# removing tires (please dont sniff)



## RCMits (Jan 1, 1970)

so i been experimenting, and using acetone to remove some decent tires off some rims. the tires are in great condition but are on rims i can't use for my current cars. (offroad tires mind you).

i soaked one side in 1/2" of acetone for 2 hours and the tires peeled right off. no more crazy glue. its late so im going to do the other side tommorow. (i guess ill find my answer in the morning too..)

does the acetone damage the tire? it doesnt seem to affect the rim..the tire seems ok too from what i see, but i guess ill see in the morning if the consistancy gets all wierd on me or not.

ps. use in SUPER WEL VENTILATED AREA.. or geez do your brain cells get mad at you for getting a whiff.. LOL.

someone said to boil.. but i cant convince my wife im not really thinkinga bout making pro-line soup ~


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## baih (Sep 26, 2001)

boiling takes too long. good to do during the winter. keeps the house warm. lol

it never worked for me doing sedan rims. the rims melted using acetone. and no they did not melt away from the tires. 
i use a big pot that i bought at Big Lots for around $6.00


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## Trixter (Oct 8, 1998)

Acetone will melt plastic wheels. But it does not affect nylon, or most offroad wheels made by Losi or AE. It tends to dry out the surface of the tire, but I use sun tan lotion to clean a lot of my tires and it works well. Also clean them with Simple green they like that a lot.


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## rcsalvage (Jan 22, 2004)

There is the best tip on removing tires on this site!! Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Place the tires directly on the cooking rack and let them sit for 15 minutes. With gloves on (they are pleny toasty at this point) remove from the oven and squeeze the sidewalls together. I did this with a set of four about a month ago and the tires almost fell off the rims and very little additional cleaning was needed to remove old glue. Very little odor was noted in the house. So far it doesn't appear the heat has effected the rims. Good luck :thumbsup:


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## RCMits (Jan 1, 1970)

yeah.. tried a set of baking this morning... worked well... but.. i dunno.. the house smelled a bit odd  wife stared at me.

ill stick with acetone for now... wearing gloves. 

all the rims are nylon AE and or nylon Proline.

and the tires look ok... 

ps. the FOAM goes to crap.


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## trashedmaxx (Jun 5, 2003)

I've been experimenting with the acetone for a little while now. It destroy the foams like you said. I like how the glue just peels right off.


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## RCMits (Jan 1, 1970)

dont get the glue on your hands.. i noticed.. once it air dries, its like superglue on your hands agian 

oh i dont soak the WHOLE tire.. its a waste of acetone. i just put about a 1" of acetone in disposable tupperware.. and soak one side at a time. so far i put about 1 hour on a side, pull/peel back a bit.. and soak another hour. then whooa,... it peels back no problem


DO NOT WORK NEAR AN OPEN FLAME, NEAR ELECTRICAL ITEMS OR ANYTHING THAT CAN CAUSE THE ACETONE TO CATCH ON FIRE. ALSO, WORK IN A WELL VENTILATED AREA AS THE SMELL IS QUITE STRONG.


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## patcollins (Sep 29, 2001)

It depends on the compound of the tire. Losi Pinks and Proline R3's and M3's do not like acetone. The rest seem ok with it. While your at it put some good inserts in those tires.


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## RCMits (Jan 1, 1970)

so far i have done 3 m3 compound holeshots and square fuzzies and they are fine. a lil bath in simple green and they are sticky as ever. =) dunno WHY im doing this as my track only runs losi pink x2000's  HAHAHA.. maybe if the track is more wet i can use others =) i was just bored i guess =)


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## BluesFan (Aug 31, 2003)

RCMits, while I agree that baking tires produces a horrible smell in the kitchen, it truly is the best method for removing tires and not destroying any of the components (tires, foams, or rims). I usually set my oven between 375 and 400, put them in there for 10 minutes after its been pre-heated.

I find the Losi glue peels right off, but Fusion is a bit more tough. I usually use this method to switch out the foams in my electric off-road tires since the tires always outlast the foams, but I've gotten good foams from blown tires as well.


