# Questions about silicon tires



## DrBonex (Oct 13, 2013)

How long should a set of Silicon Tires last on a T-Jet before they should be replaced? Does anyone have any tips on telling when tires should be replaced?


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## sethndaddy (Dec 4, 2004)

replace them when they rip. other then that, just wipe em clean.


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## Joe65SkylarkGS (Feb 15, 2010)

If you store ur cars for long periods of time, I'd even dismount them. Some will stretch out. Some won't but unfortunately some do.


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## slotking (May 27, 2008)

they last forever
I have an old pair of 1960 red indy tires that work great


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## Grampa Ho (Feb 25, 2009)

I have found different mfg. respond differently.
Some brands I can leave on the hub and it will not "grow" and start to slip on the hub. Others, I have to remove when I am not running them because the compound is to soft and needs to relax. 
I too, have some tires that are still great after 10 years but, I don't use them in competition.

Rich


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## Rich Dumas (Sep 3, 2008)

There are different SILICONE formulations. The tires that I used to use were softer and would tear easily if you put them on a double flange wheel. The soft silicones could also stretch, but I never had a problem with that if I used double flange hubs. If I had to use skinny stock T-Jet wheels I removed the tires when I was not running the car to minimize stretching. With the soft tires wear was not a problem except on Magnatraction and X-Traction cars that have more downforce, those tires would be shot after a few races. I have never had a Super Tire tear or wear out. For people that run boxstock T-Jets Super Tires now has a new softer formulation that is as durable as the original formulation. I have some of those on the way and will be testing them soon.


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## bearsox (Apr 22, 2006)

*The old versions of tires from many makers were all over the map as to what you got durability wise . With today's silicone tires VS the old rubber which were the typical culprits that broke down , you now get tires that can last for up to 30 years or more ! At Balls Out HO our tires will do just that . Now with the 2 versions of harness variations (firm and soft )in many sizes including box stock ( skinny ) already for sale in our store the wait for options is over ! Tested in KC , NY , IL and CA they are strong durable and race ready winners .*

*Bear :wave:*


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## GT40 (Jan 18, 2014)

bearsox
Do you have TIRES for the the Mega G cars.


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## bearsox (Apr 22, 2006)

*In the pipe but 1st there are a few others making it out along with what will be a pleasant surprise or 2 suggested by 1 one the members here !*

*Bear :wave:*


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## RjAFX (Oct 26, 2014)

If you are looking into new tires, these are outstanding and work great on the Tomy RT, SG+, MG, and MG+. Look around, I think they may be on sale this month.


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## GT40 (Jan 18, 2014)

RjAFX
Thank You Sir, I'll give them a try.


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## Rich Dumas (Sep 3, 2008)

*Tire Testing*

I have done a little testing on the new Super Tires skinny T-Jet tires, I got samples of white and black tires. For years I have used Wizzard PVT03 tires on my boxstock cars. HOCOC calls those Vintage Tin. A while back Tom Hiester took over the Penn Valley line of silicone tires and Wizzard is no longer selling them. . The Penn Valley tires are soft and can tear if you are not careful with them, but they can be sanded easily to get the diameter that you want. Super Tires are almost indestructible and they are very difficult to sand. I did round off the shoulders of the Super Tires that I tested just a tiny bit. The new tires seem to be a little softer than the older skinny Super Tires that I have, but they are not as soft as the PVT03s. The older Super Tires that I had were too wide for the double flanges hubs that I use on my boxstock cars, so those were not included in my comparison.
The car that I used has a RRR '55 Chevy Fairgrounds body, the rest of the car is stock, except for double flange hubs in back. I have a MaxTrax, so there are only 23 joints for the 50 foot track.
I spent some time making sure that the track was in top condition before I started the actual testing. The car is fairly quick and has won races in the past.
I started with the PVT03s, those did not want to slide, the front of the car would come out first making it more difficult to find the limit, but the best time was 7.475 seconds. Lap times did not increase as the laps piled up. The Super Tires were the same diameter as the PVTs, I tried the whites first and got a best time of 7.486. Lap times with the whites also were also consistent. The black tires had more slide, which was a surprise. The best time was 7.480, but the amount of slide did increase slowly and the tires would need cleaning after a 3 minute heat. I ran the PVT03s one more time and got down to 7.349. I am not certain if my driving had settled down or if the track had improved a little. With the car that I was using it is difficult to do a perfect lap, which is important if you are looking for differences that are less than a tenth of a second. 
If I get a chance I will do more testing today.


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## alpink (Aug 22, 2010)

nice comparison test.
Tom does sell the PVT03 tires on his site and at shows. they have a different inventory number now on his site.
to the best of my knowledge he is using the original Penn Valley Hobby formula for making the tires. I have a lot of original PVTs because I live relatively close to the store.
I prefer them. I like bearsox tires too.
remember, I only go straight and I only run for a few seconds (or tenths) at a time, so my experience has no relation to doing repeated laps.
I have also bought and use thousands of Rocket Science blems.
.


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## vaBcHRog (Feb 19, 2003)

When I was running mail in races and doing lots of testing my best times were with the PVT however there was no give when the track and tires were clean you could push a car to very edge then pop you were off the track. Weird Jacks and Thunder Slicks would slide and were better on a dirty track vs the PVT. I need to get my track up and running and do some testing of the new tires.


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## Rich Dumas (Sep 3, 2008)

That is what I got with the PVT tires. I rarely have the front end come out when I am actually racing. I sent Nick at Super Tires a copy of my report and also spoke to him on the phone for a long time. I was hoping to do a little more testing because I was not expecting much of a difference between the white and black tires, maybe later today! Nick could also make a urethane version of this tire, those would certainly get you more slide and would be less fussy about dust on the track.


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## slotking (May 27, 2008)

have any of you tried mixing the tires?
1 sticky tire and 1 sliding tire?

i have done this in the past with good results


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## Rich Dumas (Sep 3, 2008)

Another thing that you can try is to clean one tire and leave the other one dirty! I race with a guy that does that all of the time. If you run a class that allows weighted front ends having the front end come out would usually not be a problem. I like the Anchor front ends from One Stop Slot Shop and the RT-HO front ends. With box stock cars you probably be stuck with regular wheels.


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