Tips for softening tires

[Crawk4life]

I'm doing a big military scx build with a top kick body and smt10 bkt wheels. Will start a build log soon. Is there something I can soak the weels in or other tips to soften the foams a little and rubber? I love the look and size but just a wee bit stiff. Or any ideas I'm open to. Like maybe a few breather holes in the tires or rims or who knows. That's why I'm asking for advice.

[Brake Weight]

I don't ford any water so I put holes in my wheels. If you like to play in water then put holes in the tires and you can sling the water out mostly.

Crawler Innovations has narrow foams that should work well in a scale milspec looking tire. I prefer the Double Deuce variety.

[MUF DVR]

Each and every new tire I purchase gets a Simple Green bath directly from the bag.

[Crawk4life]

That's all I use to wash my rigs and tires. How long would you recommend they soak for?

[MUF DVR]

I don't have a set time. I usually let them soak overnight or when the Wifey complains about rc tires in the sink again.

[Crawk4life]

Yeah my wifey hates the smell of simple green too lol

[JatoTheRipper]

Diesel fuel. Racers love it, but obviously it has been banned at every track that I know of.

Soaking them in Simple Green / Mean Green works to a certain extent.

When I stopped racing off-road a certain type of Liquid Wrench was all the rage.

[xCoolHandLukex]

Spray with WD-40 or a penetrating oil and seal then in a ziplock and put them somewhere where warm. Keep checking them until they are soft as you like. Be carful as some tires break down faster than others and will turn to glue. I've left proline tires in the bag for days and resprayed them multiple times to get them the way I want and I've had some Losi tires that only took a few hours.


I typed this almost auto correctly free

[EeePee]

Hah, a thread like this was overdue. Nothing helps in reality. If the tires stink, they stink. It's like trying to fix stupid. Try the search button if you don't believe me. Clean them with warm soapy water or simple green to make them clean. Once they rotate once or twice on rocks or dirt all was for naught.

WD40 and kerosene and suck just destroys tires. Again, search button.

Some will say I'm wrong I'm sure but the majority of experienced people won't.

[JatoTheRipper]

Originally Posted by EeePee

Hah, a thread like this was overdue. Nothing helps in reality. If the tires stink, they stink. It's like trying to fix stupid. Try the search button if you don't believe me. Clean them with warm soapy water or simple green to make them clean. Once they rotate once or twice on rocks or dirt all was for naught.

WD40 and kerosene and suck just destroys tires. Again, search button.

Some will say I'm wrong I'm sure but the majority of experienced people won't.

He asked if he could soften the rubber. It's chemically possible. Will he like the results? Probably not. If he does he won't like how the life of the tire is reduced.

I forgot this. Axial has released an R35 version of the SMT10 tires. R35 compound, to put it bluntly, sucks, but it's a lot better than the rock hard rubber that comes with the RTR.

[Crawk4life]

Honestly for what building they will work but was just curious if you could soften them a little that's it. I don't need them supperbsoft. But logging out fellas. Eepee seems to have something against all my posts so I'm out. I guess I'm not in the cool kids club. All I was doing was asking some general questions. No need to be a d bag about every one of my posts. How's someone to learn if they don't ask questions. Yes to you you've probably heard it 100 times. I'm new and learning but finding out real quick not a forum for me. Any mods go ahead and delete my account. Way to go for a real welcome feel. How's the hobby going I survive if people aren't willing to help new people without being a condensing ass. Latter rcc. Not down for the meg vibes.

[durok]

Originally Posted by Crawk4life

Honestly for what building they will work but was just curious if you could soften them a little that's it. I don't need them supperbsoft. But logging out fellas. Eepee seems to have something against all my posts so I'm out. I guess I'm not in the cool kids club. All I was doing was asking some general questions. No need to be a d bag about every one of my posts. How's someone to learn if they don't ask questions. Yes to you you've probably heard it 100 times. I'm new and learning but finding out real quick not a forum for me. Any mods go ahead and delete my account. Way to go for a real welcome feel. How's the hobby going I survive if people aren't willing to help new people without being a condensing ass. Latter rcc. Not down for the meg vibes.

I wouldn't take it personal, man. You got plenty of input from other users. I didn't note any "tone" directed at you, just general exasperation. Mods see the same questions over & over and get tired of it. Searching for previous threads is a really good idea.

I'd like to see your build completed, myself - I'm a fan of military-style vehicles. Stick around, it's worth it.

[Brake Weight]

Originally Posted by Crawk4life

Honestly for what building they will work but was just curious if you could soften them a little that's it. I don't need them supperbsoft. But logging out fellas. Eepee seems to have something against all my posts so I'm out. I guess I'm not in the cool kids club. All I was doing was asking some general questions. No need to be a d bag about every one of my posts. How's someone to learn if they don't ask questions. Yes to you you've probably heard it 100 times. I'm new and learning but finding out real quick not a forum for me. Any mods go ahead and delete my account. Way to go for a real welcome feel. How's the hobby going I survive if people aren't willing to help new people without being a condensing ass. Latter rcc. Not down for the meg vibes.

Deuces. It's just the internet, man. I've been on forums much worse. Get you a box of crayons and find a safe space to doodle how you feel.

[clm]

One way you could soften them that would not entail potentially destroying the compound of the tire with solvents might be to flip the tire inside out and buff down the sidewalls and crown a bit with a Dremel sanding drum so they were thinner. This would need to be done with extreme care as to not take off too much or buff through the sidewall. This could be done to carefully tailor how much flex you want from the tire. As for the foams, one way to soften them is to drill a series of holes around the foam from the side. It is all trial and error and do at your own risk sorts of things... or you can get them near acetone and the foams become garbage

Alternatively if you can seal the tires with beadlocks you could omit the foams and go with inflated... cool the tires off in the freezer before mounting them so you have a positive air pressure when they warm up.

[Crawk4life]

Mods please don't delete me lol. I was butt hurt by a little criticism and look at it now with less liquid courage I realize there going to Be bumps in the process. I'm NOOB here so I don't resize question been asked so much. And I'll just leave them alone. I put two small air holes in the rims and got me where I wanted. And build log to come soon....

[Crawk4life]

BW the cat pic had me laughing at my phone lol

[Crawk4life]

And I will search before i ask. On a car Audio forum I'm on I'm so used to the search not working its habit.

[shiftauto]

There's some tricks to getting better search results but it's still not a perfect system. Try using the advanced search within the sub forums and quotations with the words your searching. It can be a pita sometimes because you end up with tons of threads that barely cover what your looking for but you will also stumble across other valuable info. There's plenty of people on here that'll help you out.

[xCoolHandLukex]

Originally Posted by EeePee

Hah, a thread like this was overdue. Nothing helps in reality. If the tires stink, they stink. It's like trying to fix stupid. Try the search button if you don't believe me. Clean them with warm soapy water or simple green to make them clean. Once they rotate once or twice on rocks or dirt all was for naught.

WD40 and kerosene and suck just destroys tires. Again, search button.

Some will say I'm wrong I'm sure but the majority of experienced people won't.

I use it more to bring dried out tires back to life not trying to make shittier tires better. The racing world seems to thing it works.

https://www.google.ca/amp/www.hotrod...tire-soak/amp/


I typed this almost auto correctly free

[CM9000]

there is a yellow ftm tire fluid all the racers use for clay tires... imho like mentioned it doesn't really help. better tires and foams do help, always have and always will.