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Quick review of the new GMade Geolanders

BigSki

I wanna be Dave
Joined
May 6, 2008
Messages
4,441
Location
Baltimore
I saw these new wheels and tires about a month ago, RPP got them in stock recently so when I saw the 'free shipping' promotion last weekend, I added them into my order.

When I opened the packages of the tires and wheels, the first impression was that the plastic that the wheels are molded in seems like a good quality plastic. The detailing is very nice, they look like miniature steel wheels. The same can be said for the tires, the tread pattern and details looked very nice

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I followed the instructions and mounted up the tires, then installed them on my 1.9 'Yota project.

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The wheels have a lot of offset, they really push the tires away from the frame, it was good for steering but it made about 1/4 of the tire stick out past the fenders.

bigski-19770-albums2955-38557.jpg

bigski-19770-albums2955-38556.jpg

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During the test run, I had a bead pull away from the wheel. I didn't think much of it so I took off the wheel, opened it up and re-seated the bead. During the rest of the test drive I had 2 more tires have the bead separate.

I took the truck back to the work bench and took the wheels off and started to investigate. I took apart all 4 wheels and tried a different tire on one of the wheels, it took no effort to pull the bead off of the wheel. I took one of the GMade tires and tried another 1.9 internal beadlock wheel, I couldn't get the bead to stay locked.

At this point I'm unclear what the issue is, it would seem that the Gmade tires and wheels were meant to be used together but it takes no effort to pull the bead out of the wheel and no other 1.9 tire I tried would stay locked into the Gmade wheel, and the Gmade tire wouldn't stay locked in a CAC internal beadlock wheel that has no problem locking down any other tire I've ever used with them.

I don't have any rc4wd steelies to try the Gmade tires with, so I can't comment on how well that combo might work. I do have a Honcho wheel that I will try tomorrow to see how well the Gmade tire works with an external beadlock wheel.

The other combo I tried was the Gmade tire and a HPI stock car wheel, even though this a glue on wheel, the bead seemed to fit nicely into the groove on the wheel.
 
Good info "thumbsup" . That type of internal beadlock rim can have that problem. The RC4WD steelies are no different. Depending on the thickness of the bead, the tire may come out/off easily. I have some RC4WD steelies that hold only certain tires. They hold my Claws great but the Boggers come right off. I would think with the Gmade rims it could be even worse as the wheel is plastic instead of steel which is harder and less flexible. I am thinking maybe something removable such as "Sho-Goo" or silicone gasket maker (the stuff in a tube that you seal auto parts and differential covers, etc). That way you could take the tire off later without dealing with ca glue. I like the gasket maker as it is flexible but seals tires on very well.

I will be interested in seeing how the tires perform. they look great and are a great size.
 
I had a bit more time to work with these today. I mounted up the GMade tire on a SCX-10 wheel, I couldn't pull the bead apart using more force than you would ever see on a trail run.

I don't have 4 of the SCX-10 beadlocks, so I could only mount 1 on the bench. The last loose 1.9 tire I had laying around was a Flatiron. I tried to mount it on the plastic GMade wheel, once I got the wheel screwed together it took very little effort to pull the bead apart, so I'm at the conclusion that these wheels just aren't going to work without gluing the tire to the wheels. The tires themselves seem like they would be decent, I really wanted to use them w/ the "steelies" for a stock look. I haven't tried to make a new internal ring, which would probably be a huge help (and make the wheels hold a bead) I'm just not ready to make new rings for wheels that are supposed to work with their matching tires, maybe someone else is up to the challenge.
 
i have this same problem....same wheels same tires......however its not the wheel its the tires.......rc4wd 1.9 mudslingers worked great.....there has to be alot of bead on the tire for it to work....i put the gmade tires on axial external beadlocks and its fine.....from what i can tell the rc4wd beads in most of thier tires will work great on the gmade steelys.....so just be careful of what tire ya buy for those rims
 
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