How many here vents their tires through the rubber ?

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JMS RC

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Like the title says, how many here vents their tires through the rubber ?

I have never vented any of my tires but read about and it's suppose to make water and dust stay out,
even Pro-line used a single vent hole on their Trencher 40-series.

Tried the 3/16" brass tubing method on some old tires, worked great.

However got some new 3.8" Badlands coming and although it sounds like a good thing to do it feels like I'm ruining the tires a bit !?
 
I've been doing it on all my trucks for 15 years. Mostly MT 1/8th sized tires on nitro. Only been running brushless the past 1.5yrs, but I do the same on them too. I use a small drill bit in my dremel with very light pressure burning a hole in the tire. Having holes in the tires allows water to get out when your up to speed.
 
I've been doing it on all my trucks for 15 years. Mostly MT 1/8th sized tires on nitro. Only been running brushless the past 1.5yrs, but I do the same on them too. I use a small drill bit in my dremel with very light pressure burning a hole in the tire. Having holes in the tires allows water to get out when your up to speed.

Love my nitros but more and more brushless over here to.
Great with the Dremel, high speed and a small bit should work.
Do you put 2 holes per tire 180dgr apart ?
Is 3/16" (about5mm) a good size hole or is 1/8" (about 3mm) large enough ?
 
Venting is a must. Especially with the Backflips since that's the only way to keep them from splitting @ the tread seam. Some tires are hopeless though (most newer Traxxas tires). I use a 40w Weller soldering iron with a grinded pointed tip.
 
Venting is a must. Especially with the Backflips since that's the only way to keep them from splitting @ the tread seam. Some tires are hopeless though (most newer Traxxas tires). I use a 40w Weller soldering iron with a grinded pointed tip.
I like the idea of soldering iron best. I have a soldering tip kit (10), but still trying to decide which one to use. Have you just tried the one tip before, and pics of your grinded pointed tip? How big of a hole does your tip make? I also have an adjustable heat temp and wattage on my soldering station, so what would you recommend to use (just hot enough or as hot and quick as possible?) How long have you been venting your tires now, and any problems with tires your tearing due to the holes?

servalac Yes, 2 holes 180 degrees apart. Don't forget to plug your rim holes, if any (small dab of black silicone will work well).
 
I vent mine thru the rubber and plug the wheels. 3/16 aluminum tube, sharpened from the inside with a utility knife. Gently chucked in the cordless. Works perfect. Just have to be careful not to bend the tube. Use a piece of stiff wire to push the plug from the tube. It doesn't work well if the previous plug is stuck in the tube. I have had no issues with tire failure.
 
I like the idea of soldering iron best. I have a soldering tip kit (10), but still trying to decide which one to use. Have you just tried the one tip before, and pics of your grinded pointed tip? How big of a hole does your tip make? I also have an adjustable heat temp and wattage on my soldering station, so what would you recommend to use (just hot enough or as hot and quick as possible?) How long have you been venting your tires now, and any problems with tires your tearing due to the holes?

servalac Yes, 2 holes 180 degrees apart. Don't forget to plug your rim holes, if any (small dab of black silicone will work well).

I've always went the cheap direction with soldering irons. I have 3 Weller 40w's & 2 80w's. They're seriously cheap on Amazon so I bought extras as backups. I have a huge oscillation machine I used back in my engineering class days & it has all the works for soldering as well. But I haven't touched the thing in over a decade. I tried the 'cheaper' soldering stations but the Wellers get the job done in less than a minute. You can't be too hot for tire rubber. It's vulcanized so it takes a fair bit of heat to melt it. Plus the melted holes form perfect cauterized circles so I never had any rips. As for the 40w Weller tips, I use ST7s. For my 1/8 MT tires, I make the holes huge 4-5mm. For 1/8 buggys 3mm will do. I usually don't vent 1/10 tires unless I know they will get wet. I don't even remember when I started venting tires But I was definitely doing it when I was into nitro which was also over a decade ago.
 
I like the idea of soldering iron best. I have a soldering tip kit (10), but still trying to decide which one to use. Have you just tried the one tip before, and pics of your grinded pointed tip? How big of a hole does your tip make? I also have an adjustable heat temp and wattage on my soldering station, so what would you recommend to use (just hot enough or as hot and quick as possible?) How long have you been venting your tires now, and any problems with tires your tearing due to the holes?

servalac Yes, 2 holes 180 degrees apart. Don't forget to plug your rim holes, if any (small dab of black silicone will work well).

