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How To Make RC Tires Smoke

If you have owned an RC car for a while you might be thinking about wanting to do some burnouts with your old RC car tires before replacing them or maybe you just saw someone do it with their normal car and you wondered if it is possible to do with your RC vehicle. 

Making your RC car tires smoke is actually a difficult process because the RC car just simply doesn’t have as much power as a normal car so getting the tires to smoke is incredibly difficult. 

There are a few different ways that people have reported working to get their RC car tires to smoke. We will mention each of them next and then discuss them all later in the article. 

Some possible ways to get your RC tires to smoke are:

  • Put suntan lotion on them
  • Put oil on them
  • Use bleach
  • Use a smoke maker

Each of these methods will work with various degrees of success depending on which RC car that you own as well as the material that you are trying to smoke your tires on. 

We will discuss each of the methods mentioned above next in more detail to help you decide which is best for you and your RC car.

It is important to remember that smoking the tires on your RC car will likely destroy your RC tires and could harm the motor and other electronics on your vehicle as well. The only method that won’t do any of these things would be the use of a smoke maker. 

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Suntan lotion for RC car burnout 

Ok ok, I know that this sounds like I’m just making things up here but many people have reported using suntan lotion on their RC car tires to create smoke. The thicker the suntan lotion the better for this method and it certainly won’t work on all vehicles either. 

Since suntan lotion is something that many people have lying around this is the first thing that I would try with your RC car. 

Put oil on your tires to create smoke

For this method you can use straight oil or any oil based product as well. Many people have reported using transmission fluid as well as normal engine oil and were able to create a decent amount of smoke. 

Part of the reason that this creates more visible smoke is because oil burns at a much darker color than the other materials mentioned in this article so if you are able to get your RC tires to smoke using oil then the smoke will be much darker and look more like a traditional burnout would. 

Use bleach for your RC burnout

Again this one might sound odd or made up but it actually isn’t. Many people have been able to do a burnout with their RC vehicle using bleach on a smooth concrete surface. Whether bleach will work for your RC car or one of the different materials will work better is something that you will have to test. 

To see what an RC burnout looks like when you use the bleach method you can check out the video below. 

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Use an RC smoke maker/generator

So this isn’t a normal method and technically it isn’t the tires that are creating smoke but instead it is the smoke generator that makes the smoke to make it look like the car is doing a burnout even though it is not. 

Smoke generators vary in how they work but in most cases you connect them to the motor/electronics of the RC car and then they create smoke using an oil based smoke liquid. You can find one of the available options on Amazon by clicking here. You can also find them at many local hobby shops or even online. 

What the smoke will look like can be found in the video below. 

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Some people don’t like the way the smoke generator works but it will save your tires and motor so for most people this is actually the best option although the smoke isn’t truly made by your tires it can look like it. 

How to make an RC car do a burnout

So now that you know the different things that you can put on your tires to get them to actually smoke the next thing to understand is how exactly you can do a burnout with your RC car. 

Unfortunately for most RC vehicles you can’t do a burnout like you would with a traditional car. For most RC cars you have to put the RC vehicle up against something solid to keep the vehicles from moving before you attempt to do a burnout. 

As was shown in the first video, you can use heavy objects such as weights, blocks, etc. but you will want to make sure that they are big enough that your RC car or truck won’t hop over them while you are doing the burnout. Some people have said that they have used curbs in the past but the issue with that for most people is that all it takes is your RC car bouncing slightly and it will go from a burnout to flying over the curb. 

Once you have something heavy that you can put your RC car up against then you will want to apply the material to the tires. Whether this is bleach, oil, suntan lotion, or something else that you are testing you will want to put it on all of the tires that will be moving. So if you have a 4WD vehicle then you will need to put the material on all four tires. 

If you are doing a “burnout” using a smoke generator then having your RC car against something heavy or adding materials isn’t necessary since the smoke generator simply makes it look like you are doing a burnout. All you have to do in the case of a smoke generator is simply drive your RC car around quickly with the generator on and it will look like you are doing a burnout. 

One word of caution, anytime you are adding any material or doing a burnout with your RC car you will seriously reduce the life of the tires and possibly damage the motor, battery, or other electronics. Only attempt to do a burnout with your RC car if you know what you are doing or are willing to take those risks. 

Conclusion

Doing a burnout or smoking the tires on your RC car is much more difficult that doing so with a traditional car. This is because normal cars have brakes or parking brakes that you can leave engaged and they also have much more speed and power than an RC car will. 

Smoking the tires on your RC car can be a lot of fun and look pretty cool (just like a burnout with a normal car) but for most people the best way to do it is to simply buy a smoke generator so you don’t risk damaging the tires or vehicle.