Drilling buggy wheels

Everywhere I've seen says its a good idea to put 2 small holes across from each other. It wont cause any damage, and it relieves internal pressures and allows your foams to contract and expand correctly.

Yup, drill away.

Drill drill.

If you are worried about perfect balance, then I suggest doing it before mounting and one right across from the other.

Otherwise, just drill one in each one. Even after mounted. Thats what I do.

Well call me wierd, but I don't drill my wheels anymore as I believe it causes excess tire wear & ballooning! I have identcal tires mounted on wheels, one set drilled & one set NOT drilled. The tires on the drilled wheels wear faster & balloon bigger!

I have no problem with malformed foams on the undrilled wheels. There is no chance of putting a flat spot on any of the tires either when the car lands from a jump, bacause theres not enough serface area to make this happen.

Alot of other drivers will grab your tires & squeeze some air out, leaving flat spots & say "see what happens when you don't have your wheels drilled" & I reply "Well my car is never in that situation (having the tires sqeezed from all sides) so that won't be happening!"

To each his own though, I just don't agree with this theroy!

My

Steve

If thats your theory for doing it.

I do it so they dont POP on impact. No matter how well I glue my tires, I always seem to POP them off the rim if I dont drill at least one tiny hole in the rim.

Well then thats the best reason I've ever heard for drilling!

What kind of CA glue are you using?

If that were my case I would drill too!

Steve

BTW You signature "ROCKS" LOL..

I dont see anyone mentioning if we should drill the tires or the wheels(rims)? I've been taught to drill on the tires instead of the wheels cause of the dirt getting forced in the hole while the tire is spinning if it's on the rim, If its on the tire, it would be forced out instead of in.

I wouldnt drill the rubber tire itself. Only the inside of the rim. Less likely to get in their IMO. If something goes in, no matter where the hole is, the object is going to have a hard time getting back out. Especially if it is FORCED in there to begin with. Which I think is way more likely to happen on the ouside of the tire. Landing from jumps, laying heavy into the turns and 'lighting them up' would all be pretty good opportunities for debris to get in. From the outside.

The plastic of the rim is thicker, stronger and hard to force things into. If you run dish style rims, your chances are even less of debris being forced in. But it still wont be easy, even with spoke rims. Yeah, I've caked up the insides with mud, but dont recall anything other than some 'dust' on the inside of my foams where the hole was when replacing the rubber or foam.

As for the CA I use, ZAP, ZAP Odorless, Fields Hobby Brand and Proline are all the names I have/use. As for weights, I have a variety of thick, medium and thin. Most of the time I use thin weights for the initial glueing and then follow up with medium/heavy to fill the gaps. Usually only get big gaps on the maxx and savage tires. Sometimes a buggy tire If I dont trim the foams good enough.

I'm just hard on my poop. The whole go big or go home line suits me well.

Who all is going to the East Coast bash this year?

Christian, I to tried several different brands & of CA glue. I have now come to the conclusion that Trinity & Losi CA glue is what I will be buying from now on! It seems to cost more than other CA glues but I have not derailed a single tire using this glue, & I to am an air fan! I wash my tires with dish soap & dry & then use denatured alcohol on a rag & wipe the bead area very well. Then I do the same to the wheels.

Now every once in awhile while running my buggy I will pop a small area on the bead, but thats it & its usely from hitting something & flexing the wheel I think!

Now please don't get me wrong, I'm not saying your doing or buying the wrong thing. It just puzzles me why thats happening to you!

At www.teamurc.com we have videos of our buggies flying 18ft. high & 70+ft. long (& I relize these arn't the biggest jumps but they are right up there for buggy bashing!) so we do get a little rowdy! LOL

Heck you might want to try the CA I mentioned, it just might cure the problem!

Either way, Fly High & have fun cause thats what its all about!

Steve

I have the ProLine glue as well. And like it. I dont blow the entire tire off, just areas like you described. And it still happens every once in a great while, even with the hole drilled. Just seems to be a lot less often.

I think at the end of the day, its safe to say that good CA and drilling, whether it be on the inside or out, will help in the longevity of your tires staying mounted properly.

Good videos by the way - although when I closed the vid, the audio kept playing hehehe

This was a gerat brainstorming thread!

Thanks for the kudos on the videos, one of the kids I team & drive with made the videos & also made the teamurc web site. He was 14 then so hes an ambisius little fellow! He just turned 17 this yr. & Buggy Bashing 4 is the latest creation, so the whole video production thing is still pretty new to him!

Again Thanks, Steve

4 I couldnt get to play for some reason, and 3 is the one I thought to be the best :smoke: