Big Rock 3D Printed Tires?

[Capt LiL]

As I was looking on thingiverse today, I noticed a guy had created the rubber clip ties for the body clips that always break and he used TPU filament, basically rubber filament. I got to thinking, has anyone printed tires using TPU filament and if so, how did that go?

 

[dure16]

Yes I have and they provide very little traction. It’s worse than you’d think. Unusable.

That can be okay for drift tires or paddle tires, but not for general use on-road or off-road tires.

 

[Camaroboy383]

Yes I have and they provide very little traction. It’s worse than you’d think. Unusable.

That can be okay for drift tires or paddle tires, but not for general use on-road or off-road tires.

Exactly.. tpu tires on pavement is exactly like ice.. but love me some printed paddles ..

 

[dure16]

Exactly.. tpu tires on pavement is exactly like ice.. but love me some printed paddles ..

I’ve been thinking about trying paddles. Are there any good files posted online? I checked out your designs but only saw 2.8s for a redcat.

 

[Camaroboy383]

Yeah those are the only ones I uploaded to thingiverse.. there are some decent ones I saw a while back that had 17mm hex.. let me see if I can find them..

Oh, @Surchaufeur I think had a file set not that long ago the more I think about it..

 

[chilly81]

I've seen people printed tire foams for crawlers. Kind of lets them flex radially into the tire, but add stiffness to them flexing sideways on sidehills. Heres one, 3brothers

I want to try them on my SCX6 because it's so heavy it really squashes on sidehills.

 

[Capt LiL]

Yes I have and they provide very little traction. It’s worse than you’d think. Unusable.

That can be okay for drift tires or paddle tires, but not for general use on-road or off-road tires.

So even with some type of knobs on the tires, there was no traction?

 

[Camaroboy383]

So even with some type of knobs on the tires, there was no traction?

Correct it's not about the profile of the tire.. tpu is a very slippery material, it is not like rubber, and can end up very hard with increased thickness...There is not a TPU on the market I know of that is soft enough to allow traction on hard surfaces like tar, concrete,etc.

But there is a material very much like rubber in the resin printing community.. it comes at a hefty price though .

The hookup with TPU paddle tires in sand and snow is pretty stellar though..



Pretty sure this is the same setup @Surchaufeur was just playing with...

Rims..

https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:3911947


Paddle tires...

https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:3911933

 

[Capt LiL]

Have you printed the body clip holders yet?

 

[Camaroboy383]

Have you printed the body clip holders yet?

I have for other people, but I've never needed too use them... Very simple method I found to remove the clips, haven't broken one in years..

 

[Surchaufeur]

I broke one of those rims printed it again with 100% top bottom infill. Just avoid landing on concrete in freezing weather