Third Party Tires for Lego Technic Rims

[Ryokeen]

Would be interested in that aswell, but so far i only found >= 1:8 tires which are too big and the most common(since it's for touring competitions) is the 1:10 scale with with 68mm tire size. But they are most of the time only 24-28mm wide so won't fit. Lego in general uses way to wide rims

[gyenesvi]

On 10/25/2023 at 5:58 PM, keymaker said:

Thank you so much. This is what I was looking for. I prefer this small scale and my goal is to build capable crawler in this size. And lego tires are not enough to do it properly.

Did you manage to find those tires in the video? I like the thread pattern a lot! It looks very similar to RC4WD Interco Irok Super Swampers, but they are not quite the same, and I was hoping that there's a cheaper variant :)

[keymaker]

1 hour ago, gyenesvi said:

Did you manage to find those tires in the video? I like the thread pattern a lot! It looks very similar to RC4WD Interco Irok Super Swampers, but they are not quite the same, and I was hoping that there's a cheaper variant :)

I bought couple types of tires for 30mm lego rims, all are good, but those (the most expensive I bought) from INJORA... https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005005579629547.html?spm=a2g0o.order_list.order_list_main.10.4ac61802WZdgaE

I am absolutely amazed by them. I do not regret a single PLN on those. They are sticky, super softy, with great pattern and overall very high quality. I cannot wait to build a crawler with them.

[gyenesvi]

2 minutes ago, keymaker said:

I bought couple types of tires for 30mm lego rims, all are good, but those (the most expensive I bought) from INJORA... https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005005579629547.html?spm=a2g0o.order_list.order_list_main.10.4ac61802WZdgaE

I am absolutely amazed by them. I do not regret a single PLN on those. They are sticky, super softy, with great pattern and overall very high quality. I cannot wait to build a crawler with them.

Thanks for the tip, they do look really nice, I'll take not of those! Do they fit the 30mm rims well?

BTW, I figured out those tires in the video are from a Russian site, the video shows it at 3:18, but searching on the site, it seems that those exact ones are not available any more, just something similar, bit smaller, not so detailed.

On 11/14/2023 at 5:52 PM, AutoBacon said:

I have just received the Falken Wildpeak M/T 1.0" tyres I ordered from RC4WD. Posting them here if anyone is interested in how they compare to stock Lego tyres. They measure 56mm x 19mm and fit perfectly on the 30x14mm rims. They are super soft, so with a slightly heavier model they deform a lot which is great for grip. They have transformed the performance of the small RC 4x4 I am working on, and they also suit the scale better than the tractor tyres due to the narrower width.

That little truck looks pretty cool, at this scale, even a brick built body works well, the weight can even be an advantage for crawling. What are those fender parts?

[keymaker]

13 hours ago, gyenesvi said:

Thanks for the tip, they do look really nice, I'll take not of those! Do they fit the 30mm rims well?

Yes. RC tires for 1" rims are designed for ~25mm rims, but they play well with 30mm lego rims (20mm wide). I bought 58mm and 62mm tires, They all look great. If you chose some smaller ones, then I believe 30mm lego rim (14mm wide) will be useful too.

"Super Swamper" tires you can find here: https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005005384136434.html?spm=a2g0o.order_list.order_list_main.4.4ac61802WZdgaE

But I don't like their tire pattern. I bought variant B. I see them in mini MAZ 537 or in general, small trucks.

Edited November 17, 2023 by keymaker

[AutoBacon]

44 minutes ago, gyenesvi said:

at this scale, even a brick built body works well, the weight can even be an advantage for crawling. What are those fender parts?

Indeed, one L motor has enough power to move 650g model easily, even with only one down-gearing of 12/20t in the axles, and the tyres have really good deformation with this weight. The fenders come in black on the new Camero, and lime green on some other themed set. This was a bit of a test platform for an improved axle and suspension originating from my wip kraz, I hope to post soon the results!

[gyenesvi]

18 minutes ago, keymaker said:

"Super Swamper" tires you can find here: https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005005384136434.html?spm=a2g0o.order_list.order_list_main.4.4ac61802WZdgaE

Thanks for that link as well! I actually have a 55mm Super Swampers with that kind of pattern from RC4WD (different variant from the one I mentioned above). The material is very good soft, but it's not my favorite pattern either. But variant B and even C look nice, and they are super cheap, so I might give them a try!

Edited November 16, 2023 by gyenesvi

[gyenesvi]

21 hours ago, AutoBacon said:

Indeed, one L motor has enough power to move 650g model easily, even with only one down-gearing of 12/20t in the axles, and the tyres have really good deformation with this weight. The fenders come in black on the new Camero, and lime green on some other themed set. This was a bit of a test platform for an improved axle and suspension originating from my wip kraz, I hope to post soon the results!

Thanks, I did find out in the meantime that they are from the Camaro set. It actually seems like a pretty compact construction, mounted from the side, seems like the whole side paneling can be mounted as kind of a large flat submodule, which could even work well on a studless technic chassis. It looks so smooth compared to all the awkward technic fenders, it's really tempting to get some of them :)

[AutoBacon]

52 minutes ago, gyenesvi said:

the whole side paneling can be mounted as kind of a large flat submodule, which could even work well on a studless technic chassis.

This is exactly how the truck is made :D

[Aurorasaurus]

I'm experimenting with making my own custom tires for lego. I'm starting with slicks.

 

PLA print of a prototype for the size and look of the tire. Its too small around where it should interact with the rim.

 

3-part 3d printed mold for the slicks.

I revised the central part so it now consists of 3 parts, so that the area the tire interacts with the rim with is a bit larger, and so the tires main wall isn't so thick. That part is printing now, and I can switch back to the old part if this proves to make the tire too weak. I can send all the 3d files on request.

As for the tires material, I'm going to try first black silicone, probably with cornflour mixed in to increase the hardness. If that doesn't work, I may try black latex.

Any thoughts, comments, or suggestions would be appreciated.

Also, if this is not the right topic, I can move this somewhere else.

[2GodBDGlory]

Oh, so you're trying to custom mold them! That sounds like a better solution than just straight 3D-printing stuff, since TPU isn't really grippy enough
Cool!

[NoEXIST]

7 hours ago, Aurorasaurus said:

Any thoughts, comments, or suggestions would be appreciated.

Looking forward for this! Custom tires would be really nice! Maybe finally some thin tires

Edited March 11 by NoEXIST

[Aurorasaurus]

6 hours ago, NoEXIST said:

Looking forward for this! Custom tires would be really nice! Maybe finally some thin tires

Hah, maybe. We're going wider first, same dimensions as the new slicks. After that I will know if the concept works and designing other tires will be even more straightforward.

[MangaNOID]

Interesting to see what you come up with! 
Im also molding some tyres but not for LEGO (yet) and taking a similar but slightly different approach. 
polyurethane seems to be a big hit for casting tyres. 
cornstarch and silicon? Does cornstarch make a catalyst for the silicon?
 

[Aurorasaurus]

11 hours ago, MangaNOID said:

cornstarch and silicon? Does cornstarch make a catalyst for the silicon?
 

Not sure, I think I'll try plain silicone first. If it's not strong enough then I'll try add cornflour.

Casting polyurethane is interesting, I'd like to hear how that goes.

[Aurorasaurus]

Well, a good two weeks have passed. The first try with the original mould didnt work at all. It was too hard to get the mould apart and the tire wasnt fully set. So I made a new mould, and let the silicone cure for longer. The new mould was much easier to take apart. The tire however, is still imperfect. The surface is ugly, and the tire weighs 105 grams. I think this will be the end of this project, for me.

[MangaNOID]

On 4/1/2024 at 9:57 AM, Aurorasaurus said:

I think this will be the end of this project, for me.

I think this is just the beginning and you should try other things? 

I feel your disappointment pain though, I'm doing similar like I said but I can not believe how difficult and time consuming it is to get an outcome. 

clearly you got a tyre and it looks like it fits the rim nicely. The things you are disapointed with are looks? weight? can you work on the 3d printed mould and neaten it up? maybe get some epoxy glue in there to smooth the printing lines? how thick is the tyre?

For my tyre I printed out a 'rough' version then cast an epoxy resin version of that so I could then sand, file, grind, laithe and work on it till I had a 'Master' copy that I could cast in silicon mould the replicate in polyurethane as mentioned before.

This picture is my first cast with lots of bubbles as I didn't degass the polyurethane first and my silicon mould was bad. Still, I think this way might be a better approach? (I was looking at ;ots of youtube vids of your way as  wel before starting this project)

 

 

I'm trying again though after watching some tutorials of casting silicon moulds 

This tyre is for a Tamiya 1:12 80's 90's F1 car. the original tyres are brittle and broken out the box (30years old model) so no point building the kit until I get the tyres right. BTW these almost fit lego rims! just a small tweak would gtthem to fit.

[Aurorasaurus]

2 hours ago, MangaNOID said:

I think this is just the beginning and you should try other things? 

I feel your disappointment pain though, I'm doing similar like I said but I can not believe how difficult and time consuming it is to get an outcome. 

clearly you got a tyre and it looks like it fits the rim nicely. The things you are disapointed with are looks? weight? can you work on the 3d printed mould and neaten it up? maybe get some epoxy glue in there to smooth the printing lines? how thick is the tyre?

For my tyre I printed out a 'rough' version then cast an epoxy resin version of that so I could then sand, file, grind, laithe and work on it till I had a 'Master' copy that I could cast in silicon mould the replicate in polyurethane as mentioned before.

This picture is my first cast with lots of bubbles as I didn't degass the polyurethane first and my silicon mould was bad. Still, I think this way might be a better approach? (I was looking at ;ots of youtube vids of your way as  wel before starting this project)

Hmm, I could try other things in the future, but at the moment for the time and money it costs it seems just buying original lego tires is better value. As for the 3d printed mould, thats not really the issue so much as filling it consistently. The high weight comes from the walls being very thick, so It would be easier to remove the inside of the mould. The part that would be in contact with the surface is 4.6mm thick, and doesnt feel as strong as I'd like. Thicker is simply too heavy. The tire also smells like silicone, which I'm not enjoying.

Your method is an awful lot of work, but it seems to be turning out better. Also, I didnt realise other people on yt were making tires the way I am, I just kinda thought about it for a bit lol. How heavy and large is that tire? Lego rim for comparison?