flat tire

[londone4]

Hi,

I am selling my vintage RC10 and someone kindly pointed me to this forum to ask a question. I just discovered that one of the rear tires is flat. Is there an easy repair to fix that, like an insert? Or a way to pump air in? Or does the tire need to be replaced? It doesn't look at all damaged so I'm not really sure what would have caused it to deflate.

Thanks in advance for any advice.

[fakiee]

PO08.jpg (35.08 KiB) Viewed 1316 times

PO08.jpg (35.08 KiB) Viewed 1316 times

Seriously though, Get some pictures up if you can and you will get plenty of help, then prepare to keep the car because as soon as you start viewing the builds on this forum the last thing you will want to do is sell it

[Ruffy]

The flat is a result of being left sitting on the tires. Unfortunately there is no way that I know of to fix this other than putting a foam insert into the tire to push up on the "flattened" area.
These tires do not have any internal bladders or tubes. The old tires used to be so hard they never used foam inserts to keep their shape like today's tires. Most likely you have an old tire, where the car was left resting its' weight on these tires and the rubber has comformed to this over time and now has a "memory" of this stretched -deformed shape. Like I said, you could put a firm foam insert from a current tire in it, but I would just leave it as is.
Another thing to try is loosen the 3 screws holding the rim or wheel together and allow air to get back in to see if it helps a little. Truth is, I doubt it though.

I myself have a buggy with the same thing. I say just leave it as it adds to the authenticity!
I always rest my buggies on a firm black-foam block under the chassis thick enough to elevate the wheels off the ground. You should do this with all of your cars, especially for storage. I bought a large sheet once and make as many "car stands" as I need... even long ones for more than one car in a row. To cut all you need is a serrated kitchen or bread knife.

[londone4]

Thanks very much for the responses. I have attached a photo, but it looks to be exactly what you said about it just sitting for too long (is 20 years too long ).

So a couple more questions:

1) is putting in a foam insert a bad thing? Affects handling? Especially if only on one side?

2) I have no idea how I originally put the tire on. Did it come pre-assembled on the wheel? If I put it on, did I inflate it, or how did it get air in it? OH! You just added a whole lot more to your response, thank you. So I think you already answered this one, that the tire itself was rigid enough to keep its shape.

Thanks again, I really appreciate the responses.

BTW, in response to my selling it, I loved it when I used to play with it, back then there was a track nearby (long gone now) but once that shut down I just put the buggy away and never really looked at it since. So recently I thought it was a shame to just have it sitting in a closet when someone might enjoy it, and decided to sell. Then I discovered it's now considered 'vintage' (which makes me feel even more vintage ). Also, I already have several bids so I don't think I could cancel even if I wanted to.

[Ruffy]

londone I would leave it as is. Let the next owner put foams if they want in the tires. If you were to add foam, you would need to put in both tires. But I doubt you would want to as those old tires are not good for running around anymore, today's current rubber compounds and tires are light years ahead and much better.

Yes, 20 yrs was a long time to leave it sitting on the tires. I wouldn't try fixing it as the tire might have dry-rot and break apart. This is why I say leave it as is, since the person buying it most likely will be a collector, and the tires would be better if they were not damaged any further. Nobody who buys this will run the car with those tires anyways.
If you want to continue racing RC cars today, the best bet/deal is to buy a "READY-TO-RUN" (RTR) RC10 B4.1 car (4.1 generations after your car the original RC10 style).
These cars are ready to go, and super agile and easy to drive.

Here are 15 places using the google shopping search, to buy a cheap ready to run RC10 B4.1 current generation buggy from:
Click Here
The RTR versions come with everything except the batteries for the car and radio and come pre-assembled. The current radios work on 2.4 ghz band not requiring frequency crystals either.

[londone4]

Thanks very much for the advice Ruffy. That's exactly what I'll do then, just leave it alone so I don't make it worse, something I am oh so capable of

[Ruffy]

Here is a good picture of two of my cars, showing the old gold RC10 and the new RC10 B4 buggy side by side.
The new buggies are a huge improvement in technology.


Here is the RTR I recommend (2.4ghz version) for 179.99
Click Me

[mikea96]

I have boiled some original tamiya sand scorcher tires that had flat spotted in water berfore and they went back to there regular shape.

[Lowgear]

I recently bought a set of Imex Baja Clod tires and the seller stuffed them in way too small of a box. Consequently they were all deformed. I spent around a half an hour running them under hot water while kneading them back into shape and it worked. But then again they were only like that for a week.

[flipwils11]

Here is the RTR I recommend (2.4ghz version) for 179.99

Maybe I'm missing something, but do they only sell RTR kits now? What if I want to put it together myself as a roller and pick my own esc, motor, and radio? I checked their site and I'm only seeing RTR as well.

[Ruffy]

No, you can buy the full racer kits like the factory team, team etc.. still that is just the buggy roller.
The RTR's are mainly for those looking for an inexpensive way to step into racing without the building, painting, buy electronics separately and getting them to work together. The RTR (ready To Run) kits are just plug battery and go!

AE's listing of vehicles here