Urethane tires

[BARC 1]

When Running no mag cars tire choice is a big deal when trying to find traction. Recently I have found a great source of rims and inserts that cater to the static modellers. The rubber that comes with them is decent, but the cars still need more grip, Unable to find any tires made commercially I ordered up the supplies i needed and cast some tires. The results have been good. 1/43 scale tires take very little product. The smallest urethane set I could buy has enough material to do hundreds of tires.

They are almost too grippy, and I have started blending some inert material in with the rubber to lessen their adhesion to the track. Base material has a shore hardness of 30, so my suggestion would be to start with 40 if anyone else is thinking of this.

Cheers

Dan

[LloydL]

Yes, for our purposes Shore A40 is the usual choice, too much grip can make the cars fall over.

What make of urethane are you using, and what did you use for pigment?

Regards, Lloyd.

[BARC 1]

Vytaflex with a black pigment I use for tinting resin. One drop in 30 cc will turn the stuff black.

I got the grip worked out now, and the cars are pretty quick with these tires, but I wish I would have started with the Shore 40. Also I may have been too quick to run trials with them. A couple of days later they are not so sticky as they were coming out of the mold.

[pfuetze]

i learned that you should wait a week until using new casted tires ...
too much grip? is there such a thing? i do not think so! :D :D :D

[RichD]

When I was testing urethane tires for Super Tires I noticed that they always had more grip if they had not been used.

[BARC 1]

Yes, I believe probably a week after casting them would be a better indication of true grip. Right out of the mold they are very sticky. Rear end jumps around like rabbit with these cars having no differential. The longer i leave the tires the smoother the drive, so the lesson I learned from this is to cast and then let set a least 3 days.

Cheers

Dan

[Dangermouse]

When I true these tyres I use really fine wet and dry sand paper - start with 600 and go up to 1200

[BARC 1]

Really, that fine. I am using 400, but I will have to try getting them smoother.