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How To Remove RC Tires From Rims

Those treads on your RC car can actually be quite expensive, and seeing as they must have cost you a decent amount of money, you do not want to handle them carelessly. There are a number of ways that you can protect your rims from damage when removing your RC tires so that they stay with you for a long time. You certainly don’t want to have to replace the rims everytime that you replace the tires as that can get expensive quickly. 

One way to make sure that your rims last a long time is by making sure to remove your tires correctly. If you’re looking to take off the tires on your RC car, you want to take those tires off without hurting your rims. 

There are three ways that most people will use to remove the tires from their RC car’s rims. Those three methods are: 

  • The boiling method
  • The baking method
  • The acetone method

Each of these three methods have their pros and cons but for most people the boiling method is the easiest way to do it. In this article we will go in depth about the boiling method but we will also mention some tips for the other methods as well. 

If you want to watch a video going into great detail about the boiling method instead of reading it then you can watch the video below. To see the most popular RC cars just click here.

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The Boiling Method

This is the easiest and one that requires the least amount of work or purchasing extra chemicals or equipment. This method can be done just by using any pot in your house, some water, and your stove. The first thing we will mention is what is required for this method. 

Materials needed

  1. A big metal or ceramic pot
  2. A stove
  3. Tongs
  4. Gloves
  5. Eye protection

Step one: Boiling

Pick a metal or ceramic pot that is big enough for the tires to fit into without touching the sides or bottom. Fill this pot with water making sure that it is not too full because the tire and wheel will push out some of the water when you put them inside. 

Let the water boil. After that, use the tongs (you can use another utensil of your choice) to pick up the tire and then very gently, put the tire and wheel into the boiling water to make sure that you don’t make the water splash out, causing a boil-over. Leave the tire and wheel in the water for about ten to fifteen minutes total. You will want to turn it over for the other side of it to heat at about halfway through the time. The overall time you would spend on this will vary depending on how perfectly glued the tires were to the rim and quality of the glue that was used. 

Keep in mind that tires and rims with lower quality can begin to warp at high temperatures like this, so you would need to pay close attention to make sure that that’s not the case with your set. 

Step two: Removing the tire

After the fifteen minutes of heating, the next thing to do is to remove the tire from the boiling water. Now, of course, it’s hot water and can possibly hurt you, so you need to be careful not to get burned. Use the tongs or any other utensils you have chosen to remove the tire and rim, which, at this point, will still be together. 

BE WARNED the tire and rim will be quite hot so make sure to not touch it with your hands. 

Place the tire and rim on a sink or ceramic plate. Next, run the tire and rim under cold water to cool them off. [Keep in mind that after doing this, there is still a high chance that there’s hot water left in the tire and rim]. 

After that wearing gloves, start pulling on the tire to check if the glue has come off or if you still need to soak it some more. Getting the tire off the wheel will, in most cases, be quite tough, but if it turns out to be very difficult, you may need to put it back into the water for a few more minutes. If, the next time you check it, the tire looks as though it is ready to come off, use your fingers to pull them off while working your way around it slowly. Pay special attention to the tire tearing since it has experienced extreme heat. If the softness of the tire looks like a bit of a problem, give it some time to cool off and get back some of its strength before you go on to finish your job.

Step three: Clean up

As soon as you have separated the rim and tire, the whole process is almost done. At this time, you should put the wheel back into the boiling water to dissolve any glue left. This makes it easier for you to use this wheel in the future. Also, inspect the foam inside the tire and rinse if there are any damages as water can sometimes make the foam expand too much, becoming floppy and unbalanced or even breaking. If you’re going to be racing with your RC car, throw away any damaged foam. Also, pour the water out of the pot when it is still hot in order to make sure that the glue in the water does not get hard and stick to the pot. 

Other Methods of Removing RC Tires from Rims

As mentioned earlier there are many different ways to go about removing the tires from your RC car. Some of the methods will work better than others depending on the type of glue used as well as the type of tire. The other most common methods of removing tires are: 

The acetone method 

This is a very easy method of removing RC tires from the rims, but the downside of it is that acetone is quite expensive, and it is flammable. However, the acetone method mostly just requires you to bath the tire in acetone so that the glues dissolve, and you can remove your tires.

You can watch the video below for the entire breakdown of how to do this method. 

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The baking method

In this method of tire removal, you would need to place the tires and wheels into an oven and heat them to a very hot temperature (normally more than 400 degrees F) so that the glue can fall/melt off. Now, while this is actually a very easy method of removing tires from rims, the downside is that the fumes it lets off can cause a smell that is not exactly pleasant and which a lot of people do not like. These fumes actually have the potential to be harmful as well if you are not able to air out your kitchen quickly. 

You can watch exactly how to use the baking method in the video below. 

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Conclusion

Removing the tires of your RC car isn’t such a herculean task, and any of the above-listed methods of removing tires will give you the desired results. All you need to do to get your desired results is to follow the steps as recommended. 

What you need to keep in mind, however, is that it is very important for you to be careful when you’re carrying out any of these processes. Apart from the fact that you do not want to spoil your job and your rims, you also do not want to hurt yourself and no matter which method you use you will either be dealing with high temperatures or harsh chemicals. 

It is always a good idea to make sure that you are using eye protection, gloves, and long sleeves before you start any of these methods so that you can make sure that you stay safe.