I found a small ziplock bag with 10 pairs of silicone tires that I forgot about and by the time I open them they all fell apart.. now my stupid question. silicone tires dont last long? is there a way to conserve them for longer life?

Wes

Hi Wes, Here's my trick. I use the white silicone brake paste like comes in caliper kits for 1:1 cars. "Syl Glide" is another product you can use. It's for working with automotive seals like the old school, lock strip, pullem' in with a string windows, and any other annoying rubber thing ya gotta slide through a channel or push through a hole. Pretty much any brand of that sticky silicone paste will work. I get mine at NAPA.

The idea is to keep the air away with a silicone barrier during prolonged storage. Most all rubber can benefit from this treatment. I use it on my 1:1 show cars every spring, and use it constantly in my resto work (day job)

For slot tires. I slather up my hides and put them in one of those little zip loc parts bags that we all have layin' around. Leave them some place medium warm for a coupla days. Like your water heater or by the furnace. Then I checkem' and reslather them if they've wicked up a bunch of the paste.

It works OK for restoring old vibe tires, and for any other decent tire if you catch them in time! Except dryed out spongies and those stupid hard rubber, plasticy aurora tires. (I've been thinking about "Trans-ex" for those.) Some tires are just dust regardless. I store all my tires this way, and check them every once in a while to see if they're drying out. I'm usually diggin around in the tire box fairly often anyway.

You'll have to clean them up before use, especially the centers, but it's not that big a deal to wipe down a set when your doing a build. If a little gets on the track, it makes for some good fun!

Good luck!
Bill

wow.. thanks for the info.

Wes

I found a small ziplock bag with 10 pairs of silicone tires that I forgot about and by the time I open them they all fell apart.. now my stupid question. silicone tires dont last long? is there a way to conserve them for longer life?

Wes

Wes,
How long had they been stashed away and where? :eek: I've got a bag full of Supertires that have been sitting in a drawer for a couple of years and they're still fine.
Dave

I've got tires I've had for over 5 years with no problem. I have supertires and wierd jack's.

Our silicone tires (nor any other true silicone) tire should ever fall apart, not in the next 100 years anyway!

I have original AJ's tires from the early 1960's that have been raced on a car, left at the track, been on the basement floor etc. for the last 40 years and they are still soft!

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www.SlotCarJohnnies.com

Wes,
How long had they been stashed away and where? :eek: I've got a bag full of Supertires that have been sitting in a drawer for a couple of years and they're still fine.
Dave

Well to be honest with you its not supertires (no problem with them) its those wizzard slip ons (it been there for a year - it was in my tacklebox where all my parts are) and i took them out boy.. every one of them rips. I used wizzards sometimes but I uses supertires the most of the time.

Wes

Our silicone tires (nor any other true silicone) tire should ever fall apart, not in the next 100 years anyway!

I have original AJ's tires from the early 1960's that have been raced on a car, left at the track, been on the basement floor etc. for the last 40 years and they are still soft!

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www.SlotCarJohnnies.com


it does make sense.. but i had some resin bodies that i keep stored away and they became brittle so i guess its all depends on how they make it on resin body and silicone tires.. if used good ingredients then no problem??

Wes

Yeah I got good vintage AJ's too! It's all about the quality of materials. Junk is junk, quality is treasure.

If John and I live to be a hundred we'll check on his AJ's and compare them to mine. :p I have yet to see the vintage AJ's that weren't flat spotted to some degree after storage. Their lamination process was second to none.

Regardless, all rubber products dry out eventually. Of course it varies with what they are exposed to, for how long, and the quality of materials used to make them.

I just treat mine and they're done.

Wizzard's PVT's are a terrible slip-on tire,even when new,you have to handle them with kid gloves or they'll tear on you.

I have Tyco Pro whities that are still soft. Are they silicone?

[QUOTE=Bill Hall]Yeah I got good vintage AJ's too! It's all about the quality of materials. Junk is junk, quality is treasure.

If John and I live to be a hundred we'll check on his AJ's and compare them to mine. :p QUOTE]

I thought you where closing in fast, lol. (100)

I have Tyco Pro whities that are still soft. Are they silicone?

Yep, sure are......every pair we have On or Off the blister card, all are nice and soft!

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www.SlotCarJohnnies.com (http://www.SlotCarJohnnies.com)

Yea, mine are soft, but not so white anymore.

Wizzard's PVT's are a terrible slip-on tire,even when new,you have to handle them with kid gloves or they'll tear on you.


Dang, I've never had any issues with wizzard PVT tires.....and I own a bunch of pairs of them. I love the way they grip......like glue :thumbsup:

..............I thought you where closing in fast, lol. (100)

Ed, Somedays I resemble that remark.

When I hit 100, being the highly skilled technician that I am :drunk: , I plan to merely roll back my odometer, slather myself in silicone paste, and sit by the furnace for a day while straight shooting Vitagoo from the jug.

Rebuilt good as new buddy ;)

I'll probably still be playin with lil' cars too! :thumbsup:

Dang, I've never had any issues with wizzard PVT tires.....and I own a bunch of pairs of them. I love the way they grip......like glue :thumbsup:

Put-em on a R/O car,you'll wear them out faster then a sillyfoam,and grip wise they're no better then Nick's Supertires.
I stand by my orginal statement ,Wizzards PVT's are a terrible slip-on tire,they tear very easily and they don't last

I agree with TX, Wizzard's silicones are the best! Great grip, Last forever, and do not far apart like the other two!

Yeah, how is it that these antique white silicones still work so well? They never seem to stretch or disintegrate. I have an old pair of white silicones in Hot Rod size on a replica Hot Rod (Dash body, AW chassis, old Aurora Hot Rod wheels)... it's a hoot to drive; the tires still work real good...

I also have some in AFX size that are still kicking around on a couple of my vintage AFX/MTs. I think I actually remember taking them out of the aj's package all those years ago. They seem as good as new...

--rick

Wizzard's PVT's are a terrible slip-on tire,even when new,you have to handle them with kid gloves or they'll tear on you.

Yeah, the silicone they use has no tear strength at all. Trouble is, they have those extra tall size for tyco hubs, and I use 2 pairs of them on some of my jeeps for the proper big tire look. I havent found a more durable tire thats about the same size.