tires

[BBoarder]

So at the comp the other day, a guy was talking about soaking DOT tires in turpentine to make the compound softer, he claimed he sells tires for a living and that it works...

my blinker fluid might be low, but anyone think it could work? Im thinking of trying it on some old tires we have around to see if its bs or not.

[TJTank]

So at the comp the other day, a guy was talking about soaking DOT tires in turpentine to make the compound softer, he claimed he sells tires for a living and that it works...

my blinker fluid might be low, but anyone think it could work? Im thinking of trying it on some old tires we have around to see if its bs or not.


Alex, If you are going to try it, there are a couple of products out there.

http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/showthread.php?t=700929&highlight=tire+softening

[tonytj]

i have heard of people using bleach, simple green, wd 40, and even brake fluid. not sure how well it works but the people who used it said it works great. but they also said the tires wont last for long though.

edit: they would start applying about a week before any races. these were road race and drag race cars who did this.

[dan58]

He used mineral spirits.

[XJPete87]

I've heard of drag racers using kerosene to soften their drag slicks.

[quickdraw]

they may come apart over time

[67temp]

Does anybody in the club have a durometer? I've got several junk tires we can try to test several variations.

I've heard of using roofing tar and diesel.

[lowdown]

I could see roofing tar making them sticky as hell. I used to grab junks of dried up roofing tar and put it on my mountain bike rims prior to trials competitions.

[Numidian]

I could see roofing tar making them sticky as hell. I used to grab junks of dried up roofing tar and put it on my mountain bike rims prior to trials competitions.

You put it on the rims or the tires?