Air in the tires.

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jeeper049687

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I'm putting this here because tires are part of the suspension. the foams on my rear tires are pulverized, expected; and pool noodles are cheapest at end of the season. To some this might seem as a stupid question, and i have some reasons of my own for why it isn't done already, but. Why not just say the heck with the foams and run some air in the tires. I can get these tires glued to the rims where they would have to be cut off, i've already got my tires to hold air, they look freakin awsome. I could see this extending the life of foam " would act as a runflat system inside the wheel. Ok so more likely to get cuts and punctures when bashing around and really crazy jumps and bashing might cause a blow out right off the rim. " need stronger epoxy in my opinion" but i kinda launched my XT sideways around a turn into a tree with no wheel mods and did rip the tire off the rim in one spot, so that risk is already there. has anyone tried this yet? let me know how you guys feel about it but im going to give it a shot with some redneck engineering. btw the M/T wheels, are those true beadlocker wheel, or are they a LOOK?
 
I have alway thought putting helium gas inside each tyre would have its merits,

not that its likely to float away, but it may make it a bit lighter.....How would you get air in there? Using a valve like a 1:1 car tyre, but smaller. Belted tyres would also be helpful....
 
They use them on the bigger RC plane.

The foam holds the air. I think leaks would become a headache. You would need a spare like a 1:1 car. You would need a belted tire. I'm guessing 100+ per tire. I also think tubes would be better than a glued tire. With just air I think it would be very bouncy. JMO

Try it out. I would like to hear some real world experience.
 
bigfol said:
I have alway thought putting helium gas inside each tyre would have its merits,not that its likely to float away, but it may make it a bit lighter.....How would you get air in there? Using a valve like a 1:1 car tyre, but smaller. Belted tyres would also be helpful....
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Drill a hole in the wheel, throw the tires/wheels into the freezer for a bit, pull them out and thread a screw into the wheel with an o-ring. Then warm the tires up with a blow dryer. Voila, inflated tires. The longer you leave the tires in the freezer, the more they'll expand when you warm them up.

Don't know how you'd get helium in there, though.
 
those MCD's are really sweet. thats a pretty big valve stem though makes me wonder about a balance issue. besides those must be expensive each. anyway came up with small aluminum pop rivit and some axle sealant " found it to be the strongest stuff i have that is removable after drying. the pop rivit is easily drilled out with a small cordless drill. and i agree maybe a whole backup set of tires would be a good idea, but i'll start out with the one i have. as far as belted. i was thinking about a fiberglass mesh or even aluminum screening layered and siliconed into the inside of the tire this would give it some rigidity. i know that NAPA as self vulcanizing rubber that is used to glue the beads of tires to aluminum wheels when they start to leak this stuff would probably work better then silicone. and for extra sealing im goint to try slime in the tires, not a lot just enough to coat the insides in the even of a small nail or punture happening. tought about it and if i happen across a tube for say a hand truck tire i will go that route in the future. just looking to find a decent way to do this on the cheap.
 
update

just to update after much testing, "trial and error". i've come up with a very good reasdson why the tires have foam and are not pnuematic. just like back in the day when car/truck tires had tubes in them, because the compounds in the tires were porus and the tubes actually held the air. these tires are the same. got them to hold air, stay on the rim and actually work really well, after sitting overnight they would always return to normal pressure. "atmospheric pressure". so i tested them in a bucket of water. no immediate leaks but after some time the air actually seeps out of the tires. and yes tried with brand new tires too. so short of coating the entire inside of the tires with silicone quickly inflating and hoping for a seal. im searching for some hand truck tire tube that have small stems.

as for performace when inflated. it gets really bouncy with too much air but hit that sweet spot and the tires work like a dream, absorbing more shock, taking load off the suspension, the grip is much better all around. when not overinflated, "overinflating makes the tire so much bigger it changes the final drive ratio so acceleration is effected but top speed seemed to increase, don't have a radar gun for positive result." inflating at all will change the final drive ratio however. also locked diff's need tires to be close to the same size " the center diff is always locked, if they are not they spin and different speeds and will either have strange traction characteristics or might mess up gears/bearings. If you do try something like this bewarned. it can be messy, overinflating is not fun at all enless you like rolling over in every corner over 1/2 throttle, bouncing 3 times after every little jump. if the rear is off the ground it bounces untill you let off throttle with ground slapping results. while the silicone works and would probly work long term with coating the entire tire. "this would get expensive and time consuming". however,

if you want to have some air in your tires for a few hours, silicone over the holes in the insides of the xt wheels, be generous, wait untill dry, "overnight is plenty" gently push the silicone into the hole a sports ball needle slightly bent works well and slowly fill with air to a good size, the dried silicone actually works like a flapper valve and closes back up with the air pressure in the tire. put some more silicone over the top of the hole you reopened just to coat it as too much will hold the flap open and let air back out. its cheap and works well for a few hours and is easily reversed by pulling off the silicone. i will let you know again if i find tubes that fit the stock wheels. tubes are the solution of tunability,"being able to find a well working pressure, and reliable inflation " maintaining pressure."
 
I know a little lengthy but Is all I got didn't want to leave anything out. O the pop rivets don't work. They still let air out of them.
 
i think the price is right for two wheels and tires beadlocked and mounted up already, i'll spring for the adaptors as long as they are going to fit my xt with 10mm axles. also what kind of compound are their tires, don't want anything soft.
 
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