Splitting Tires

[DON-T2]

I have a problem with tires forming a split in the side wall. This is happening mainly with Polar Lights slicks which are a 2 part tire.

I have been using just a couple dabs of Gorilla glue to bond the tires together and the same for wheel mounting.

Is it the adhesive reacting over time? What are you guys usins as an adhesive fir tire and wheel mounting?

Thanks

Don

[62rebel]

i've had Tamiya tires split. aggravating, as their wheels don't match up to most other brand's tires.

[John Pol]

Someone I saw use contact cement for the two part tires once dried sand them down and they looked pretty good

[Mike_G]

Gorilla glue swells when it dries

[10thumbs]

I have some that split too. Revell Funny Car 2 pc. slicks. I only glued them at the seam, the wheels haven't been cemented yet. They split as soon as I placed a resin wheel in them. I'll still use them though, I'm the only one that knows exactly where the split is located.

Also, as mentioned when sanded the seams look OK.

[randx0]

Do you have any photos? there are many different adhesives out there , sometimes 2 part epoxy will do the trick . there is also a glue specifically for vinyl (I use it whenever the plastic is soft or squishy).you could also try scuffing the mating surfaces.

[62rebel]

I think we're discussing two different but similar problems; the two-piece hard vinyl or plastic tire and slicks with separate sidewalls (eg Revell's old style). I used to systematically discard those two piece tires as they were just too hard to make look right, but i HAVE used them a couple of times on "period correct" 1970's kits. never used any type of glue on them, just relied on the wheel interface to hold them. my peeve is the soft rubber tires in Tamiya kits (haven't had Aoshima or Fujimi tires do it) splitting across the tread. matter of fact, tires are one of the reasons i shied away from old-school Monogram kits for so long; theirs never looked "right" to me.

Moebius and Round 2 are the only makers whose tires look good right out of the box. Revell's would be better if they had any sidewall detail to speak of. the '50 Olds and '57 Ford tires are a step in the right direction.

[10thumbs]

Good point about a possible misunderstanding.

I've had issues with the 2 piece slicks cracking along the sidewalls, like Don originally mentioned. Just above the rim of the wheel and along the circumference, not running to the footprint area. Cracking around the wheel in a circular pattern. I figured the wheel fit too tightly and caused the mishap.

Don, can you chime in?

[DON-T2]

I am not using the 2 half style slicks, they just don't look right even cleaned up. The Polar Lights slicks have a back side insert that is side wall only.

I am seeing the split from the rim straight out to the tread area.

I was just taking one of them apart to check where the adhesive points were and it was where it started, has to be adhesive related. I also found that the rim was a tight fit in the tire which is probably contributing to the problem.

I'm tempted to try micro crystal clear or check out a vinyl adhesive, also using an exato blade to give just a little more clearance ( hopefully a slip in fit.

[Steven W Zimmerman]

Regular superglue has worked on just about every tire I have had problems with. Yes, 'Gorilla Glue' expands, but their superglue does not. I buy the cheap superglue at Walmart, 4 tubes for about a buck and a half; I go through a tube a week.

[DON-T2]

Sorry for the error, I have been using the Gorilla super glue not Gorilla glue and like Steve have not had the problem with other tires.