# Looking for the perfect sili-sponge tire!!



## [email protected] (Jan 25, 2007)

I am running poly-mods on tomy plastic home tracks. i have been running mounted sili-sponge tires. very good but very expensive. The Wizzard LAWG orange, the BSRT AST, the Law Breaker white firm. The Law Breaker is my favorite by far. These tires drive well but don't wear well. I asked Deane (BSRT) about using Super tires and other slip ons and he said that i would lose "alot of speed" and won't be happy based on the tires i use and like. Can anyone reccommend a tire that grips like the tires i use but is a little harder and will give me better wear? I want to race more and spend less. Thanks in advance for your sage advice. mj


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## wheelszk (Jul 8, 2006)

Race more, spend less.Everybodys dream.


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## Hornet (Dec 1, 2005)

Rabbit racings working on a new firmer tire for R/O cars,that's been panning out not bad for us,check with Harvey or Willy.Have you tried re-building them,you can easily re-coat them and get a bit more life out of them
http://www.ho-tips.org/index.php?showtopic=1012

http://www.rabbitracing.com/Tires.html


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## [email protected] (Jan 25, 2007)

Hornet said:


> Rabbit racings working on a new firmer tire for R/O ]


Hey H, I've tried a couple of different tires from rabbit and wasn't happy with any so far......... any suggestions? How do the ones yo are trying compare to th LB's? I was just rereading your thread on HOtips yesterday as a matter of fact. Maybe if it isn't too much work i'll try it. Wish folks would post more there and Planet of Speed. I'll read it again tomorrow.


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## AfxToo (Aug 29, 2003)

The Wizzard orange ATFs on 360 hubs work very well with the heavy magnet cars. I've generally found that the larger rim makes the tires less squishy, or compressible, which is what you typically want with heavy magnets.

If cost is a factor, try the narrow double flanged rims and SuperTires. Yes, you'll lose some speed and handling over the silicon-sponge but they last, and last, and last.......


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## Hornet (Dec 1, 2005)

City,you have to be careful with Rabbit when you order and specify that you need their new R/O tire,cause we've found they'll send out the wrong tires if you don't specify .
AFXII slip-ons don't last forever,i take about a .001" off in wear about every 1500 laps on my R/O cars.
If you do run slip-ons on a R/O car,try to get the biggest hub you can and run the soft compound tire.
You need hubs in the range of 275 or bigger and a soft slip-on to work good on a R/O,personally i run nothing but slip-ons in our league,i'm the only guy on slip-ons,and i've found the 295/300 diameter hubs to work the best for me.
They will be off the pace from a good silly-foam by probably about 2/10th's


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## EBasil (Jan 11, 2000)

Make Supertires/slip-ons the rule at your track and you'll all equalize AND have more than enough money for pizza, wings and ice cold beverages.


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## [email protected] (Jan 25, 2007)

EBasil said:


> Make Supertires/slip-ons the rule at your track and you'll all equalize AND have more than enough money for pizza, wings and ice cold beverages.


My guru advised me that i wouldn't be happy running STs. I'm sure he is right. Oh well. mj


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## sidecar53 (May 14, 2006)

EBasil said:


> Make Supertires/slip-ons the rule at your track and you'll all equalize AND have more than enough money for pizza, wings and ice cold beverages.


That's what we did at Rose City Motorplex. A lot of guys were breaking the bank buying AST's. We lost a couple 10th's but 2 years later, we're quicker than ever.


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## Hornet (Dec 1, 2005)

City checked with the guys last night,and you might be right,they haven't been too happy with the last couple of batches of tires from Rabbit Racing.
The sizing appears to be all over the place,and the quality of their tires seem to dropped slightly since Christmas.
The first couple batches of the new firm tires were really good,then apparently the quality started to drop off .
If you do run a slip-on tire,the more you stretch it,the harder it becomes, the same slip-on mounted on a 250 hub,won't be the same firmness as when it's mounted on a 295 hub.
BTW:they are a real pain in the butt to sand down,and they'll take you a pile of laps to figure out,as they have a total differant driving style compared to a silly-foam,but as Rick pointed out above,you'll save a pile of money.
Rick


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## [email protected] (Jan 25, 2007)

I've pretty much given up on the slip on idea. I'm going to try a few types of mounted sili-foams and see if i can find one that splits the difference between grip and wear. As Deane (the machine) said when we were talking tires "This is an expensive hobby!" Yes, it is. But i love it. mj
Hornet how does it work for you being the only one on slip-ons??


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## Hornet (Dec 1, 2005)

Well i can take 2 complete nights off from racing and still be points leader :thumbsup:
I switched to slip-ons 4 yrs ago,and it's taken me this long to get them totally scienced out on my R/O's,i was 3rd last yr,before that i was lucky to be last using them,hey never claimed to be a fast learner,lol.The first couple of yrs i switched to them,i got my rear severly kicked,but i'm a stubborn s.o.b and i made up my mind to learn how to make them be competive against a silly foam,i've got them to where my personal bests are usually only about a 1/2 tenth off the silly foam track records
It took awhile to figure out the big hub/soft short tire combo and how to make it work,and also the driving style,you need to learn how to use brakes if you're gonna run slip-ons competitively.
The best thing is,my tire costs have went way down,we race every Friday night,and i practice a fair bit during the week,with nothing but R/O's,so i was spending a pile of money on tires,that's also why i started experimenting yrs ago with trying to re-coat silly-foams,hey i'm cheap:wave:.
We settled on a one class racing style years ago,and the guys voted for R/O's so that's why i don't own any SS or mod cars,lol.
The biggest pain with slip-ons is grinding them to size,even the 418 tyco supertire slip-ons need a pile of grinding when mounted on a 295 or bigger hub,it'll try your patience to grind them,but the good thing is they're good for quite awhile.
I wear roughly a .001" off every 1500 laps ,but a thin layer of scotch tape brings them back up to size,i use a few varieties/thickness's of tape to compensate for wear,after a few layers of clear scotch tape,i'll peel them off and go to a sticky double sided tape,etc.
I have no problem successfully getting 2 seasons of racing outta a slip-on tire before it's worn to the point of being past usable.
I always round the edges slightly when i'm done grinding them.


