Do you vent belted tires?

[dure16]

I tape the rim and vent the tire before running all my off-road tires. I dremel with a 1/8" drill bit. I don't avoid wet conditions and this process has served me well.

I just got my first set of belted off-road tires. They are manufactured with a rim hole but no tire hole, as expected.

Should I vent them like my other off-road tires? Or would that somehow damage the belt?

 

[Hector_Fisher]

Excellent question. Following as I'm interested in people's experience with this.

Drawing on years as a tire tech, i have mixed feelings about this. If the nylon belting in 1:1 car tires were damage any reputable company should tell you that your tire is damaged and can't be repaired or run further, whereas the steel belt on the tread is okay, since it will hold together better.

But RC tires don't carry the same weight or risk that passenger car tires do... hmmm

I'd say the belting in these tires would be in addition to whatever rubber is already there. The belting would not be holding the tire together (as the rubber is normally sufficient for that) but rather just keeping the tire from ballooning. So personally, I'd think it would be okay, especially at the speeds than an off-road RC would be run (not extreme).

Keen to see what other people chime in with!

 

[Velodromed]

Nope, you can damage the ‘belts’ part of the tire venting them.

 

[GraniteFox]

I try to stay away from belted MT tires. They are too heavy and expensive. I did vent them when I had them. Used sharpened copper tubing to clean cut the holes. Never had any issues.

 

[Velodromed]

I try to stay away from belted MT tires. They are too heavy and expensive. I did vent them when I had them. Used sharpened copper tubing to clean cut the holes. Never had any issues.

Interesting. I’ve always heard to not vent them. I don’t like belted MT tires either. I also use sharpens 1/8th copper tubing. What size do you use?

 

[Clubin]

Vent them like regular tires.

 

[donnie533]

I run belted tires - Prolines and Duratrax on Rustler 4x4, E-Revo, X-Maxx, and DBXL-E2. I just tape the vent holes in the rims and do NOT vent the tires. Never had any issues - belted tires do not balloon, so there is not much need to pull air in or out. I think there may be a risk that water or dust is pulled in if the glue joint is not complete, but for my running, I have not seen an issue.

 

[RedOctobyr]

I just bought street tires for my 1:8 6S truggy, I got Duratrax Bandito 3.8 MT's, belted

The truck is new, and these are my first street tires, since I felt bad using the off-road tires on pavement, it seemed like I'll just wear them out more quickly. These are wider than I'd prefer, but I hope they'll be OK.

Thank you for the discussion, I was trying to decide whether to vent the tires or not. I vented my non-belted off-road tires, with a hollow brass rod, but it sounds like maybe it's a better idea to not vent belted tires.

I don't plan on driving these in wet conditions. But sand getting in through the vent holes could still be a concern.

I'm curious, has anyone tried covering rim vent holes with something like a fine-mesh screen? Or maybe a little piece of cloth, glued around the hole (but not putting glue over the hole). Something that could allow air to pass, but would try to prevent sand from getting into the rim vent holes, for instance.