# Silicone tires and a couple other things (Long)



## Xence (Oct 2, 2007)

I know alot has been written on this subject but I'm going to throw my .02 in also. I do not claim to be nearly as knowledgeable about slotcar tuneups as some of the people here. When I saw the gear lapping post I was in shock at how good some people are at really getting these little devils running just awesome. I think I'm going to try that afterwhile (such a killer thread) but I digress.

After having my track up for around 2 months and reading just an absolute ton of posts somewhere in the middle of all of this I ran into someone here on the boards that lives real close by. micyou3. I originally met micyou at Bob Beers' '05 February show on the Island. For whatever reason we didn't keep in contact so fast forward to Oct. of '07. I starting posting on this board and lo and behold who is here, none other than micyou3. We start yappin' and sure enough we're both still really enjoying slot cars and we decide to start racing together. After going over his house for the first time and racing on his real nice track I get the bug to build a track. The wife ok's it and away I go. (I'm sure many of you have read a bunch of my posts) 

So, fast forward to about 2 or 3 weeks ago. Micyou3 tells me man (paraphrasing it) your cars will run really well with silicone tires. So I'm looking around and he suggests, look for some of weird jacks "bag-o-rejects." I look on ebay and sure enough there they are. I get in contact with Jack and tell him hey I don't race t-jets just not my thing can I have only magnatraction style tires. He responds with "sure no problem." A week or so later and I get this huge bag of tires. I'm not exactly sure what to expect but after micyou3 gave this guy ample praise I wasn't too worried that I'd get a good set of tires. I open the bag start looking through and was just amazed. I don't race with too many people outside of micyou3, maybe I will maybe I won't, so for now this bag more than suits my purposes.

Weird Jack's tires seem to be one of the best small investments I've made in a long while. For $40shipped I received 400 tires. Now even if over half of those were junk, which they weren't, I have more than saved myself the money I invested. Now if I were to race would I use these? I don't know I'm not currently racing in any leagues or anything.

I put together a set of 3 mark donahue #6's last night. I got them running really smooth, I reach over grab my favorite bag of weirdjacks tires, rummage through for some sort of matched tires and WALLA! Away the cars go and holy cow do they stick. I could not be happier with these tires even if I wanted to be. Bag-o-Rejects or not these are well worth my .02

I'm not sure if these will work for everyone but for my purposes of running like a madman on my track these are an excellent deal.

I hope someone else will be able to use this knowledge.

Cheers,
Xence


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## roffutt (Jun 30, 2006)

Excuse my ignorance.... but why are they called bag of rejects? Does he sell bags of non-rejects? You say you have to match a set.. So, about how many different sizes would you guess there are? Any way easily know what size is what? I think some brands use different colors? Are they all the same compound of softness or hardness?

Thanks,
-roffutt


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## Xence (Oct 2, 2007)

roffutt said:


> Excuse my ignorance.... but why are they called bag of rejects? Does he sell bags of non-rejects? You say you have to match a set.. So, about how many different sizes would you guess there are? Any way easily know what size is what? I think some brands use different colors? Are they all the same compound of softness or hardness?


They're called a bag of rejects because they are exactly that, a bag of rejects. There's something wrong with them, either they are improperly sized, they are not aesthetically pleasing, etc... To my knowledge WeirdJack does sell good non-blem tires, shoot him an email. [email protected]
He's a real decent person. He answered all of my insane questions, and I had a lot of them.

As far as how many different sizes are in the bag, I couldn't even begin to guess. They are all black in color and they are all the same softness/hardness that I have been able to discern at this juncture in time.

Hope that helps.

Cheers,
Xence


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## Scafremon (Dec 11, 2006)

Xence said:


> As far as how many different sizes are in the bag, I couldn't even begin to guess. They are all black in color and they are all the same softness/hardness that I have been able to discern at this juncture in time.


What? You haven't sorted out your bag of rejects yet?  

It's a good hour's worth of fun.

I started with 2 piles: big ones and little ones. Then big ones with big holes, and big ones with little holes. Then big ones, big holes, and wide, versus big ones, big holes, and not-as-wide.

When done, I had 6 different types of tires. What they each go on is beyond me, but one day I will figure it out.


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## Xence (Oct 2, 2007)

A fellow convert to the darkside. Scafremon. I have converted I have converted.... hehe. 

Man, concerning being able to go through all of those tires, holy cow is all I can say. I just take 1 car at a time and go from there. I was actually considering buying one of those tire gauge things someone was selling on the bay so I could get a good idea of what I had.

Like I was saying in the original post, kinda sick at how smooth my cars run though once I get a decently matched pair. I have the 3 Mark Donahue cars and they go so smooth it's not even funny. So far I have easily found I would say at least 20 real good pairs of tires. I'm pretty sure it's like twice that but I honestly don't remember. Point being is that this little bag-o-rejects has paid for itself considering you're usually paying at least $1/pr. for these.