I vent mine thru the rubber and plug the wheels. 3/16 aluminum tube, sharpened from the inside with a utility knife. Gently chucked in the cordless. Works perfect. Just have to be careful not to bend the tube. Use a piece of stiff wire to push the plug from the tube. It doesn't work well if the previous plug is stuck in the tube. I have had no issues with tire failure.

Thanks for all the inputs.

I have tried the suggested methods,

The soldering iron did not work for me, tried different heat and different tips, just left a gooey mess. May need some practice ?

The dremel bit worked, tried it with one of those small rotating files, was kinda hard to control though. Practice ?

Tried the brass tubing, two sizes, 5/32 and 3/16, the 3/16 left a slightly tapered hole which is slightly smaller than 3/16, I think this will be perfect !? This method was the one that worked for me.

The brass tubing has to be resharpened about every 3 holes, seems like if it's not sharp enough the hole gets more tapered. The taper may also be different depending on the thickness of the rubber !?

I taped the existing holes in the rim with gorilla tape and put 2 holes in the rubber 180dgr apart.

For unmounted tires the leather punch should be the best method.

Edit: would it be better to use a smaller hole, in my case a 5/32" brass tube, and put 3 holes 120dgr apart ? See pictures below

3/16" brass tubing

26.jpg


5/32" brass tubing

27.jpg
 
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I agree, I don't spend big bucks on soldering station/gun either. This is what I'm using, as great features for the price.
https://hobbyking.com/en_us/solderi...ge-us-warehouse.html?wrh_pdp=3&___store=en_us

This is the solder iron tip set that I also have (& why I asked what was the best tip to use):
https://hobbyking.com/en_us/soldering-iron-tip-set-10-pcs.html?wrh_pdp=3&___store=en_us

I agree, if tires are unmounted (like my Badlands), a tire or leather hole punch would be the best method, but unfortunately, too costly to buy a hole punch (especially for just 1 set of tires). These rest of my tires are mounted (2 sets of Backflip's, Katar's, Minokawa's, & a couple sets of Proline truggy tires), so I just want to extra careful with so many tires to vent.
I agree, I don't spend big bucks on soldering station/gun either. This is what I'm using, as great features for the price.
https://hobbyking.com/en_us/solderi...ge-us-warehouse.html?wrh_pdp=3&___store=en_us
 
Last edited:
I agree, I don't spend big bucks on soldering station/gun either. This is what I'm using, as great features for the price.
https://hobbyking.com/en_us/solderi...ge-us-warehouse.html?wrh_pdp=3&___store=en_us

This is the solder iron tip set that I also have (& why I asked what was the best tip to use):
https://hobbyking.com/en_us/soldering-iron-tip-set-10-pcs.html?wrh_pdp=3&___store=en_us

I agree, if tires are unmounted (like my Badlands), a tire or leather hole punch would be the best method, but unfortunately, too costly to buy a hole punch (especially for just 1 set of tires). These rest of my tires are mounted (2 sets of Backflip's, Katar's, Minokawa's, & a couple sets of Proline truggy tires), so I just want to extra careful with so many tires to vent.
I agree, I don't spend big bucks on soldering station/gun either. This is what I'm using, as great features for the price.
https://hobbyking.com/en_us/solderi...ge-us-warehouse.html?wrh_pdp=3&___store=en_us
Your solder station appears to be a rebranded Trakpower TK950, which I have. I have been looking for a tip assortment for awhile and may have to give the tip set that you linked a try. Thanks for the links!
 
I agree, I don't spend big bucks on soldering station/gun either. This is what I'm using, as great features for the price.
https://hobbyking.com/en_us/solderi...ge-us-warehouse.html?wrh_pdp=3&___store=en_us

This is the solder iron tip set that I also have (& why I asked what was the best tip to use):
https://hobbyking.com/en_us/soldering-iron-tip-set-10-pcs.html?wrh_pdp=3&___store=en_us

I agree, if tires are unmounted (like my Badlands), a tire or leather hole punch would be the best method, but unfortunately, too costly to buy a hole punch (especially for just 1 set of tires). These rest of my tires are mounted (2 sets of Backflip's, Katar's, Minokawa's, & a couple sets of Proline truggy tires), so I just want to extra careful with so many tires to vent.
I agree, I don't spend big bucks on soldering station/gun either. This is what I'm using, as great features for the price.
https://hobbyking.com/en_us/solderi...ge-us-warehouse.html?wrh_pdp=3&___store=en_us

It would be nice if tires came vented instead of the rims. Here's an interesting read on venting tires, or not.
https://forums.traxxas.com/showthread.php?8925087-the-science-behind-the-rim-holes

Same here, lots of mounted tires. So what do you think, 2 holes 180dgr apart or 3 smaller holes 120dgr apart ? Like pics above.

