Can You Reglue RC Tires?

RC tires can be expensive to replace time and again when they keep coming loose from the rims. Usually, it starts with one of the back tires loosening up during a race. With high speeds, temperatures, and grippy rubber on asphalt, the tires just can’t hold onto the rim anymore.  Maybe you have some spare RC tires that you haven’t used much and want to fit them onto your current rims. Either way, we have you covered.

RC tires can be reglued to the rims with CA glue if they start coming off. You can also remove tires entirely from the wheels and reglue them to different rims of the right size. Most superglues for bonding plastics will work perfectly. Regluing your tires will drastically increase their life span.

Some people don’t understand why anyone would ever glue tires onto their rims because in their experience they don’t come off so easily. Those people have obviously never been racing competitively as tires detaching from rims is a common occurrence on the race track. RC tires that have huge amounts of traction need to be glued on as the energy that runs through them when they accelerate is powerful enough to rip the tires off.

Check out a wide selection of glues that are ideal for RC tires on Amazon by clicking here.

What’s The Best Glue For RC Tires?

To be honest, any type of superglue or CA (cyanoacrylate) will work just fine to reglue your tires to the rims. Some people use Krazy Glue to reglue their tires with good results. When it comes to the best glue for RC tires, the thinner it is, the better. That’s because it needs to easily seep in between the tire and the rim.

Don’t just go for the cheapest available option though as not all glues perform the same. Make sure to purchase a genuinely reliable glue.

If you want to go for a specialized formula specifically designed to reglue RC tires, you could go for PROLINE’s solution, Pro-Bond Tire Glue. It has a max holding strength/bond of 3,200 psi to keep your tires on for longer. It also dries very fast so you can get back on the track as quickly as possible.

You can check Proline’s price on Amazon by clicking here.

Silicone sealants can also do the trick in some cases. It bonds the tire and rim together just enough to keep it going properly. The reason why some people prefer using a silicone sealer is that it’s very easy to clean off whenever you want to fit new tires on. The downfall is that it won’t keep your tires on for long on high-speed / high-traction courses.

Does Gluing RC Tire Sidewalls Reduce Traction Rolling?

Yes, this is a technique used for CRC type RC racing where the sidewalls of the RC tire is only a few mm in width. Applying a layer of thin CA glue to the sidewalls of the tire will actually reduce traction rolling on high traction carpet tracks as it helps keep the tire in the proper form while corning.

Apply a layer of CA glue all along the inner ring of the tire wall and work your way up the sidewall until it’s covered with a layer of the glue. Don’t get any glue on the tread of the tires.

Related post: How to Make RC Tires More Grippy

Allow the glue to set for an hour or so and you should be good to go. Many people apply glue to their RC sidewalls to reduce rolling resistance on high-traction courses.

How Do You Glue RC Tires?

As you might imagine, regluing RC tires isn’t going to be much of an operation, just follow these simple steps.

  1. Clean out the gaps between the tire and the rims with air or with water for extreme cases.
  2. Allow drying thoroughly if water-washed.
  3. Pull the tire away slightly from the rim where it’s coming loose.
  4. Gently squirt some glue inside between the tires and the rim.
  5. Squeeze the tire onto the rim with rubber bands for a few hours to allow drying.

Regluing The Entire RC Tire

If you plan to reglue the whole RC tire, you’ll need to follow the steps laid out in my article about removing tires from rims. The main idea is to prep the rims in a way that will make them as clean as possible for the tires to be glued on.

Sometimes it’s difficult to get used rims properly clean without the help of acetone or some method to heat them up so that the previous glue and bits of rubber can be properly removed.

After cleaning the rims, wipe the inner ring of the tire off with an alcohol-based cleaner. This will remove any dust and oils which may be there. Use rubber gloves to handle the tires and rims so that you don’t get them dirty or oily while you’re busy with them.

If you’re using foam inserts, prepare them by cutting off the edges of the foam to make a shape that will fit into the tire more easily.

Once the rims are properly cleaned of any previous glue and rubber, insert the foam into the tires and put them on the rims. Apply some glue to the rims where the tires make contact all the way around.

Wipe the excess glue off with a work cloth so that it doesn’t dry and negatively impact the look of your RC. Rubber bands can be used to squeeze the tires to the rims while they dry but normally isn’t necessary in my experience.

Do You Need To Glue RC Tires?

Regluing your tires to the rims when they start to detach is a good idea as it will extend the life of your tires. If you drive them while partially loose from the rim, they will start to get loose even more over time until they are deformed and unusable.

Tires that aren’t glued on properly will affect your handling and top speeds as well so it’s always good to keep an eye out for any gaps between the rims and tires.

Regluing your tires will save you money in the long run. Not only can you keep tires on for longer but you can also glue on extra tires that you might have laying around. It’s cheaper to buy tires to glue on to your existing rims than buying the entire wheel.

Related post: Wondering Why We Punch Holes in RC Tires? Here’s Why

All this only applies to tires that are still in good condition. If you are wondering if you can reglue old broken and perished tires, the answer is no. Don’t bother regluing tires that have lost their tread or shape. What you’ll have to do is buy a fresh set of tires and glue them onto your rims after cleaning them. Throw any worn-out tires away.

RC Tire Glue Alternative?

An alternative to specialized RC tire glue would be any CA type of glue, like Superglue and Krazy Glue, etc. As long as it’s a good quality brand and very thin so that it can run into the spaces it needs to.

A complete alternative to gluing on RC tires is to use a different style of wheels that have bead-lock rims that allow for locking the tire to the rim with tiny bolts. This is a far more secure way of keeping your tires firmly in place where they should be.

Using these types of wheels will save you the hassle of removing glued-on tires with acetone, baking, or boiling.

You can check out a huge selection of Beadlock Rims on Amazon by clicking here.

Conclusion

Regluing your RC tires doesn’t take a lot of effort if you’re just gluing specific parts that are coming loose. Even if you’re completely regluing the entire tire, cleaning the rims off properly can be done in many different ways.

It’s a good idea to check your tires for any places that may be parting with the rim every time you’re done for the day during the cleanup of your RC. If there are any gaps between the tire and the rim, apply some glue in that area and allow it to dry overnight.

Some RC tires don’t need to be glued to the rims as they fit so tightly onto them. Especially in cases when you’re not planning to run it at high speeds. If your tires aren’t slipping on the rim, don’t worry about gluing.

Lastly, replacing your wheels and tires with bead-lock types will save you from worrying about regluing tires altogether. Bead-lock rims are extremely strong and reliable, the concept originally comes from full-scale truck wheels.

Paul Good

This awesome hobby has something for everyone, whether you like to build your RC from scratch and keep modifying till you've got it to just how you want it, to track racing. You might be out with a boat, or perfecting your skills with a plane. Are you taking some cool pics with your drone? I'm sure my site will help you on your journey.

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