- Although any brand of CA glue will work, I have had the best luck with LOCTITE 406 which is specially formulated to bond rubber with plastic:
- I feel that 20ga glue tips work best for me with 406:
- Some brands of tires require you to trim excess rubber along the beads from the mold process, if you don't trim the beads then you risk having the beads pop out of alignment during the gluing process!
- For 1/8 (EVO) style beads I make sure to scuff the beads of both the rubber tires as well as the plastic wheels with the cylinder shaped stone bit on my rotary tool, then I prep both surfaces with alcohol swabs wait for them to be completely dry before gluing.
- I prefer to use silicone bands which last longer than rubber:
- Then I apply a bead of glue between 1"-2" at a time, press then pull away the rubber to let the glue spread farther across the bead of both surfaces which makes it act like contact cement which makes an even stronger bond being careful to push the bead into the wheel and getting proper alignment before the glue sets by doing this within a few seconds for each glue spot ensuring 100% glue coverage on the bead
- After I've gone the circumference of the wheel I drag the metal glue tip to build up a small even layer bead of glue as a second pass along the perimeter to act as a shield to lock the bead in place and prevent the rubber from tearing at the bead.
- Also important to wipe excess glue from the applicator tip to prevent it from gumming up before gluing the next bead.
- After every run, I will spot check the beads, it's not uncommon for the rubber to start to tear away and you may have to re-glue the tires where I use compressed air to remove any dirt/gunk and scrape away with a hobby knife then use an alcohol swab to de-grease the area before spot gluing any sections of bead that are separating.
- To extend the life of my foam inserts I make it a point to wash my tires (only once) at the end of the race day which allows plenty of time for the inserts to completely dry before next use. Wet inserts are more prone to getting cracks and will fail prematurely!
- If the track is ran wet(muddy) then I will lightly rinse my tires immediately after a run and try to save those tires for another race day being careful to have plenty of sets of tires on hand to minimize wear
- Generally a set of inserts will last roughly 2+ hours of total run time before the foam starts to break down and lose its effectiveness, however there are many times where I might only get between 30-60 minutes of run time on a set of tires for abrasive track conditions!
- I will often recycle my wheels/inserts which can save a small fortune, especially if your favorite brand sells rubber only:
- I very carefully used curved scissors to cut the beads without damaging the foam insert and remove the foams, then soak the wheels in a tupperware container filled with acetone over night. Then the beads peel off effortlessly the next day
- After removing the wheels from the acetone bath, I run them through a cycle in the dishwasher on the top rack then hit the beads with my dremel to flatten any rough gouges to reshape the bead if necessary. The following picture are 2 sets of recycled wheels/inserts along with a closeup of what the glue bead should look like with a second drag pass with the glue tip