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## RCMits (Jan 1, 1970)

ill try it again.. i got a couple more... my hands are getting dry from the acetone ;P


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## eri3f0g (Feb 12, 2004)

c'mon mits... I hear your married right.. get some of that awesome moisturizer cream from yer wife, you'll be o.k... lol

Go ahead, I deserve it.. I said moisturizer in a RC thread..lol


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## RCMits (Jan 1, 1970)

:wave: :freak: 

*smack* 

that's supposed to be a smack.. not a wave ~ funny.. 








huh you said moisturizer.


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## ta_man (Apr 10, 2005)

I've been using the acetone approach for about 2 years now without problems. I found out a couple of things:

a) You don't even have to soak the tire in the acetone. I put about 1/2" in the bottom of an old Tupperware container and set the tire(s) on an old buggy wheel so they are not touching the liquid. This takes longer but also doesn't do as much to the foam.

b) Regular foams are not really damaged by this treatment so long as you don't try to wring them out while they are wet with acetone. If they are soaked, squeze them out (without twisting) and they will come back to the way they were once dry. On the other had, the firm blue liners from Trinity and others seem to be permanently softened.

c) I use a heavy weight (aN iron railroad tie mounting plate) on my plastic containers to keep the lid from popping off from the acetone vapor pressure.


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## RCMits (Jan 1, 1970)

tonight.. i baked some more...

put the rims and tires on top of some older nylon b3 rims, and baked the offroad tires fora bout 7 mins... took them out.. toasty, and put them in a towel/rag and the bead just popped off. 

then took a qtip dipped in acetone, and went along the bead to sop up the crazy glue left overs. nice! =)

smells funny still...


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## eri3f0g (Feb 12, 2004)

first acidtone test was performed today.. (spelling??

I have a set of pink tapers that are about 3 years old but still in great shape. Stored in a ziploc and in great shape. I can't remember the glue I used on them but I think it may have been proline's CA. I soaked the first side for about 5 hours and it kinda came off but a good 20% wouldn't give it up. 

I soaked the other side probably 10 hours and it won't even budge. Not one spot is loosening up. I've tried to pull the bead back the full circumference of the wheel 3 times in that 10 hour period and nada. I'll dump the acetone and start with some fresh. I've only got a few ounces in one of those ziploc toss away tupperware's. It only holds one tire at a time. I put the lid on and very, very little fumes. Perhaps I need to let it vent.. lol

I'll update later.

Ryan

*update* less than an hour later. I now have three tires off the rims (baked for 20 minutes) and they're soaking in some simple green waiting to be wiped off and then a light coat of buggy grip and socked into a zip lock for when I get some more foams.

I checked the original tire soaking. It appears the acidtone is starting to kick in.. ( can't help it the puns just keep coming) Anyway, one side is off and the other is soaking now. Perhaps my initial try I didn't have enough acetone in the tub. Now the foam is saturated so it can't pick up anymore of the liquid.

At least when it's all said and done I'll have one acetone'd and one not. Should get a nice side by side comparison. 

Update's to follow.

*Update 3:01 am* (don't sleep much) Testing is almost done. Tire in the acetone did finally come off. The foam was saturated which was very... UNenjoyable..?.. I have the tire next to the baked one. The baked has a coat of simple green soaked in but it's shape is noticeably "proper taper pin" whereas the acetone tire is "swelled" Just the tire, no foam and off rim. I'll coat and let some SG penetrate overnight and take some pictures in the AM.

Currently baking is still my preferred method for fast and super easy. Not to mention free. Acetone is only a few bucks but it's still a few bucks. I went out and bought some specifically to try this out.

*final update* 10:30am
the acetone tire seemed to shrink back to regular size, in fact, almost smaller than regular size in comparison to the other. Very odd as when I went to sleep the acetone tire was larger. ( See, I can leave the puns alone) Overall the acetone tire (sat in about 1" or less of the liquid) has different rubber properties compared to the baked one.The acetone seemed to shrink the 3/4" on each side of the tire but left the horizontal pins in original size. ( they weren't in acetone) Also without doubt the bead is cleaner on the baked tires. I attached a few pix but it's tough to tell from the pictures. The difference is in the "feel" as much as the look.


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