Micro offroad tires
 

I'm molding some rubber offroad tires for my micros and was wondering if this might be something others would be interested in. My reasoning for doing this is for carpet and compacted dirt tracks. I've suped my car up so much that smooth surfaces don't cut it any more. The tires I'm making will also be drivable on smooth surfaces, but may help or worsen donuts. Don't know yet. Below is a pic of an RC that has the tires I want to miniaturize. Would any of you want a pair and what would you be willing to pay?

http://www.siraceservices.com/xxx-pa...flame-side.jpg

::in South Park Pip voice:: I'll pay $50 for one!


But really, I think I'd be interested. Maybe I could be a beta tester for your new tires :D

Just curious, how are you making them? You said molding, but would you be melting and reforming other tires (so you could get different hardnesses) or will you be pouring your own latex/rubber/whatever?

If you decide to produce more of these, I'd be quite interested, as there is no tile on the entire floor of my dorm. Low pile carpet everywhere, and my bright orange supersofts look really funny.

It's a Latex rubber mold that I plan on dying black or other colors on request. I have a few other styles in mind as well. Ones with better street tread, etc... The molding kit I've ordered also allows me to do plastics. I'm probably going to sell these with special hubcaps. I think the tread on these offroad tires especially, may cause them to rub against the bodies with stock rims. This will also allow me to make some wider tires for better traction.

After I've tested a few finished pieces, I'll sell them for dirt cheap to begin with so I can get the word out there. I'm thinking the regular price for a set of tires with custom hubcaps will sell for around $15.

EDIT:
Hubcaps = Rims :)

I'm very interested. Keep us posted. $15 bucks for some quality offroads isn't bad. Although dirt cheap sounds good too;)

I'd be in
 

I'd be interested in some off roaders but i'd be SUPER interested in some wider softer on "road" tires WITH some tread. i donno if that'd be possible but if so i'd definitely buy.

Doug

id buy some good knobbies. ill be honest i wont pay more than say the price of the tomy tire sets. so if you can come out with 3 treads or 3 sets of tires for 5 or 6 bucks and make it so its worth your time thats cool. why not ask tiny or qfm or driftking if they would buy from you?

hey, not bad, put me down for dirt cheap price please!

A cheap alternative is to use the tires off of an old Tyco Turbohopper Slot car.

I'd post a pic but don't have a cord.

Look them up on Ebay, The tires will fit with some effort

as long as the tires/ rims are fully compatable (w/o too much dremeling and stuff) i would be interested. Rims like this would be veerrrryyy nice. I like the width (not so wide so the cars have more room for lowering) and the mini spikey deals. I would DEFINATELY buy some if they looked like this and were soft and grippy:

SWEEEEET!!! I found someone who had one left. I'll let everyone know how well these fit. PWalk, great find, but it really wasn't that cheap. Those things are collector items now. Is there anything out on the market that have a similar tread? Here's what they look like everyone:

http://www.homestead.com/slotcarcoll..._rd_Hopper.JPG

You guys, I thought I was going to have to make these in order to have them on my car. And I figured if I had the mold already made I'd make some for those that wanted them to. If these pan out, chances are I won't be making any tires. But, the mold kit is already in the mail, so....who knows.

Dude, if you've got the mold kit in the mail you might as well follow through, cuz you got a bunch of us drooling, and I myself would shell out $15 for a set of rims and custom made tires (extra wide for me please).

And I'll even let you sell me some for "dirt cheap" cuz the kids at my high school (I still talk to em) are really into micro racing, and if I gave them a good word, you might sell like 6 more sets, maybe more.

(notice how I said I'd LET you sell them for cheap :D)

If the proccess isn't too time consuming, you got it. Don't forget, those tires from the hopper might not even really work like I planned. And I still need some front tires to I realized. :) Chances are I'll give it a go.

I had a chance to play with some rubber latex today. This stuff is sweeet. Even without the knobbies or even tread, this rubber will prevent drifting on smooth surfaces without a doubt in my mind. It's very soft and grippy. It also holds it's shape perfectly.

super-wide
super-wide
super-wide


Sorry..

lol

Doug

They're not wide enough if ya trim them down. Take a cutoff wheel to them on 10,000-15,000 rpms. The rims need to be modded as well.
I will admit they do take some dremeling but they do work.


At first when I was new to these cars I wanted to have a turbohopper as one, that didn't work.

So I stripped the old cars for parts, tires, suspension springs etc.

yea.. wide... time to frog out the bit!!!

Yeah Stidex!!
I'd be interested in some of the knobbies as well as some thick slicks!!

Screw this flat surface stuff, I'm trying to mod these things for tougher terrain, y'know like my carpet.

I'll post pics as soon as the project is finished.

How does this look?

This is the perfect width for these things. These will also lower your car a little. After I get the mold produced for these slicks with tread, I'm going to add the knobbies. The S2000 has plenty of room for the front tires. It's the only MS I have, so are there others with smaller wheel wells that might conflict with these?

