# Looking for Tires



## Rich Dumas (Sep 3, 2008)

Silicone on sponge tires for HO cars seem to be getting harder to find, it looks like a number of makers or sellers have dropped out of the picture. A quick search turned up tires from Wizzard, Quicker and Victory (Victor Quinones). Does anybody out there have any makers to add to the list? I am mostly interested in T-jet SS type tires.


----------



## Milton Fox Racing (May 27, 2014)

:lurk5:

This shop usually has a pretty extensive stock

wild bill's hobbytown irving texas


----------



## Rich Dumas (Sep 3, 2008)

I checked out Wild Bill's, it is nice to see an old time brick and mortar shop that is still in business, however for me that would be a long ride. I did not see any indication that he has a mail order business and I could not determine what tires he carries.
The tuning articles that I write include links to sellers and I was looking to update those. It gets frustrating when you need a part and can't find someone that sells it. I am mostly interested in tires that are readily available, rather in ones from sources that make them in very limited quantities.


----------



## Milton Fox Racing (May 27, 2014)

He is pretty old school in person too. When you ask for something small he usually hands you a box to look through and goes to the next customer. :cheers2:


----------



## Patrick32218 (Nov 14, 2019)

Only a few on flea bay... But I have been looking now at jelclaws to replace my 40 year old stock of HO parts.

https://slotsnstuff.com/jel-claws-tires.html

Haven't tried them yet but planning on ordering a set to try em out... Anyone else try these?


----------



## Rich Dumas (Sep 3, 2008)

I was only interested in silicone coated foam tires in my original post, however I mostly run on slip-on tires and I did evaluate some Jel Claw tires at one time. My testing was limited to the size that fits the old Aurora Hot Rods, Indy Cars and Dune Buggies. I found that the Jel Claws had less grip than the silicone tires that I normally use. If you normally run on silicone tires your track will get coated with the residue from those and probably spoil the grip of the Jel Claws, which are a different material referred to as EPDM. EPDM is used for automotive windshield gaskets. You might get better results if you conditioned the track for Jel Claws and ran those exclusively.
If you were to race your cars you would want to use the same type of tire as your competitors. I have never heard of anyone racing on Jel Claws, perhaps someone with more experience with Jel Claws will chime in here.


----------



## Patrick32218 (Nov 14, 2019)

Thanks for your insight on the Jelclaws... The more I read about them, it doesn't seem like the route I want to go... I have seen quite a few over in Europe sware by eurathane ... Anyone have any input or experience with those?


----------



## alpink (Aug 22, 2010)

my experience with JelClaws wasn't what I would have liked.
where allowed I prefer "silifoams" tires.
this guy (along with others) makes great slip on silicone tires for all wheels and diameters.
he doesn't hear well, so calling is not good. email and he will get back to you quickly.
like I said there are more good tire makers and I am sure someone will save me the effort and post who they are.


----------



## MSwaterlogged (Feb 5, 2014)

While on the subject of tires... I need front tires for AFX inline magnet cars (most chassis). Looks like JelClaws has a few sizes, need to double check the stock front wheels before I order anything. Guess if the fronts get "slippery" after running silicones, that would not be a bad thing?

Charlie


----------



## alpink (Aug 22, 2010)

Charlie, O-rings make real good replacements for front tires on most chassis.
consider that the guide pin steers the car and the tires/wheels just keep the front off the track.
also consider that 1/24 scale slot cars don't allow the front tires to touch the track because they want as much downforce on the combination guide pin/pickup braids.
I know there are different opinions on front tires on slot cars and I am interested in hearing them.


----------



## Rich Dumas (Sep 3, 2008)

I test HO tires for Super Tires and he makes both silicone and urethane tires. When I was testing both types of HO tires I found that the silicone tires would leave a coating on the track. When I switched to urethane tires they would get coated with the residue and loose much of their grip unless I kept washing them. In order to do a proper comparison between the two types I had to strip the track down with lighter fluid and condition it by running many laps with urethane tires, even so I got slightly better lap times with silicone tires. One advantage to urethane tires is that they tend to hold up better if the track is dusty. Dust sticks to silicone tires and once they get coated they lose much of their grip whereas dust does not stick to urethane tires, so they just push the dust around. If your track was very dusty you would probably probably want to clean it with a Swiffer to get up most of the dust, then run the cars and clean the tires every few laps. After a few cycles of running around the track and cleaning the tires the track would be clean and further cleaning would usually not be needed.
Another issue is that urethane tires wear out much faster than silicone tires. When we run in a 1/32nd endurance race some people get through an entire 24 hours of racing with only one tire change. We have never run an endurance race on urethane tires, but I would expect that you would have to change tires every 2-3 hours.
I have been told that the sales of urethane Super Tires in Europe have gone down and that people over there are now starting to buy silicone tires instead.
If you race your cars the choice of tires is critical, for casual running I expect that you would be happy with either type of tire.


----------



## MSwaterlogged (Feb 5, 2014)

Yep I have used O-rings on some of the cars and will use them if I have to. However, for the cars that are more shelf queens, I would rather have actual tires like they came with. I am more of a prefer they look "stock" person.

Thanks,
Charlie




alpink said:


> Charlie, O-rings make real good replacements for front tires on most chassis.
> consider that the guide pin steers the car and the tires/wheels just keep the front off the track.
> also consider that 1/24 scale slot cars don't allow the front tires to touch the track because they want as much downforce on the combination guide pin/pickup braids.
> I know there are different opinions on front tires on slot cars and I am interested in hearing them.


----------



## rbrunne1 (Sep 22, 2007)

Unless you want to stay with the stock front wheels, look at the Wizzard or Viper independent front ends...I linked to the plastic wheels, but they are also available in aluminum. With these front ends you can easily change the front tires to get the desired ride height.

https://viperscaleracing.com/shop?olsPage=products/cnc-billet-delrin-independent-front-end-340

https://wizzardho.com/plastic-independent-front-end-parts-for-storm-patriot-tyco-viper-g/


----------



## Rich Dumas (Sep 3, 2008)

I had special hard urethane front tires made to fit cars like the Tyco 440X-2. With front tires you do not need any grip and sticky tires would just cause extra rolling resistance. I have posted about these tires in the past, but no one showed any interest and the tires were not commercialized.


----------

