17 replies to this topic

[fosinator]

Everybodys probly already tried this but a mate of mine said someone told him they make their own tyres out of thongs so I bought a couple of different compound cheapies and drilled and dremeled and now I swear by them. Anyone else used them? I know it's fiddly and messy but I love them. Got it down to about 20 min a pair to make.Are thongs a type of urethane?

[slotbaker]

I used to do that back in the early days, and have done it to get whitwall tyres.

Works great, but as you say, very fiddly.

[kalbfellp]

We used thongs back in the late sixties when supplies of Foam tyres became hard to find.
Foam is a lot different to what we call eurethane.
The grip level is better than hard rubber tyres, BUT no where as good as things like Tuna's, Piranna's or Ingram foam tyres.

[Johnnyfly41]

Tires made out of underwear, amazing........

[munter]

Johnnyfly41, on May 30 2010, 07:41 AM, said:

Tires made out of underwear, amazing........

That's a laugh.

I love foam tires.
I thought that was all there was when I got back into slots and then I began a journey of discovery.
My first plastic car was ninco,I couldnt believe how horrible it was and the tires left marks on my track(wood,gloss enamel)
I fitted some spongies and it all became smooth and sweet.....but it was no good on the club ninco track.

When I discovered foam tires,traction glue,falcon motors,64 pitch gears amd the parma international32 chassis all nearly simutaneously, I was blown away by the performance of this equipment.

Nowadays I keep foam for only metal chassis cars.
There are different types of spongies that offer varying amounts of grip,hardness and wear rate.

Go the thong....!!!

[datto16]

kalbfellp, on May 30 2010, 12:56 AM, said:

We used thongs back in the late sixties when supplies of Foam tyres became hard to find.
Foam is a lot different to what we call eurethane.
The grip level is better than hard rubber tyres, BUT no where as good as things like Tuna's, Piranna's or Ingram foam tyres.

Might have to make a trip up the coast and get some Purple Pig "foam" hey Phil...


(sorry guys, local in joke....)

[kalbfellp]

Tim: No Tim can get it here, also looked at some thongs BUT local the girls at Best and Less assured me there was no foam in there Thongs!

[timtulip]

slotbaker, on May 29 2010, 09:52 PM, said:

I used to do that back in the early days, and have done it to get whitwall tyres.

Works great, but as you say, very fiddly.

I need to make some whitewalls!!

How do you make whitewalls from thongs? Do you end up with just a full white tire? or do you somehow make a black tire with a white wall?

I am massively interested! I'm building a replica of my beetle that has very wide whitewalls, also building a chevy and cadillac that will both need them.

[slotbaker]

Back then, I pretty much did the same as fosinator did, and started out with a fairly rough shape with a hole in it, glued it to the rim and got the old man's Black and Decker in the vice to sand the multi facetted shape into a round one.

Today, (making tyres from Clark Rubber sheet) I just use a hole saw that puts the pilot hole in the centre, and the saw maks a fairly round shape. The hole can be opened up with the Dremel if needed.

Once you have the tyre ready to go onto the rim, put an axle into the wheel to use as a handle, and use contact adhesive that is solvent based (not the water based one), coat the inside of the tyre, and the outside of the wheel.

Once the contact has 'gone off' dip the wheel into a small jar/tin of turps, then push the wheel into the tyre with the whitewall on the correct side. Once the wheel is in the tyre, you can manipulate the tyre around a bit to get it true.

Take a bit of time to get it nice and square, with the whitewall running true to the wheel.

I used to make them for 1:24 scale, so it's easier than if you're doing it for 1:32, and yes you pretty much get a full white sidewall, although I sanded a fairly large radius on the outer edge, then use a sharp hobby knife to define the outside diameter of the whitewall.

If you can glue the blanks onto the rim nice and square, you can thin down the thickness of the white layer, then sand the white off to reveal the black wall near the tread.

It took me nearly one full thong of practice, and trying different things to get what I thought looked OK.