Pic 1 0f 2

pic 2 of 2

now thats what i'm talkin about!!!
 

are they nice and soft and grippy?

Doug

Holy cow those rims and tires rule.

Count me in for a full set or 2! (even at $15 each)

Not yet. That's what I have to tweak when making the molds. Might try a few different rubber alternatives to find the best one.

Glad you like them cos' I really love them. I can't wait to take two sets of back tires and put them on my Zips.

I'd buy them as they are but
 

if you can soften up they'd be even better.

looking very good did you mold the rims? or are they off another toy?

Doug

Rims are off another car. Those will be very easy to mold and I plan on changing them for legal reasons. Width will remain the same. These won't be ready for sell for atleast a few weeks. If I can't make the tires to my liking, I won't sell them to anyone. That's not going to happen though. I have some liquid rubber and other alternatives on the way. I'll keep everyone posted.

Dude there is no legality in making the eaxct same parts. Unless those items are patented (come on tiny plastic wheels?) you are in the clear.

Any chance i can be a first (PAYING) guinea pig for them?

I have the skyline history set, MS skyline, bB open deck, and multiple axles. Plus a zip zap and 2 clones.

if you don't mind me asking
 

where did you get your molding machine?

and how large of pieces is it possible to mold?

Doug

have you looked at the monster machines? they have kinda cool wheels. the rubber on the tires is pretty hard. but they do have larger size tires, on the rear of the car... not larger rims. just big fat tires. they have these at target, walmart.... only 2-3 dollars.

import tunerz
 

yeah i picked up a few muscle machine import tuners in hopes of swiping the wheels i am pretty sure i could use em but the tires on them are so hard they're more like plastic than rubber. but it'd look good.

stridex also can i ask what car those wheels came from i have someone looking into working on a custom body for me and those rims would be PERFECT!!

Doug

Wow Stridex, they are looking good. Keep up the good work.

I'm still running the turbohopper tires. Let me know if you need one to make a mold out of.

Also what are you using to mold them? Is there a machine I missed at my local shop? Lemme know.

Very good to know. Didn't know for sure.

I'm going to go down the list of this thread and offer the trial prices to the first 6 or so. Looks like you'll be in that group.


I got it from Micro-Mark. They have all kinds of kits. Here's their starter kit. They can do as large as you want. The bigger you go the more money it'll cost is all. You can make car bodies with this kit. Make sure to get the videos and online tutorials. Those will help a lot.
http://www.dxmarket.com/micromark/products/82698.html

I no longer have the packaging for the car, but I can tell you I bought it at WalMart. It's an older style car. Almost Chitty-Chitty-Bang-Bang'ish. It's a convertable with red sides and a white hood and trunk. If I had to guess from memory, it's a muscle machine brand car. Not certain.

The Import tuners rims and tires are too low. The chassis will rub in the rear. Probably why we haven't seen too many people attempt them. If you can fit tires on them, that's the way to go! Those rims are sweeet!

I'm going to let you guys in on all the secrets to molding and creating these yourself. It's not about the money with me. If you want a set, great! I'll make them for you, but if you want to learn how to do it yourself, even better. I'll always answer any questions you have.

I've never messed with a molding machine before, but I'm willing to learn. As much as I have been messing with these tires already I don't see a reason to not look into a molder.

Any help would be appreciated Stridex.

The secret to modifying the tires and rims is weight. Obviously the bigger the rims and less the tires the easier the motor has of getting off the line. Rubber weights a lot more then plastic. The less you have of it the better. I know exactly what cars you're talking about. Certain monster trucks even come with plastic bodies that fit the Zips almost perfectly. For those that want Monster Trucks, I suggest getting some big rims and make thin tires for it. You'll lose a lot less power this way. May look funny, but should be well worth it. A truly nice Monster Truck will also require a dual cell mod. The Micro RC or Micro-Blast that uses a Motor to turn would be my first canidate. Has a much better chance at steering the front wheels then a MS or Zip would. Second canidate would be the MotorWorks since it uses two magnets and pushes off one while attracting itself to the other.

Hehehe i never thought i'd see the day when we dicuss unsprung weight regarding a tiny rc car!

binaryterror,

I like your signature. Yes I get the binary one too. :D

Whew...it took some time, but I did it. The mold was made with hopper slot car tires that are now extinct. I've looked everywhere and these apparently were the only micro knobbies ever made. They're not for sale.....yet. I'm still working on the mold for the rims.

the wheels-tires on the S2000 look like Hot Wheels Preffered series wheel and tires...

nice
can you take a pic with a bit more light so we can see the treads better?

They look great Stridex, keep up the good work.
One thing, if you molded them from the old Tyco slot-hopper tires
did you have to cut them in half like I did?

The Tyco tires by themselves were to wide at first, so I sliced them in half, then put them onto the rim. Just wondering.

more pics

One more with more light.