12 replies to this topic

[studentdriver]

I'll try to sum up everything I'm aware of to start

 

1) fish or soft wonder, doesn't seem to matter, same thing happens

2) usually a prepped track where it was cleaned and fresh glue put down

3) around .650 to .660 outside diameter with like .400 to .470 hubs

4) tires are assembled by me (various different donuts and plastic/carbon rims).

5) I do use trinity tire tweek. I apply and let sit depending on how soft I want them and then wipe it off. I will occasionally re-apply to clean but not during the race at any point

 

I clean the tires to start and they usually feel fairly grippy.. they are flat and trimmed up nicely. I use 3m spray adhesive (the 80 for rubber a foam).. I spray into a small lid and then apply with plastic stick to the hubs and tires. Trim them with hudy.. everything seems fine. Then when I race after anywhere from like 30 to 60 laps the tires themselves (not the track) seems to be VERY slick.. almost like a very fine gel or slime coating on them. Makes the car very loose even with fish tires..

 

I have a few questions

1) What is happening in this specific situation? I've asked a few seasoned folks and they are aware of it happening but no one can tell me why. Is the glue getting too hot on the tires or something? No one seems to have the answer. It's freaking glue so how can it become worse than the actual glue?? Very weird, hoping to understand what's going on

 

2) I've been told to clean the tires, maybe with something like lighter fluid or something similar. I rather avoid this as I'm already usually running behind between heats LOL... and dang it I'm not getting any younger. I have been able to clean the tires but I'm worried that after like 6 heats they get worse faster? Maybe if I understood what was happening I could try to avoid versus cleaning.

 

Anyways, this is a weird one that's driving me nuts (pun intended).

 

thanks,
Mike

 

 

[MSwiss]

Try not using the Tire Tweek.

[glueside]

Just like Swiss says - STOP using Tire Tweek.

[studentdriver]

Sure thanks... tire tweek is handy to soften tires a bit (say for soft wonder).. get something down to like 30 or 35 on o scale durometer. I guess I could potentially only use it to soften and then use lighter fluid to clean them to get rid of the tweek?

 

thanks,
Mike

[MSwiss]

Sounds like you can't stop tweeking.

[Eddie Fleming]

Once you put Tire Tweek on tires you can never say I got it all out of the rubber. 

 

Try just two sets of tires with no tweek at all, To see if the problem goes away.

 

If you have the problem with the tires you glue up and not with bought tires that would point to the rubber or the procedures you are using.

[studentdriver]

Sounds like you can't stop tweeking.

 

LOL, this did make me chuckle... thanks

 

So I can explain why I like to tweek... the 1 track I go to typically only reglues before a major event (maybe once every other month or longer). The tweek seems to "bring the glue back to life" that's already on the track. 3-5 laps and i'm like .5 faster.. I could try glue on tires instead but then the old glue on track + new glue on tires = not the best I'm open to suggestions here. Track reglue is kind of out of my hands.

 

Mike

[MSwiss]

Is the issue only happening to you?

[studentdriver]

Once you put Tire Tweek on tires you can never say I got it all out of the rubber. 

 

Try just two sets of tires with no tweek at all, To see if the problem goes away.

 

If you have the problem with the tires you glue up and not with bought tires that would point to the rubber or the procedures you are using.

 

Sure, not a bad idea! and I can test this.

 

My overall concern I guess is I need to find tires (specifically donuts) that work for me and I'm kind of out of options. The main options are Mid America and JK as far as I know. Mid America has limited options for donuts I would need to buy the tires already assembled. They only offer the .450 Internal diameter for soft wonder donuts This is NOT a beef with any 1 company or anything like that at all... just saying that donut options are very, very limited.. A lot of tires seemed to be geared towards

 

1) 1/8 axle based sizes, > .800

2) retro type racing where minimal tire size is like > .800

 

this leaves LMP or GTP type classes which usually like running smaller sized tires to be limited (hub size around .400, give or take) unless you want to only run fish.

 

Mike

[studentdriver]

Is the issue only happening to you?

 

 

Most folks are running fish and do not need to soften or treat. Potentially I need to tweek a lot less (or try to find a solution to replace it completely) when the track is not prepped for testing. That said the dude who always wins runs wonder that have been softened via tweek...

 

1) run fish and hope you have enough straight line speed because the tires are soft

2) run some sort of soft wonder and try to maybe treat only a bit (1 time only to soften)... options are limited for donuts

3) run treated which my options for donuts is pretty much JK only as far as I know..  options are limited for donuts

 

So yes, I need to kick my tweeker habits I guess but alternatives are very limited.

 

thanks,

Mike

[Jay Guard]

If you are talking about testing on a track that hasn't been glued in a while it sounds like the track may just be dusty (often you won't actually see this but it's there) or a bit dry.   I would use lighter fluid to clean the tires, do an in-place "burn-out", wipe the excess off the track, and run a few cautious laps, then repeat as many times as necessary until the traction comes up.  Unless the track is really dirty, or has super old rubber, clean fresh fish rubber tires should hook up at least fairly well after multiple cleanings.

 

One other tire "hack" is to rub a very small amount of suntan lotion, yep suntan lotion, into your tires, wait just a few minutes, then wipe off and run laps.  This really does work because the glycerin in the lotion will soften almost any tire.  Also it doesn't seem to leave the tires with a hardened surface (after a few days) like I've found Tire Tweak to do.  I've seen world class racers do this to quickly break in their tires.

 

If just nothing works and you're really desperate try this.  I knew a guy that made a weak glue & lighter fluid mixture and soaked his tires overnight in it and  then cleaned them before getting on the track.  I honestly don't know if this really worked but he swore it did, I never tried it so can't say for sure.

 

BTW... To get the best straight line speed you generally want to use the hardest tire that grips up and doesn't spin under acceleration.

 

Hope this helps! 

[Kim Lander]

The tire tweek will loosen the glue you use to seat the rubber....if you must use the tweek let tires sit at least over night....try it and see.

[studentdriver]

The tire tweek will loosen the glue you use to seat the rubber....if you must use the tweek let tires sit at least over night....try it and see.

 

Yes, this is a valid point.

 

I think the overall issue might be that yes, I was abusing the tweek a bit... I was adding it to help bring back the track glue AND I was using it to just clean the tires... I didn't think putting on to clean tires was causing an issue but I think it was... I will be switching to lint roller to clean with occasional maybe lighter fluid clean (tho I'm worried that it might break the glue down as well if used too often).

 

Long story short is, I'm going to leave the tweek at home. I might still attempt to use it just on wonder based tires only BUT only at home to soften slightly.

 

The big issue is I can't find wonder donuts with smaller inside diameter... this leads me to run 470 hub when I'd prefer 400 or 440.

 

Mike