Silicone Tires

[Intimad8or]

How thick do you put the silicone on your tires? 0.025th, 0.050th etc....

Just courious.

[TQT2]

Depends on if your making a "cap" or a true silicone. I cap can be a thin as 1\32nd of an inch. I true silicone can be upwards of a 1\2". I've seen both. The foam cap is more forgiving when it comes to contact with walls and other cars.

[ctech]

what would be a good tool to cut down the dia of my foam tires ?I'm haveing to use a drill and allthread.. poormans tire trurer:eek:

[Lionking]

poor mans truer works fine put silicon on and smooth out with a wet finger when it dries will have a nice shine and grab the clay never understood why tracks outlawed silicone I used ti love running it work very well on a wet clay surface even ran it indoors on a concrete roller rink

Good luck
Tom

[iamsam47]

Make sure the silicone is evenly distributed or the tire will be out of balance, also thicker might mean more weight. Naptha(lighter fluid) can be used to thin the silicone for easier application and smoothing.

[wait a minute]

i would assume that u shouldnt be smoking while doing this..lol

[Speedmunkey]

ctech, a good tool is, surprisingly enough, a real tire truer. A drill will never get it perfectly true. As for thickness, I go by color. Too thick and it turns cloudy. If it's still nice and black, it's just right. Some guys like 2, 3, 4, 5 coats. Good for them, glad they do. My personal tires have 1 thin coat, which allows for the best grip. I carry 3 sets with me every week though, so I don't care if I blister one.

[Speedmunkey]

lionking, tracks outlaw it when their big dogs complain and bitch about how it helps the little guys get closer to beating them. Yes, silicone tires make setup a lot easier, and more precise. But, for every inch a newbie gains on a veteran running silicone, that veteran should gain a mile because they've got better skills and could do more with the tires. No one should ever complain about silicones except the guy making the foam tires. Foam tires sales go to crap cuz the silicone keeps the foam safe and you never sell replacements.

[latemodel13]

I heard that one of the problems with silicones is that it causes the track to seal up and not take water.

[Animal]

I heard that one of the problems with silicones is that it causes the track to seal up and not take water.

not true,, it will cause the track to glaze over just as does the grease, and oil we use for traction compound. proper track grooming will usually keep the track in top condition week to week.

in my oppinion most track owners dont allow silicones is because, it reduces tire sales, (one of the biggest profit makers) there is a relativly low knowledge of people that actually know how to make them properly. it makes the cars extreemly fast, and conpetitive if the car is set up correctly. makes the car thats out to lunch, work even worse.

New drivers cant just step into racing and be competitive with out the tires.

Im from the old school, and back in the late 80's and early 90's silicones were every where, wish we could bring back them days. i say we all go silicone racing

[Todd Putnam]

Animal: You hit the nail on the head. The problem w/ silicones was that you needed every type of silicone mounted on every type of underlying foam to be competitive. With that many different combinations, that equated to dozens and dozens of sets of tires.
That doesn't help the average racers tire costs, especially since you couldn't buy them off the wall.
I'm not saying it wasn't faster racing, but today's sure is less costly and much more simple for everyone across the board.
________
LovelyWendie (http://www.lovelywendie99.com/)

[FREDCHIE]

As A Former Trackowner The Clay Track Would Glaze An Stop Taking Water Making The Surface Very Hard To Race On

[Animal]

i remember going to coopers in the late 80's early 90's Putnam i believe was still working at trinity with Deiter, and Johnson at the time. Carring bags of silicone tires all differnt compounds, with all differnt typs of silicone for a two day race.

We spent approx 6 months getting all the tires trued and sized, then coated with silicone. it was a pain in the butt. and the guys that ran dominators back then :eek: Chris Smith, Roaman Pemberton, Brian Langraff. these guys had to work twice as hard to get all four wheels perfectly matched, or they were way out to lunch.

with silicones you cant just throw a set on the car and go like with foams, run foams across the tire truer, and bolt them on. silicone neede to be applied in the thinest of layers to keep tire sizes consistant.
its alot of work, and to me its worth it. but very bad for bringing new blood into the hobby

[bumps and jumps rc]

But technology has changed since the 80's - go and get the black silicone made from mopar for their tranny seals - it hardly wears and grips twice as good. Regular silicone will only stretch a little before it breaks - this stuff will stretch to about the size of a hair before it snaps. The other advantage with the mopar silicone is it can be a thin layer - just start pushing it into a set of already trued foams - do it 4 or 5 times letting it dry between coats and go and run cirlcles around the 100% GE silicone guys. I would love to run them - but most people don't want the mess or the work involved.

[ctech]

Well I gave it a shot but turned out pretty nasty lookin lol..looks like eggs
My first attempt :( I think I'll just buy a set already to go ..Trouble is no one makes them for the jato yet :skull: But losi triple x should work with some mods .but I'll get to sit out tonights race that sucks:(

[Speedmunkey]

Hey bumpsandjumps, you need to do what my local track does. Keep ready to race tires on the shelves, so the guys that either don't want to or simply can't make them, have the option of buying them and being on equal footing. I do both stock tires for the local shop and recoats when they burn them off.. If you need someone to supply your siliconed stock, gimme a yell.

[ctech]

speed monkey is your shop in lake city?And do you have silicones in stock?
If so I'll be up saturday

[Speedmunkey]

The shop is Highlander Hobbies, aka Medford Motor Speedway, which is indeed just outside of Lake City. I'm not sure if he has a set in stock at the moment or not. Give him a call at 865.426.7223. He can confirm stock, and get whatever you need within a few days..

[ctech]

Thanks for the help speed I'll call him saturday

[brockh]

Chris,

Since it sounds like you are interested in the silicone world, are YOU going to allow them at your track?

[bumps and jumps rc]

I liked running them :D
I don't think people around here would go for it, but I do like the fact that they are cheap and fast.

[Speedmunkey]

That's why my LHS sells them ready to run. His tires sales stay up and racers have what they need without wasting their time on them.