Tire Taping ?

[bruce750i]

Thanks for the clarification Arct1k. Me two Lincpimp water and fine grain dirt that centripetal forces cram in wheel vents.

[Arct1k]

My understanding is:

Air has very little/nothing to do with ballooning at all... it is just the centripetal force of the rotating tire mass.

Venting the tire I'd understood was more about how the tire compresses on landing etc

Punching the tire on the outside vs the rim helps water/dirt get out

LPRs versus taping to avoid imbalance, rotating mass, uneven performance


Also I would note that generally racing is geared to I would say max 40mph ish depending on the track - I think the discussion here is for running at higher speeds and with tires you would never take to the track... just 2c

[lincpimp]

Originally Posted by Arct1k

My understanding is:

Air has very little/nothing to do with ballooning at all... it is just the centripetal force of the rotating tire mass.

Venting the tire I'd understood was more about how the tire compresses on landing etc

Punching the tire on the outside vs the rim helps water/dirt get out

LPRs versus taping to avoid imbalance, rotating mass, uneven performance


Also I would note that generally racing is geared to I would say max 40mph ish depending on the track - I think the discussion here is for running at higher speeds and with tires you would never take to the track... just 2c

This all sounds good to me.

I will drop a few teeth on the pinion before I do much else and see how it does. I had smaller diameter mtr bowties on it before, and wanted a bit more speed so I geared up. The taller badlands with the previous 17t pinion should be about correct. I will still balance the wheels, as I and sure that they need it, and I need the experience!!!

[rchippie]

Originally Posted by lincpimp

And that reason is????? I always figured it was a combo of the soft sidewall and lack of sidewall support that caused ballooning. That and the weight of the tread pulling outwards as the tire is spun faster. My beadlocks are not vented, so the air inside is pretty much fixed. I always thought that racers punched holes in the tires to allow water out that got in thru the wheel vent holes?

James i dont know what the reason is . I just know that if it was benificial that they would do it . There are several factory team pros that race at my local track, & none of them tape there tires. They all vent there tires .

[bruce750i]

Some of mine were way out of balance. Does your tires have that little tab thingy on the bead from the tire mold? I trimmed mine off. Anyways are not most pros all stuck with sponsors that have to much invested in nitro and nitro RC magazines ads to consider anything else, so they don't know of the power problems that plague us sparky guys.

[VintageMA]

One thing I had read somewhere about the issue of ballooning did mention drilling the vent holes in the plastic wheels to help with ballooning. Like you guys have said it doesn't make too much sense - but in some ways it also does.

If the air inside the tire is trapped and air can not get either in or out, then when the tire starts to expand it is is restricted to expansion with the limited volume amount of air in the tire - I think this would lead to a tire that balloons with a sharper edge from the center out (ie: a pie-cutter formation starts faster than if the whole tire could suck in air and expand more naturally with an increased internal volume).

I agree on the point of no venting will produce a bouncy landing impact (like a basketball hitting the ground - there will be no dampening response from the tire).

I would think that the venting process would be one where you would either put the hole in the wheel or the tire - not both.

As I have the same Badlands/Maximizers you guys have for my E-Revo - I can say one thing about the balancing that they were almost balanced when I put them one and maybe the foam has shifted around abit through tire flexing and ballooning, but they are much worse now after about 5 or so runs that when I first put everything together.

[lincpimp]

Originally Posted by rchippie

James i dont know what the reason is . I just know that if it was benificial that they would do it . There are several factory team pros that race at my local track, & none of them tape there tires. They all vent there tires .

I shall give taping 2 tires a try and see how they compare to the other 2 that are not taped. I will also balance the wheels seperate from the tires.

[Arct1k]

I had badlands on 17mm offset mazimizers but just decided to glue them onto Ofna 17mm offsets as the just kept coming off the mazimizers no matter what i did...

[bruce750i]

When they make a rc tire out of one rubber compound, It looses its form all thru-out the tire when the forces become great enough. but take a dragster tire tread in burnout it maintains a good contact path while expanding. Belting and tapping changes the tires rigidity to resit irregular expansion. IMO

[hoovhartid]

here is an article on taping for ya; (link)

Also, I have badlands on LPR 1/2" offset rims.;

I taped mine because w/o the tape, they were as big as dinner plates over 50MPH.
Now, nothin. They are awesome. Mine are not balanced either. I tried to balance them using some hot glue on the inside of the rim, but that added too much weight and did not help with the wobble.

Now, I only notice an imbalance over 50 mph. But its much better with tape than without.

I used gorilla duct tape. That stuff is awesome. It could practicly stick to water.

[bdebde]

hoovhartid,

Did you cut the badlands to fit them on the LPR rims?

I picked up some of that gorilla tape for the next set I tape up.

Someone really needs to start making belted tires in MT size.

[E-Revonut]

Originally Posted by bdebde

hoovhartid,

Did you cut the badlands to fit them on the LPR rims?

I picked up some of that gorilla tape for the next set I tape up.

Someone really needs to start making belted tires in MT size.

Belted tires sound like a good idea!!! I have the same combo on my E-Revo as well, great minds think alike, I only have mine geared for low thirties, currently waiting on a pinion from Mike. Balooning is still apparent at this speed. Gonna get me some gorilla tape to try!

[lincpimp]

Ok, so I went to the local hardware store and picked up some supplies. Found some 3m clear duct tape that looked decent, and also some epoxy putty to use as "wheel weights". It is the 2 part kind that is in stick form, just cut off a section and knead it together until it is thouroughly mixed. Tape was $6 and the epoxy putty was $3.50.

Flipped the tires inside out and applied one wrap of the tape. I did about 1/2" overlap on the ends. Re-assembled the wheels and tires and put them on my prop balancer. Had to use a hpi 17mm hex adapter so that the al cones on the balancer's shaft would center the wheel properly. The hole in the center of the wheel is too big. The epoxy putty worked well, as I could push it into place, and then spread it out a bit to cover the inside of the wheel. I was supprised to see how much I used for each wheel, almost used 1oz of the 2oz packet on the 4 wheels.

For testing purposes, I added the tape and balanced 2 wheels/tires and put them on one side of the truck, left the other 2 without tape and unbalanced. Then I went out for some test runs. All I can say is that it makes a huge difference. Tires were pizza cutters on the stock side (easily 3/4" to 1" of balloning top and bottom) and about 1/4" of ballooning on the taped/balanced side. Went back and taped/balanced the other 2 wheel/tires and went out for another test. 44mph radar runs were sooooo smooth and controllable. Massive difference over the non-taped and balanced tires. Well worth the effort. I will do this to all of my tires from now on!

[hoovhartid]

Originally Posted by bdebde

hoovhartid,

Did you cut the badlands to fit them on the LPR rims?

I picked up some of that gorilla tape for the next set I tape up.

Someone really needs to start making belted tires in MT size.

sorry man, I just realised I didnt answer you. I gotta read more

maybe someone else asked me this

anyway, no I didnt trim anything at all.
I just kept pulling until they were on

the gorilla tape is strong, but i think now it may be on the heavy side compaired to that transparent tape lincpimp is using. I may try that next time and see how it compairs.

belted would be huge! I would buy those with a quickness.

[_paralyzed_]

Linc- thanks for the write up. So many people just repeat what they've heard, you went and did an a/b comparison and shared your results with us. Definately a worthwhile read, I've always taped monster truck tires, I'll probably balance my wheels now as well. I too have a couple of sets of maximizers. Popular wheel I guess...........