By Joe Rich
Table of Contents
How To Unglue RC Car Tires
Taking care of your RC car is not an easy task to do. There are many things involved, especially if you buy a hobby grade RC car as you will have to spend both time and money learning how best to take care of it; for instance, the tires would be one thing that needs regular attention.
One way to ensure your RC car is in tip-top shape and ready for any terrain, be it grassy or bumpy, is by knowing how to properly take care of the tires. Sometimes you’ll need to unglue them from their rims especially if some glue has come loose while driving over rough surfaces like large stones or gravel.
So if you need to unglue your tires here are some methods you can use.
There are 4 main ways to remove the tires from the rims. these are
- The acetone method
- Heat gun
- Boiling in water
- Oven method
So lets start with the
The acetone method
One of the most popular methods for ungluing RC tires is called The Acetone Method. This method uses a liquid acetone to dissolve glue, and it’s considered one of the easiest ways to remove glued on wheels from an RC car. To use this technique you’ll need some gloves and eye protection since fumes can be dangerous if inhaled – while using this process in a well ventilated area helps reduce potential health hazards associated with handling any type of chemical that could have hazardous effects when not handled correctly.
In order to start with this process, you will need a container with a lid and some acetone. Pouring the acetone in first is necessary so that it may soak through all of your tires evenly. Once they are soaked long enough – the longer the better (this depends on how thick the tire material), at least 8hrs.
Make sure the tires are fully covered so both sides are unglued put the lid on your container to minimize the acetone evaporating.
If there is still some glue residue left on the wheels this can be rubbed off with a towel dipped in acetone.
It is very important to remember the safety aspects of this method always wear gloves and safety glasses.
Heat gun
Using a heat gun to remove your tires simply means heating the tire where it meets the wheel breaking down the glue so the tire can be removed.
Being careful not to burn yourself.
Extreme caution should be used with this method not only because of the heat and the dangers of burning but the fumes that may be produced if the rubber or plastic gets to hot. This method is not the one i would recommend.
How about a hair dryer will that work? No not really it will take a lot longer and a hairdryer will get to a high enough temperature.
Boiling in water
Nice easy and cheap this method just a pan of boiling water, place the tires in the pan of boiling water put a heat proof dish on top to keep the tires submerged and leave for about 30-45 mins.
Tires can now be removed being careful not to burn yourself.
This is the method I use and recommend the only other piece of advise I would give is do not use your wife/girlfriends best pan go and buy a cheap one down the local store.
Oven method
The oven method is simply placing the wheels on a baking tray and baking for 45mins – 1hr at 350°F.
The tires should then just peel away. being careful not to burn yourself.
The biggest problem with this method is the stench created by baking the tires it is horrendous it is acrid and will hang around for days. not a method I would recommend.
All the methods we have covered I would recommend the acetone or boiling water all the methods have some risk involved either because the use of heat or chemicals so please make sure you follow any manufacturers instructions and use all safety equipment required.
We have an article about how to glue tires if you would like to read it click here.
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