Tire treatments?

[Gene Hobbs]

In racing we use additives to our tires to soften them and get better grip.
WD40 is very poplar for softening tires.

Do crawlers use such additives or is it against the rules?

[Dwill]

Originally Posted by Gene Hobbs

In racing we use additives to our tires to soften them and get better grip.
WD40 is very poplar for softening tires.

Do crawlers use such additives or is it against the rules?

I sauced the stock Treps that came with my Wrangler G6 kit a couple time because those things a reall hard. Seemed like they felt a little softer, but I can't say it made a huge difference in grip.

What did make a difference is switching them out for Pitbull Rock Beasts.

[snapon boy]

I've seen a few posts about comp crawlers doing it. If memory serves me there is a vendor for it.

Ksh team driver

[Robbob]

Careful with automotive or other petroleum based spays. We use to use them years ago with the harder rubber compounds.

A buddy of mine use Bug and Tar remover spray and it softened the tires up so much they actually swelled up.


Not speaking for scale or kit tires but most comp tires these days have incredible compounds that work well with out additives. Just something to think about.

[joe.bielski]

I used to sauce tires when I raced onroad, but you had to clean them after every heat with brake cleaner, then re-apply the sauce a while before the next heat. The effects of the compounds seemed to wear off pretty quickly. I don't know if you're comp crawling or just doing scale runs. Saucing the tires before a 7-min course on rocks might work but I don't know if it is worth it for scale.

Like Dwill said, maybe a better tire is in your future. I'm still using the 1.9 Rock beasts and they are AMAZING, but a little short for some people. Heard the Ottsix KLR's are great too.

[Sneetches]

Yeah I'm not sure how well saucing crawler tires goes. With racing, tires are discarded pretty quickly and you have to treat them pretty rigorously with the stuff.

Comp crawler tires are made to have the softest compound possible yet still crawl better as they get broken in over time. IMO the best "treatment" for them is just to wash with 50/50 simple green/water out of the bag and then sand over the surface a little bit. That'll surely get rid of any mold release and give them a little bit of "break in" to start with.

[Natedog]

Originally Posted by Sneetches

Yeah I'm not sure how well saucing crawler tires goes. With racing, tires are discarded pretty quickly and you have to treat them pretty rigorously with the stuff.

Comp crawler tires are made to have the softest compound possible yet still crawl better as they get broken in over time. IMO the best "treatment" for them is just to wash with 50/50 simple green/water out of the bag and then sand over the surface a little bit. That'll surely get rid of any mold release and give them a little bit of "break in" to start with.

This is what I do, but I use as hot a water as comes out of the fawcet after letting it run to get hot, then pour about a cup of Simple Green per gallon of water, soak a day and then scrub with teflon safe pad, rinse with plain water, dry and mount with Crawler Innovations foams.