should you run foams or no foams?

[Ilan Sanderson]

so what are your opinions on foams and why might you prefer one way over the other?

[ferp420]

in my opinion foams suck but others have different opinions
it depends on what you want to do with the rig and how the rig was built and what tires you have
some tires dont need the extra suport but usualy the tires that dont suck hard

[durok]

With modern R/C tires you should run foams, at the very least the stock ones that come with them.

Typically if you bought an RTR R/C crawler or scale/trail truck that did not come with foam, you've likely bought what is considered a toy-grade R/C, and not hobby-grade.

That's not to say that you can't take it upon yourself to improve its handling by using a better tire and foam combination.

There are a handful of aftermarket companies making foams that are specifically tuned for various vehicle weights, and you'll want to get the right size for your tires.

Crawler Innovations (aka C.I.) makes the widest variety, Pro-Line makes a few, as do some others.

Check out the selection carried by a shop like RPP Hobbies (online) for a more complete list, there are some newcomers like the A.L.T. foams from Germany that are interesting as well.

[WHITE-TRASH]

99.98% of crawlers need foams. The other .02% don't matter so we won't waste out time with them.


Foams control the actions and reactions of the tires. How it side hills, how it climbs, everything about how they behave is directly due to the foam setup.


Even stock craptastic foam is better than none at all especially if you're looking at running something like the g made inflatable wheels. That stuff is junk.

[Inspector86]

Any crawler tire worth running will require some sort of internal foam support. The hard plastic toy grade tires aren't worth discussing much less owning.

[QuesoDelDiablo]

I've never in all my years of crawling seen any situation where a tire with no foams in it worked well. They just flop over sideways because they don't have any sidewall support.

imo, 2-stage foams are the best single performance upgrade you can do for most rtr style rigs. This also helps/is necessary if you like having tires vented and playing in water/mud. Single stage/memory foam/stock foam can be ok but they usually need to be cut/trimmed to work well and if you get them wet they disintegrate pretty quickly.


*pneumatic tire systems are the dumbest gimmick ever for more reasons than I care to get into here.

[ferp420]

Originally Posted by QuesoDelDiablo

I've never in all my years of crawling seen any situation where a tire with no foams in it worked well. They just flop over sideways because they don't have any sidewall support.

imo, 2-stage foams are the best single performance upgrade you can do for most rtr style rigs. This also helps/is necessary if you like having tires vented and playing in water/mud. Single stage/memory foam/stock foam can be ok but they usually need to be cut/trimmed to work well and if you get them wet they disintegrate pretty quickly.


*pneumatic tire systems are the dumbest gimmick ever for more reasons than I care to get into here.

the axial r40 tires work better with out foams i know there no ones favorite compound but when the temps hit 110° out r40 hook up like no other

the redcat 1.9 super swampers work much better with out foams in deep sand mud and snow they have a vary thick sidewall so they dont fold over on light rig

my max stone 16 is so light it dosent run foams ether not the best tires but seem to do everything i ask them to i have many tamiyas that dont use foams like on the clod based rigs

so like i sead it depends on the rig and what your doing with it and what tires your running
90% of the time tires that dont need suport suck



personaly i run the white trash turdunkin tire suport system its amazing

[TheLetterJ]

Ya know Ferp, my cousin tried your tire-in-a-tire method and it wasn't bad. He stuffed a set of 1.9 canyon trails inside 2.2 Deep Woods with foam inside one of those layers and it made a nice improvement on his 10lb+ bouncer. It's softer than I expected it to be, but at least the tires don't wad up into little balls anymore when they hook up.

I run dual stage foams in most of my crawlers, but they do tend to break down faster than I'd like (and I avoid water beyond morning dew) and they're pretty spendy for what they are, but it is nice to be able to be able to really dial them in for your specific preference once you own a handful of sets. I tend to prefer a larger/firmer closed cell portion than what C.I. recommends, so I've bought a few sets to get things where I like them.

If you've got a stack of crappy rtr tires already laying around, it's worth experimenting with the tur-duck-en run flats!

[Timmahh]

mostly yes. However back in 06-10, I ran without a lot as foam options were meh... Used a few zip strips and get the tire on the rim, then slide a few zip strips around the tire and squeeze it so it had just a little bit to displace some air volume, then seal the tire up and glue. Luckily with the Scorpian AX10, we got beadlocks that worked pretty good, but still meh foams. ran many a tire with aftermarket cnc'd beadlocks usually. but most often would run no foams and a sealed wheel as we ran a lot in wet/water (with appropriate waterproofing) and to just killed foams.
Lot of foam options now, so not sure as I just got back in part time last year.

[ferp420]

Originally Posted by TheLetterJ

Ya know Ferp, my cousin tried your tire-in-a-tire method and it wasn't bad. He stuffed a set of 1.9 canyon trails inside 2.2 Deep Woods with foam inside one of those layers and it made a nice improvement on his 10lb+ bouncer. It's softer than I expected it to be, but at least the tires don't wad up into little balls anymore when they hook up.

I run dual stage foams in most of my crawlers, but they do tend to break down faster than I'd like (and I avoid water beyond morning dew) and they're pretty spendy for what they are, but it is nice to be able to be able to really dial them in for your specific preference once you own a handful of sets. I tend to prefer a larger/firmer closed cell portion than what C.I. recommends, so I've bought a few sets to get things where I like them.

If you've got a stack of crappy rtr tires already laying around, it's worth experimenting with the tur-duck-en run flats!

awsome im glad it worked out for him

[zenitram09]

for me it comes down to the weight of the rig. i have lighter rigs that i use soft foams in and i have heavier rigs that i run two stage foams in.

[wblteen]

Now there's an option where you can have a nice soft tire with sidewall support. This is about as soft as the cheap stock foam but had a lot more sidewall support.

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[tjohanne]

I prefer as little support as possible. I used to run with no foams, but tires gave too much support, so I started to crawl with only the wheels, no tires.

Now I run directly on the hex hubs, because why on earth would you want better grip than that?!

[dCowler]

Originally Posted by QuesoDelDiablo

I've never in all my years of crawling seen any situation where a tire with no foams in it worked well. They just flop over sideways because they don't have any sidewall support.

imo, 2-stage foams are the best single performance upgrade you can do for most rtr style rigs. This also helps/is necessary if you like having tires vented and playing in water/mud. Single stage/memory foam/stock foam can be ok but they usually need to be cut/trimmed to work well and if you get them wet they disintegrate pretty quickly.


*pneumatic tire systems are the dumbest gimmick ever for more reasons than I care to get into here.

Alright, we will try 2-stage foams next and see the difference. Hope to see some sidewall improvement. Got to finish installing the bumper, winch and fender flares on the Silverado this week before we can get back to the hobby.

[Green River]

I like the foam inserts but hate they way they fill up with water

[wblteen]

Originally Posted by Green River

I like the foam inserts but hate they way they fill up with water

Check out 3bros Anti-Foams. Not a single issue with water

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