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## Scafremon (Dec 11, 2006)

I agree that these are a good deal, and I don't think I will have a need to buy any more for quite awhile. Being rejects however, the tires may need a little work before they are optimum. Many of them have a flashing on the inside edge, that should really be removed. I don't have the hang yet on 'truing' tires, but you might want to search the tips forum, as I know that Bill Hall and others have offered some good tips on how to do this. That's what I plan on doing once I get my track going and want to start putting these babies onto my cars.


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## Xence (Oct 2, 2007)

Yeah that makes sense concerning the truing Scaf. I'll have to look truing up like you were saying and see what's on the forum. 

I'm kind of a work in progress though as I'm both building my track and racing my cars at the same time. Last night I went through the table for a couple of hours, making it sturdier, and then I went through like 4 or 5 cars just making them run real smooth and all, adding weird jacks tires on each one.

Subject change for a moment.

Does anyone really run the older non-magnatraction chassis? I used to have a bunch but I've sold/traded most of them and only have a handful left. I like the magna's better to be honest.


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## dlw (Aug 17, 1999)

You can still buy Afx MT chassis. Since you're in the Long Island area, just hold off until then and get some there. Might as well use the shipping charges for something cool, like admission to the show. Look for these vendors:

SCJ, Bob (tubtrack on ebay) Slotcar Central, and there are others.


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## Xence (Oct 2, 2007)

DLW I wish I knew you were there in pittsburgh when I lived there. I was there from '97 till '03 and had a small collection compared to what I have now. I had no idea people were into this stuff back then.

I know all of the names you speak of though. I've bought, I think, from most of those people at least once or twice. 

I have a ton of the old AFX/MT stuff. I've converted most of what I have over to those just because I like the way they handle better as compared to the AFX/Non-MT


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## f1nutz (Mar 26, 2007)

Hey Guys
I bought a bag of rejects a couple years ago and I'm still have a pile left out of it. They were mostly cosmetically "defective" so it was no big deal. I true them up and away I go. It made for a cheap source of tires for newbies and friends coming out racing. Tire's aren't generally expensive but it can add up when you have a bunch of friends using them here and there. With the rejects I just let them know and let them have them until they decide they want something better but most are quite happy using them.


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## Xence (Oct 2, 2007)

F1 how do you true your tires?


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## videojimmy (Jan 12, 2006)

I got a bag pf rejects of his whitewalls.. so far, they all seem good to me. some of the imperfections are so minor, you wouldn't even notice them. Jacks has higher standards than most people, so even his rejects are better than most people's "product"


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## vaBcHRog (Feb 19, 2003)

When you are ready to take your AFX or XT to the next level try this wheel pack from JW. While you are there pick up a wheel press and puller for your AFX's and a couple rear axles

C06- JW's MT/XT Performance Pack, includes F14 Plastic Independent Front End, W10 Plastic Rear Wheels, Ground & Trued T06 Rear Tires and Pro Plastic Guide Pin. - $13.95.

http://users.cescowildblue.com/jwsteed/JW.HTM

Roger Corrie


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## Xence (Oct 2, 2007)

Ok Roger you just went over my head. I'm not quite to that point yet I don't believe. I can see a point where I will be but not just yet. Good information though.

Thanks,
Xence


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## dlw (Aug 17, 1999)

Xence, did you know about A.B. Charles hobby shop? A bunch of us used to rum Afx's and other vintage cars around 1997.

A.B.'s has a new, larger shop now with a 10-lane Tomy track. So if you happen to visit Pittsburgh in the near future, look them up.


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## Xence (Oct 2, 2007)

dlw, 

Yeah I bought a bunch of stuff from that guy. Nice shop. My ex-girlfriend used to live right down the road from there so it was easy to just pop in real quick. I had no idea he ran slotcars there though. Not sure when I'm going to be able to make it back there though at this point.


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## Bill Hall (Jan 6, 2007)

Xence, Jack's tires cut beautifully and are a great tire to "hone" yer skills on. 

Truing is arguably the number one track tuning tip.

Important to note:

1. Wheels ad axles must be round. Truing on a bad mandrel or wheel only serves to lump or flat side a tire. Thus ruining it. So make sure the wheels are round and the axles run true. :freak: 

2. Adjust your speed. Excessive RPM when truing is a no-no. Many of the gummy silis will distort at high rpm (even when bonded to the wheel) and again produce and undesirable lumpage or thin side. The lower speed moto tool with the jacobs chuck works nicely around here.

