Tired of Tyres?!?

[Mick]

Hi Guys,

I’m currently running an inferno VE on 4s with a Castle 2200kv geared for around 43mph. I just bash, but I’m getting frustrated with the cost of replacing the tyres :-( Is it my poor driving skills? My love of wheel spins? Or has my buggy just got to much power? Either way, it’s costing me a fortune…….

During the winter months I use the buggy on tarmac/concrete etc, and wondered if I should consider getting a set of belted tyres such as Sintec’s R/C tyres. Are they likely to last much longer and perform much better considering the additional cost? So far I’ve tried both Ansmann and CML road tyres, but they seem to ware out to fast, however they are the cheaper end of the market after all. Also, the front tyres seem to ware out faster then the rears, so should I be using a harder compound on the front?

Also with spring now approaching fast, I’m also thinking of getting a set of off road tyres. I’m currently thinking of getting either a set of Badlands, Medial Pro Pulsar or Nanda Racing Block tyres. Which tyres perform the best for bashing in parks etc on grass? Also do I need to be thinking about different tread styles i.e. different rears compared to the fronts? What combination works best???

Any help/advise would be appreciated…………….

[lincpimp]

Well, you are likely wearing front tires faster cause your center diff is unloading and allowing the front tires to spin alot. Step up to thicker fluid in the center diff, that will help. As far as road tires go, the losi rally tires are popular for 1/8 buggies, and I always like the buggy badlands for use on mixed surfaces, such as dirt grass and paved surfaces.

Well,even though like Linc said,you can run badlands and those types of tires on road,but it WILL speed up your tire wear. So make sure to get tires for specific surfaces. One of the most dramatic examples of this is on my Baja (totally different but its the same principle) I use hostile extra hard MX's,I ran them off road strictly for over a year with over half the tread still left. I took it on the street for $h!ts and giggles and DESTROYED them in a few hours. So know where to run your tires and change out your center diff fluid.

[Mick]

Guy's thanks for the quick response and advise, its welcomed being a newbie!

lincpimp - what thinkness of diff oil would you recommend? You will have to bear with me on this one as I know nothing about diff oils! My manual says:

Front/Centre 50000 - 100000
Rear - 3000 -5000

Do higher numbers mean its thicker or thiner? As its an RTR, I assume the manufacturer has used these thinkness's. Is it also worth me changing the front and rears while I'm doing it?

[simplechamp]

Higher number means thicker oil, not all companies use the same weight system, but they are generally in the same ballpark. Pick one brand of oils and stick with them, then you know that the weights will be conistant when compared to each other. I would try out some 100k in the center for on-road use. Sometimes RTR cars just have grease in the diffs, or even nothing at all, so you should open them up and check.

I am surprised they are suggesting that high of weight for the front also, for an off-road vehicle. Usually you don't see much higher than 10-20k in the front for a buggy. That suggestion sounds like what is run in 1/8 on-road GT cars like the Inferno GT or Ofna GTP.

[Mick]

Its a 1/8 inferno VE so that might make sense.

Ok if I try 100k for the centre, 10-20k for the front, what would you recommend for the rear? Also would these thinkness's be ok for Road use as well as off road as I use the buggy for both?

[wallot]

for diffs use X - X - 1/2X so 10k-10k-5k for example as a starting setup. I use 7-7-3 in my buggy (racing) for bashing you can go as high as you like.

get harder compound tires like proline XTR
wheelspins of course kill tires especially if you run on hard surfaces.

[Overdriven]

For tires I'd recommend getting specific sets for on and off road as was mentioned earlier. I like the GRP tires for onroad. Losi used to have "rally" tires that were made by GRP, but they discontinued them. The current Losi "rally" tires are junk. They are Pre-mounts, the glue job sucks, they balloon like crazy, they wear out fast. The only plus to them is they are taller than all the other onroad tires I've seen, which isn't a plus if you want to run an onroad body as they will rub the body when they balloon. Stick with GRP Ipananna, instead.

For offroad bashing you can't go wrong with badlands in my opinion. I had Proline's badlands and they will hold up ok with occasional pavement use, but obviously wear out quicker on road. I currently have a set of badlands knockoffs from suprasales (on ebay), and love them. They do seem to be a harder compound than Proline's and hold up better to my mixed on-off road driving. They're dirt cheap too. Suprasales also has some slicks that some people seem to like for cheap too.

[Mick]

OK guys; that gives me lots of tyres choices to investigate, cheers for you help and time

Just one last thing about the diff thickness's, if i'm aiming for X - X - 1/2X, in laymans terms what does this mean? Are we trying to send more power to the rear or front wheels?

[Overdriven]

When listing diff fluid weights it's common practice to list front-center-rear. X-X-1/2x is just a guide since the rear is usually significantly lower in weight than the others, generally half (or sometimes less than half) what the front is.

Your first task should be to increase the weight of the fluid in the center diff. The heavier the fluid, the more evenly power is sent to each output. The lighter the fluid the more likely an output will "unload" and receive more power. Under acceleration the vehicle weight transfers to the rear planting the rear tires. The front have less traction, and start spinning, without a heavy enough diff fluid to "lock" the front and rear together, the fronts spin alot faster than the rear and wear out the tires. Heavier fluid will help prevent this, increasing acceleration.

Here's a guide to 3 diff tuning that'll help you along
http://www.rc-monster.com/forum/showthread.php?t=5050

[Overdriven]

I run my buggy both on and off road too. My setup now is 10k-10k-5k and is probably a good starting point for most. I have alot of power with my 1518 on 5s and don't like the center diff being too thick, but 10k is a little light for my taste. Just haven't gotten around to putting some 20-50k in it yet.

[Mick]

Cheers Overdriven, that makes more sense now.

Just one last thing about the magnitude of the numbers for diff oils. Simplechamp recommended 100k for the centre diff, does he mean 10k? The only reason I ask is because I've just been looking on the internet to purchase some and noticed they do 10k and 100k. That seems to be a big differance 10k Vs 100k?

Sorry for so many questions; I just don't want to buy the wrong one!

[nativepaul]

100k is very thick and good for on-road buggys to stop the front unloading.

you mentioned Medial Pro tyres so I will throw another tyre choice at you, They are normally tricky to get hold of but if you have a medial pro dealer near you Medial Pro Tarmac2 are the best on-road buggy tyre I have used, better than GRP IMO. Available in hardnesses from 25-65 shore, the 25 is great grip for drag racing but I favor the 45 shore for its good grip and great longevity even when drifting.

[simplechamp]

Yeah, no typo, I suggested 100k. If you are going to be running on-road and don't want to be shredding your front tires you'll want some pretty thick oil.

Remember that there is going to be give and take here. If you set up the diffs oils totally for on-road, you will lose some of the off-road handling and performance. If you set up for off-road you may be shredding front tires from unloading the center diff to the front when you hit the pavement.

If you want to try an "in-between" setup go for maybe 30-50k in the center.

[Mick]

Sorry Guys, next silly question!

If I use 100k in the centre diff for example, does that mean I use 100k in the front and 50k in the rear, based on the X-X-1/2X rule?

Or do I stick with 10k in the front and 5k in the rear with 100k in the centre?