Interesting read on the traxxas forum, lots of opinions anyway. Like I wrote earlier even Pro-Line have/had a single hole in the rubber on their Trencher 40-series.
 
I used a framing nail on my drill and put 4 holes works awesome and does not grab the foam and rip it.
 
Your solder station appears to be a rebranded Trakpower TK950, which I have. I have been looking for a tip assortment for awhile and may have to give the tip set that you linked a try. Thanks for the links!

No problem. FYG, these are standard size solder tips, so should work for you also, and not a bad price for a set of 10 tips. I agree the Hobbyking soldering station definitely looks rebranded, and again, you cannot go wrong for the price. So far, I'm impressed with the soldering station, as it heats up in seconds and I really like the heat adjustment (will have to get used to what heat settings work best though). The soldering tip set should give lots of options for either soldering or venting tires.

THANKS EVERYONE FOR YOUR INPUT ON VENTING TIRES !

If you are shopping at Hobbyking, here's a couple of cool items for good prices:
https://hobbyking.com/en_us/cellmas...-health-checker.html?wrh_pdp=3&___store=en_us
https://hobbyking.com/en_us/torgue-kit.html?___store=en_us
https://hobbyking.com/en_us/heat-shrink-tubing-tube-kit-530pcs.html?___store=en_us

Also check out the some of the Turnigy hand tools (hex drivers, etc), as seems to be good quality for the price:
https://hobbyking.com/en_us/turnigy-v2-metric-hex-driver-2-5mm-x-120mm.html?___store=en_us

Also don't forget Hobbyking has great prices for screws, aluminum washers & nuts, connectors, etc.

Here's some info on venting tires I found on Axial's website:
Besides the use of foam inserts in place of compressed air, RC tires are vented and not sealed. The difference is extremely important. If RC tires were sealed, they wouldn’t be able to form around and grip obstacles such as rocks, but even worse, especially with high-speed vehicles, the tires would act like inflated basket balls and bounce when a vehicle landed. Vent holes allow air to escape and return when a tire impacts the ground. Without breather holes, a sealed tire would bounce like a pogo jumps off.

There are two ways a tire can be vented. One is to vent the wheel and the other is to actually vent the tire. Some wheels come with holes already in the wheel. For additional venting, the stock holes can be enlarged with a body reamer or additional holes can be added. Many racers prefer to vent the tires. Do not attempt to do this with a hobby knife. The best way to vent tires is to use a hole punch tool typically used for leather. Typically, these tools can be adjusted for a variety of sized holes. Two holes using the smallest option are usually perfect for RC use. One of the believed benefits of venting the tires is that dirt can get flung out the hole as the tire spins.

If you notice your vehicle bouncing when landing or that the tires don’t conform around obstacles, you should try increasing the venting.



 
No problem. FYG, these are standard size solder tips, so should work for you also, and not a bad price for a set of 10 tips. I agree the Hobbyking soldering station definitely looks rebranded, and again, you cannot go wrong for the price. So far, I'm impressed with the soldering station, as it heats up in seconds and I really like the heat adjustment (will have to get used to what heat settings work best though). The soldering tip set should give lots of options for either soldering or venting tires.
Yes, I love my TK950 soldering station. Makes soldering my XT150 connectors a breeze.

For hardware I am actually really lucky in that I work at a steel fabricator and so I normally order all of my hardware from McMaster Carr in packs of 100 and piggyback them on another order for free shipping. I sometimes get zinc plated, grade 12.9 screws but a lot of times I get just get black oxide, grade 12.9 hardware.

As for all the other stuff, I already pretty much have everything I could need but I did get my XT150 connectors from there since every other place wanted like 6 times as much money. LOL
 
Love my nitros but more and more brushless over here to.
Great with the Dremel, high speed and a small bit should work.
Do you put 2 holes per tire 180dgr apart ?
Is 3/16" (about5mm) a good size hole or is 1/8" (about 3mm) large enough ?
I use the next bit down from 1/8" in my dremel at a decent speed with very light pressure. Seems to work well. For 3.8" tires on up, I use 4 holes, for 2.8" on down, I use 2 holes.
 
I personally seal my tires and rim completely. That way no water or dirt get in. I hot glue the two holes on the rim works like a champ. Never have a issue again with water and dirt getting in to the tires.
 
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