a cozy 74 degrees.

Hey guys, I make a bunch of sizes that fit all kinds of Carrera 1/32 front wheels....
PGT-19094LMXD, PGT-20093LMXD, PGT-20094LMXD, PGT-19104LM, PGT-19105LM, PGT-20105LM for most modern cars...997GT3, AM Vantage, Audi R8, Ferrari 458, MB SLS, to name a few...

PGT-21073SE, PGT-21073XD, PGT-21083, PGT-21083XD, PGT-21093, PGT-21093XD, for the Classics...

If you check out Carrera Slots in Buffalo, they custom order several repop fronts for the Porsche 917/30, Lola, McLaren's, modern F1, etc... http://www.carreraslots.com/

Hope this helps... cheers

Melting Carrera tires has been going on for a long time. Usually it's all 4 but the issue comes when it's the fronts cause no one makes them specifically. If you can figure out which of PG's tires fit the fronts that has been the only option.

Dave

Also, many of us have already replaced the rear tires with some that have more grip. I rarely replace fronts unless they go to goo.

I'm at the point with Carrera where I just add the cost of PG tires to the car b/c their tires are so bad (even before they melt). As has been stated here, you are not alone in having tire issues, although your case is definitely more extreme than anything I've faced.

I am assuming that there has been no exposure to tire glue, lighter fluid or any other nonsense on these tires. Also, I have seen tires destabilize after extensive sanding. I can also say from my own experience that storage of cars in airtight containers seems eliminate the problem entirely.

I don't know the chemical reason slot car tires become unstable, but I first saw it on Fly cars a decade ago. Since then, others have followed with similar, but not the same problem, but having the same result. Scaley cars, other than the oldest ones, have a unique breaking down process, Fly, of course, but not always, AutoArt, Ninco, GUM, SCX, etc, all seem to have it happen and not always under hot, humid conditions. I have seen Fly tires that melted in the original box, still sealed. Same with Ninco. This is the first I ever heard of it on Carrera, and I wonder if the tires that melted might have been from a swap done years ago to lower the front end. There were several Fly fronts that fit some Carreras, and they lowered the front end well into the slot for better handling by simply making the tires thinner up front. It was commonplace swap to do years ago.

Hi Rob I see where your coming from on the tires, the old Artins seemed to have a better shelf life than most others, but not sure why.
On my Carrera cars I have had 2 things occur. The tires have either turned stone hard and no sanding will fix it, or the tires have turned to gooo like innthe original post. Seeing as how we run them in stock form without additives or goop, it is something in the production process. Really the only bad thing I can say about the Carrera cars is the inconsistency with the tires.. I have even pulled them and stored them in a airtight sealer bag between uses but it still degrades. It is one of Lifes mysteries.
Bob

Fly tyres front and rear leak an oily substance and go rock hard -
Carrera tyres front and rear can go to goo - I have 2 Carrera Nissan GT500 on one the tyres went to go and the other are fine. I replaced the rear tyres on a few Carrera cars - placed the originals in a small ziplock bag - was looking through my tyres and found a couple of packets off goo.
Ninco and SCX tyres are generally the most stable in terms of shelf life
Scalextric are ok as well though I have had them dry out and crack.
Don't use a lot of slot.it tyres but haven't had a lot of trouble with them - the same with NSR - though I have had a couple of NSR tyres go hard and split.

Agree David, but I dont put Slot it and NSR intomthe same class as the others since they come in different formulas etc. However your point about SCX tires is very valid. Our group run a SCX stock Nascar class, and we rarely have one go bad before it is worn out.
Bob

So, there you go... From Hawaii to Fla, to South Miss, to NY, Mich, Ohio, Virginia, Ontario, and Australia, we all watch our tires, and at some point, we all more or lesws experience goopy tires. On the other hand I remember, and I bet others do too, when slot car tires just more or less dissolved in the air over time, right! I'd rather have tires that grip and tell me something about the car's balance at first, than finding it a mystery later, eh? Honestly, I love the stock tires these days...