A while back I bought a Bag of Rejects from Weird Jack.

For those of you who don't know about these, Jack makes lots of tires, and any that are not perfect for any reason get tossed to the side. When he gets about 200 pairs of rejects, he bags them up and sells them for $30-$35. The tires are a mix of whatever he has been making, usually AFX and T-jet tires. The tires are perfectly functional and include only minor flaws. It's a great way to get a bunch of tires cheap.

So it's been about 18 months since I bought my tires. When the bag was fresh, there was a light oily sheen covering the inside of the bag. The tires were nice and black, and just ever so slightly oily. They gripped wonderfully. Recently I needed some tires, and opened the bag, and that nice oily sheen was all gone. The tires were no longer fresh looking, and appeared to be a little dry.


Bill Hall had mentioned reconditioning old tires by smearing them with silicon goop, putting them in a baggy, and putting the bags in the sun.


I e-mailed Weird Jack, and asked him how I could reconditioned the tires. He said to take some silicon oil, put it in a baggy with the tires, and set the baggy aside for awhile. He also said, in complete seriousness, that cooking spray (PAM!!!) would work just as well as silicon oil. Well, the grocery store is a lot closer to my house than a hobby shop. So I tried the Pam trick (ok, I AM cheap, and I used generic Pam).

It works great. I put the tires in a Ziploc baggy, shot a couple squirts of Pam (ahh, the buttery goodness!!!!) inside the bag, sealed it up and put it in the table. Left it there for a couple days, and was only sort of happy with the results. Came back more than a week later, and all the Pam had been absorbed, that nice oily sheen on the bag was back, and the tires were perfect.


So just remember, Pam, it's not just for cooking!!!!!!

I like the silicone paste cuz it doesnt dissipate like Pam. It and the tires will still be there long after I turn to dust.

....And of course it was in stock. LOL. Use it in the 1:1 shop all the time.

Mic's lighter fluid trick works excellent as a rejuvenator without scaring the bejebus out of you!

I think I would try silicone spray..it conditions rubber. It probably would be a good prevetitive to spray the tires with it before you store them. I use silicone spray on rubber all the time

what about condtioning old rubber tires? I have two Penn Line Indy cars that are in near mint condition, but the tires are hard, not rock hard, but too hard to get much traction... any ideas?

what about condtioning old rubber tires? I have two Penn Line Indy cars that are in near mint condition, but the tires are hard, not rock hard, but too hard to get much traction... any ideas?

I've been using lighter fluid, but the reconcitioning effect seems to be very temporary. I have to treat them every time I use the cars.

I spit on the tires when I wanna race em, lol, can't get cheaper then that.

How long does it take for silicones to dry out? I have a couple of bags with tires from Super Tires that I have had for a couple of years and they still look and feel like the day they arrived. However, they are in a sealed baggie and kept in a draw away from light for the most part. Great tip if I ever need to juice them up a bit. Thanks! rr

:thumbsup:

these are different compounds. i like both.

i give a nod to weird jacks for value/price.

i give a nod to supertires for quality.

ive never had supertires dry out or stretch. i probably have 50 pair or so. but they are a bit spendy to use on all of my runners

what about condtioning old rubber tires? I have two Penn Line Indy cars that are in near mint condition, but the tires are hard, not rock hard, but too hard to get much traction... any ideas?

I don't know about the Penn Line tires, but original equipment T-jet tires respond well to wintergreen oil. Even the imitation wintergreen oil works. If you soak the tires in the oil they will swell up, but when removed from the oil they return to original size. The tires are softened and traction is greatly increased. I was amazed at the difference when I tried this the first time. An added bonus is that the tires smell minty fresh after a dip in the wintergreen.

Patrick

Thanks for the tips fellas... I'm going to try them all. Those Penn Line Indy cars are nice, it would be nice to run them from time to time

Great tip for keeping tires minty fresh. Thanks Mike.