[fosinator]

I picked up some blue cheap thongs(for feet:)) from kmart and found that they are soft and grippy.Gonna try my mates truer out tonight.Im gonna aim for 10 mins a pair.Might even chuck a pair on the nsr.I found last night with a bit of "love juice"(what we call turps) my mates got obliterated.Of course only for 15 or so laps then it starts gettin slippery.
The first pair i made i put on the anglewinder rtr.They still had some graphics from the thong that u could see on the outer wall and was was really cool to watch them "lock up" at the end of the straight.

[timtulip]

slotbaker, on May 31 2010, 03:17 PM, said:

then push the wheel into the tyre with the whitewall on the correct side. Once the wheel is in the tyre, you can manipulate the tyre around a bit to get it true.

Take a bit of time to get it nice and square, with the whitewall running true to the wheel.

I used to make them for 1:24 scale, so it's easier than if you're doing it for 1:32, and yes you pretty much get a full white sidewall, although I sanded a fairly large radius on the outer edge, then use a sharp hobby knife to define the outside diameter of the whitewall.

If you can glue the blanks onto the rim nice and square, you can thin down the thickness of the white layer, then sand the white off to reveal the black wall near the tread.

this is where i'm stuck... where are you getting the "blanks" or the actual whitewall?? When you refer to "blanks", is that the whitewall?
I've always wondered where people get the whitewall part from when model building. Is the whitewall another piece of thong that you've sanded down so it's thin?
This is where i'm stuck. I have no idea how to make the actual whitewall part.

[timtulip]

What are foam tires like on plastic Scalextric track?

[kalbfellp]

When you can now buy black donuts for around $2.00 a pair why would you bother? They also grip much better than the Thong rubber!

[slotbaker]

timtulip, on Jun 1 2010, 02:06 PM, said:

this is where i'm stuck... where are you getting the "blanks" or the actual whitewall?? When you refer to "blanks", is that the whitewall?
I've always wondered where people get the whitewall part from when model building. Is the whitewall another piece of thong that you've sanded down so it's thin?
This is where i'm stuck. I have no idea how to make the actual whitewall part.

OK, the blank is the piece of thong that you could cut out, either with a hole saw, or a hobby knife.
The blank would have a hole in the middle, for the wheel. The hole is likely drilled in, then opened up (if needed) with a dremel.

To get the white wall, you need to buy thongs that have the white layer moulded into the top face.
Have a look here, scroll down a bit.
These ones have a heavily treaded sole, but you can get smoother ones.

[FLY in the wall]

timtulip, on Jun 1 2010, 12:31 PM, said:

What are foam tires like on plastic Scalextric track?

Only tried them on a metal chassis sprint car. Grip OK but can be overpowered. I am currently running silicone which are really sponge tires coated with sealant. Sorry I cannot be more specific.

[kalbfellp]

I would not think they would work well on Plastic.
Foam do not work well on very clean track,need some rubber on the surface or so "GOO"

Some of the "fish" type will work reasonably well.

[timtulip]

slotbaker, on Jun 1 2010, 04:01 PM, said:

timtulip, on Jun 1 2010, 02:06 PM, said:

this is where i'm stuck... where are you getting the "blanks" or the actual whitewall?? When you refer to "blanks", is that the whitewall?
I've always wondered where people get the whitewall part from when model building. Is the whitewall another piece of thong that you've sanded down so it's thin?
This is where i'm stuck. I have no idea how to make the actual whitewall part.

OK, the blank is the piece of thong that you could cut out, either with a hole saw, or a hobby knife.
The blank would have a hole in the middle, for the wheel. The hole is likely drilled in, then opened up (if needed) with a dremel.

To get the white wall, you need to buy thongs that have the white layer moulded into the top face.
Have a look here, scroll down a bit.
These ones have a heavily treaded sole, but you can get smoother ones.

boom.

thank you once again

[popdog]

timtulip, on Jun 1 2010, 03:31 PM, said:

What are foam tires like on plastic Scalextric track?

On my gloss painted track sponge is the best,but I tried my best car on his scalextric track and got no grip at all.
MJK urathanes seem to work well on both surfaces and the secret is of course getting them to run smooth and true