3. Major cuttage should be done on the moto-tool so's ya dont overheat your slot motor. Helps to have a go no go cheapo tire guage, I dont! LOL, I use the calipers cuz I have them. Always check your work frequently. Some guys use emory boards or some sort of sanding stick. I like sticky back autobody sandpaper around 220/320, again improvise with what you can get. It should go without saying that whatever you rig up it should be flat!  

4. Now that you have some basics, forget it for a while. Jacks tires cut like butter and are the exception to most truing rules! Providing the car is in good working order you can true them right on the chassis. Drop them right on the paper and grind the contact patch until it's uniform and no more! I use reverse rotation for this. Letting the chassis pull backwards as opposed to pushing forward. The chassis will float rather than bind. To finish fold a scrap of sandpaper to form a crisp edge and use this to take the sharp edge from both the inside and outside edge and dress any side wall irregularities. Ya do this to help the tires slide across the rail so your not snagging the edges especially in the turns. :thumbsup: 

With Jacks tires ya got to go easy, a light touch! They will hum down to nuthin' rather quickly if your over zealous. When truing on the chassis monitor your "motor heat" closely. Dont wanna let the smoke out of your armature!  

The results can be seen as your car is smoother on the track. You can hear it also! There wont be as much chatter under hard accelleration. Best of all you'll feel it in your trigger finger with better track response. Good luck and have fun...Nuthin to it with Jacks! :woohoo:


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## twolff (May 11, 2007)

Jack's tires are the best I've tried on my Tomy track. The other silicones I've tried on T-Jets, AFX, and Magnatractions feel and drive too hard.


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## micyou03 (Apr 8, 2003)

Wierd Jack's are my favorite too. I've tried many others and some are just too tacky and make my cars do wheelies and/or role over in the corners. I find Jack's to be just right for my liking.



vaBcHRog said:


> When you are ready to take your AFX or XT to the next level try this wheel pack from JW. While you are there pick up a wheel press and puller for your AFX's and a couple rear axles
> 
> C06- JW's MT/XT Performance Pack, includes F14 Plastic Independent Front End, W10 Plastic Rear Wheels, Ground & Trued T06 Rear Tires and Pro Plastic Guide Pin. - $13.95.
> 
> ...


I've got to try these. I've put after market wheels, axles etc. on T-jets, but have nover tried going that route on AFX type chassis. I think I'll have to give it a shot.

I really love this JW set on my JLTOs










They look great and perform very well!!!


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## HadaSlot (Oct 22, 2007)

videojimmy said:


> I got a bag pf rejects of his whitewalls.. so far, they all seem good to me. some of the imperfections are so minor, you wouldn't even notice them. Jacks has higher standards than most people, so even his rejects are better than most people's "product"


Hey VJ, I knew you would get the white walls. I have passed on a bunch of "bag O Re's" and now am bummed needing tires. I have seen many a junkyard "provide" for a fair part price. I got into Jacks tire program on his site a few years ago. I wish I had bought them back then. I would guess that they run better than the flat spotted originals and look cool. I got some tips for 1:1 whites also. David


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## weirdjack (Apr 11, 2007)

First of all, thanks to all who have said such nice things about my tires and me. I really appreciate that. Folks have been very good to me over the past 11 years. 
Now to answer some questions I see raised here:
(1) Yes, I do normally sell non-reject tires. "Rocket Science Ltd" began 11 years ago by producing Road Monkeys silicone tires for vintage 1/32 and 1/24 cars, then more modern 1/32 stuff, and finally BlackHawks T-Jet and other vintage HO tires (Lionel, Tyco-S, etc). Eventually, I shut down most of the larger scale production, since HO took over my spare time (RSL is part of the hobby for me, I'm an engineer during the day).
(2) I only offer black or whitewall tires in my own personal compound preference. I do not make them in colors, nor in various grades. I spent a long time developing the compound that I prefer; just enough consistent grip and drift, without needing constant cleaning. For people needing something else, there are tons of other tire makers out there selling pink sparkle, super soft, ultra-sticky, and tie-them-in-a-bow tires. 
(3) Bag-Of-Rejects are just that. They are blems from production runs. For example, when MM Inc orders 1000 pairs of TO's, I end up with blems from that production run. Blems get thrown into 3oz cups, each B-O-R is normally composed of three 3oz cupfuls of assorted tires.
(4) The key to sorting them and figuring out which tires are which is looking at the Rocket Science Ltd product page and matching to the pictures there. There will be some tires in each B-O-R not listed on my website. Those are either tires made exclusively for specific dealers or distributors, or tires I make for special order but do not list.
(5) While I do keep some tire auctions on eBay every week, most of my sales are to dealers, distributors, car makers....or direct through my website http://www.weirdjack.com . 

Again, thank you all for the kind words. Much appreciated.
WJ


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