Some questions about Paul Gage Urethane Tires

[Mayberryman]

In the past six month or so I have become somewhat of a bad guy/cheater to a FEW in my local club because I use rubber tires and rub NSR oil on them, go figure. Well, in order to satisfy the powers that be in this club I have decided to go all urethane untreated tires for my cars. Being fairly new to urethanes I have a couple of questions. (1) I true my tires on a Tire Razor and use pretty much the sand paper that came with it. The couple of times I attempted to true urethanes this paper seemed to take the slick surface off of the tire and compromised the traction of the tire, so what grit and at what voltage do you suggest I true these tires? (2) I have heard that heat can dry out the urethane and ruin the traction, is this a major problem with these tires? This club runs on scaley sport track with somewhat of a grainy grey paint on it so would you suggest the 40 shore or the 20 shore tires. I plan on using nail polish to bond these tires to the rims as per what I have heard Mr. Gage recommend. Any and all help will be appreciated as I want to both do the correct things for these tires and stop the Alligator Tears at the monthly races.

[Mitch58]

I don't have a razor or a truer, so I turn mine down on a file until they are flat and round, then run them on 400 grit sandpaper until they get a nice smooth glaze. I've never had a problem with them.

[Radarek]

Use yellow dogs tires and you don’t need to true them in many cases.
If trued use 120 for first then switch to 240 and 400 later. After that you can install wheels on axle and drop car on 2000 with water.... slide car from side to side, then clean and enjoy. Trick here when gluing tires never glue central rib.... all pep can be done in 30 minuets for a set... :banana-dance:

Voltage is between 6 volts for initial truing to 10 for polishing

[HomeRacingWorld]

All brands need truing.

I use a little water and 1500/2000 grit for a final "polish" for PG.

[RazorJon]

PG Urethans cut like butter on a Razor, I found the finer grain paper gives the best tire finish, it does take a little longer to True a set but you will be happy with the outcome.
Like harry said a dab of water, I add a drop of dish soap to mine and just stick a finger in the water and touch the tire as you are sanding, keep your sanding block moving and don't get in a hurry I run between 7-10 volts

A guy in Hawaii used sharpening stones from a fancy Knife sharping kit and got a real nice finish


Standard sanding blocks come with 220 wet\dry automotive sandpaper I would not use a anything below it, finer is better lol :text-goodpost:

[RichD]

I have used several brands of urethane tires and they all benefit from being glued and trued. In addition urethane tires that have been trued work better if they are polished. I have tried polishing them using 1500 grit sandpaper, but that did not work very well. If you just run them on the track they will get polished in time, but I race my cars and I don't have my own track. For me a new set of tires must be ready to go, so I have a skid pad made up of Ninco track and I run a mule chassis with the tires around that for as long as it takes to get a smooth tread.

[HomeRacingWorld]

It all comes down to track conditions, regardless of tire blend/brand. Silicone or urethane.

Our wood tracks are smooth and a PG tire that has been wet sanded as described above provides incredible grip.
We have tested and shown this method at our Showdown events and racers are always amazed at the difference.

That doesn't mean it will work on everyone's track.

I have several cars that have the same tires on them for the third year running. Still hook up and perform as good as they did on the first runs.

Properly trued and clean, they simply work. Then again, that can be said for any tire, any brand.

[Dangermouse]

When I set up a car with new tyres I run it fresh and see what the laptime is. I then true the tyres and hope for an improvement. I use 400, 800, 1200 and 2000 grit wet and dry paper. Last night I set up a Cartrix BRM Grand Prix car - first test - 8.36 sec lap - glued and trued and polished - 7.92 sec lap :) Happy with that :)