15 replies to this topic

[NSwanberg]

[Matt Sheldon]

Smells good though

[Tom Eatherly]

Trying to finish my wife's new "honey-do" list! Holy cow!

[NSwanberg]

Trying to finish my wife's new "honey-do" list! Holy cow!

 

Don't go there!

[bbr]

interesting...............

 

how good is the adhesion?????

[MattD]

Used some clear Flex Seal  a few weeks ago and I did a set of old tires with it.   I think it will make a good coating and is probably silicone.     That urethane might be a good coating.  of course, silicone and urethane don't mix on the same track.  

[Jay Guard]

The only problem I have with silicone tires is that in my experience they do not work well with any other type of tire.  In my experience it tends to lay down an invisible film of silicone on the track that makes it incompatable with any other type of tire.  Just ask any 1/1 professional body man how easy it is to remove "silicones" from a car body before painting.  It is possible but it takes special chemicals to do it properly.  Spray glue on top of it may work but it's not an ideal solution.

Don't get me wrong here, as a track owner I don't really like spray glue either.  I wonder if Urethane coated foam tires aren't the best solution?  I would like to hear from others with experience with the Urethane coated spongies and how well they work on a clean track and if they also leave a "film". 

[Courtney S]

At one time I remember somebody tried dipping tires in PlastiDip
Its the stuff you dip your tools in to recote the handle I dont recall the results. I guess if it worked it would still be a thing.

[SpeedyNH]

silicone tires are fully cured and don't leave anything on the track, but rather act like an eraser. -you don't see any goo left from your tires in your box where the car was, do you? (unlike some extra-soft urethanes over time.) put one in your pocket for a week or leave it in the sun and see if it drips. N.F.W. 

edit: remember the twinkies thread? they're still intact after five and a half decades. 

other types (rubber, urethane) like to lay rubber on the track in order to work; silicones remove it and only work on the bare surface. they have to be cleaned repeatedly until all residue and even dust from the track is gone. my club uses them. they're very difficult to true. 

they don't mix- it's more or less one type or the other. urethanes are very popular because they're a lot less work. 

[MattD]

Steve I have run nothing on my track since new except silicone coated sponge tires.   They very definitely leave a residue and rubber up the track.    The layer of silicone makes grip fantastic for silicone.    Urethane not so much, urethane grips about 50%  as good as the silicone on my track.    Most guys running 1/32 stuff use urethane tires and they say once it leaves a layer of rubber on a track, they grip super but silicone not so good.   

 

I wipe the track with a tack cloth to remove any dust since last session and tires are good to go for the whole evening of racing.   I wouldn't think of using a strong cleaner like  "Coleman fuel"   to clean the track.     I think this picture shows the silicone trail around the track.   This is  a 1 year old picture.    I use Permatex air cure silicone.

 

 

[SpeedyNH]

well Matt, that's interesting. thanks for showing us that! i've seen them leave marbles, but nothing like that short of an enduro.  you must have a lot of running! cool.

nice track man! looks almost like our Sick Puppy raceway. 

 

none of our tracks look like that, although they do wear. i wonder if the sponge base softness makes a difference to the amount of laydown. we use solid sillies on aluminum wheels. 

 

 now i have to wonder if the silicone-on-silicone traction improves from a bare rack! i'll bet it does. 

[MattD]

Silicone on silicone gives great traction, but on a perfectly clean and dust free surface it is just as good.   As noted by about everybody you have any dust on the track you will be cleaning tires by whatever method you use.    I often wondered about  a silicone additive for track paint.    

 

I figure you are running the H & R silicone tires that come on some of their chassis.   They might be different than the coated sponge as far as laying down silicone oil on the track .  I do know having used both them that the coated sponge grip a little better and for us the softer sponge works best.    They do wear down and need re-coating after 8-10 race sessions by the guys.   Mostly they run a car for an hour or two each session, so about 15-20 hours wears the silicone either thru or thin.  

 

The H&R silicones are  a good tire and don't require none of the re-coating like I have to do.     If that's what you are running, don't try coated sponge or you may  upset your  whole program.    

[bbr]

I need a bigger garage

[NSwanberg]

interesting...............

 

how good is the adhesion?????

 

The adhesion is excellent. I think it was on a pair of Alpha tires.

 

It ended up being as hard as a rock and slick as snot. 

 

Not good for anything.

[Tim Neja]

I need a bigger garage

Here you go Mike--can you rotate this picture?

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[zipper]

Seems it depends on which device you look at - IE11 shows rotated, Chrome shows OK, Firefox shows rotated.

Then I rotated the pic in a pic program and saved it - this is the result.

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