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## [email protected] (Jan 25, 2007)

Hornet said:


> Well i can take 2 complete nights off from racing and still be points leader


Congrats!! I figured you must be doing well with your setup...... or a glutton for punishment. Alot of my issue is my newbie driving and car building skills. i have a long ways to go. My cars are much faster and better handling than a couple of months ago. Alot of it is thanks to folks on HT with alot of sage knowledge. I imagine that alll that power and using Super tires takes a soft smooth touch. Well thanks for the science. mj


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## neorules (Oct 20, 2006)

Hornet----- One option for you would be to run slip-ons for everything but the races. A pair of sponge w silicone could last quite a while that way.


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## Hornet (Dec 1, 2005)

LOL,i actually handicap myself Bob.
There's 2 of us who have put our own handicaps in place,the guy who's won our championships for the last couple yrs and myself,he runs with old magnets (level 15 motors/level 19 tractions)but on silly foams,and i run with slip-ons on my level 19motor/level 25 traction mag cars,otherwise we'd both probably kill our series.His cars and my cars are virtually identical for laptimes when we're paired up,makes for some good racing between him and i,:woohoo:

Learned long ago not to win every race,if we wanted guys to keep coming out:thumbsup:.
Also makes it more fun,i still have to work for my wins:woohoo:
Rick


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## neorules (Oct 20, 2006)

Left-handed driving-- the ultimate handicap--that is unless you are left handed.


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## Hornet (Dec 1, 2005)

LOl,i am a southpaw,so i'd have to go right handed
City,i think i've picked up on the fact you run G's.
If you pull the brush assemblies out of a Turbo can motor or an SRT's can motor,they'll fit your G's endbell,and they are usually a better brush assembly then what's orginally in the G's endbell.
The link below will get you a pile of brush assemblies quite abit cheaper then buying replacement endbells,odds are the arms might be to short to use in your G's,but if they do work for you,it'll also give you a cheap arm supply

http://www.surplusshed.com/pages/item/m2651.html

On-Slot used to have a pictorial on brush arm replacements in a G's endbell,but i can't seem to find it on Shawns site these days.
The brush arm assemblies are actually pretty easy to change in a G's endbell,so don't be scared to take an old endbell apart.
http://www.on-slot.com/storefront/


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## Bill Hall (Jan 6, 2007)

Rick, Dunno if I missed it or not. Which ST compound are you using? 
If it's the harder compound, I would like to hear about yer technique/tricks for truing. 
Thanks!


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## mking (Apr 25, 2000)

*hey hornet*

i bought a BUNCH of those surplus shed cans. they run really nice. the arm shaft at the rear of the can is a bit short, but if you use a marchon pinion (they have a long plastic shaft) you probably can use the arm in a G chassis. ive been using the cans as a replacement can in tomy turbos. with the marchon pinion it worked pretty well. the magent clip wont go over the marchon pinion, so ive been using just a dab of superglue to keep the can in place. the marchon pinions can be had for $1, and the motors are just under $1, so $2 for a motor pinion replacement.


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## Hornet (Dec 1, 2005)

Bill i use the soft compound slip-ons,but i stretch the hell outta them to get them onto the big hubs i like.
I never could make the hard compound tires work for me ,even on a level 25 R/O car.
A slip-on tire gets progressively firmer the more you stretch it,so if you're on a smaller hub like a 250 diameter you might get the firm compounds to work.
I use an old 320 diameter silly foam hub,that i've stripped the coating off,to hold the tire while i'm grinding them,i JB welded a drill blank into the old hub,and also filled the center of the hub up with JB weld to further stiffen the hub.
I use my version of a homemade Huddy tire truer ,which is my bench top drill press set-up with a flat faced sanding disc,the axle/tire set-up i chuck in my Dremel,and then i start grinding the tire up against the sanding disc,while my dremel is spinning the opposite way.
I hold the tire so that it runs 90degree's offset from the rotating disc,so that where the spinning tire meets the spinning disc an "L" is formed.
Hopefully that makes some sense Bill,one of these days,i'm gonna break down and buy myself a Huddy tire truer,i think it'd be much easier:thumbsup:
Rick


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## Bill Hall (Jan 6, 2007)

*That is their "B" compound....right?*

Yes! Came across crystal clear Rick. I use the poor mans lathe (drill press) for projects in the same manner with my pneumatic angle grinder and other implements of destruction. 

I was just curious about which ST compound you were using. I found the harder compound to be a bit chattery in use, admittedly I do run on sectional here at home. I found them to be plenty frustrating to true or even chamfer the edges. I grind tires O-plenty so I was fairly certain you were running the softer more cuttable version.

Secretly I was wishing you had found some sort of holy grail trick for truing the harder compound. I got a small pile of them sitting useless and was hoping to get some service out of them. I also couldnt get them to work for spit. Tuff as nails...runs like nails too. LOL. 

Thanx for taking the time! :wave:


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