Why Should You Vent Your RC Tires?

RC cars, trucks, drones, and planes  are definitely becoming more and more popular day by day. They are one of the most talked about topics out there these days and have become one of the most passionately discussed topics as well. 

If you are into RC vehicles at all you may have heard someone talk about venting their RC tires. Maybe when you heard that you weren’t sure exactly what they were talking about or you knew what it was but wondered if you needed to do that to your RC tires. Well in this article we will try to not only answer all of your general questions but also help you decide whether you should vent your RC car’s tires or not. 

The most common reasons that people vent their RC tires are:

• The ride becomes smoother
• The car will move faster
• It allows dirt or water inside the tires to get out
• A sealed tire is more rigid so it gets damaged easier

There are certainly many other reasons why people choose to vent their tires but these are the main ones. 

RC car racing or bashing has become an amazing hobby for a lot of people and more and more people are taking up that activity these days. So what exactly are RCs and this whole range of RC vehicles? What makes them so interesting? Why are so many people becoming followers of this hobby? Read on to find out what they are and also whether you should or should not vent your RC tires. 

What is a RC Vehicle?

Now I know this might seem really basic but we wanted to start at the beginning and build a little bit. Afterall there might be some people who haven’t purchased an RC vehicle and have only heard people talk about them. 

RC cars are basically remote controlled or radio controlled vehicles. Such vehicles are all the rage these days and have become a trend with many people. Such vehicles are usually operated by nitro engines and they run on nitro fuel or battery powered and run through the use of rechargeable batteries. 

All of it sounds very interesting and exciting right? Well, it sure is pretty amazing but what most people who take up this activity as a hobby do not realize is that it can turn out to be a really expensive hobby. 

RC Tires cost

Often the most expensive part of any RC vehicle over time is the RC tires.

These RC tires are extremely costly, not because of a high purchase price but because they will often need to be replaced many times as they wear out or get destroyed. Just like the tires on a normal vehicle will need to be replaced over the course of its life so will RC tires. 

The issue with RC tires is that the tires aren’t nearly as cheap as normal car tires in relation to the price of the vehicle. For example some Traxxas tires cost $30-$40 where the vehicle costs $3-400 which means the tires are 10% of the purchase price of the RC car EVERY TIME you need to replace them! If your car tires were that and you have a $30,000 car that would be like those tires costing $3,000 to replace them! 

Not only that but many RC enthusiasts will have multiple different sets of tires to use based on the type of terrain they will be using the car on which means the amount spent on tires goes up even more! 

Since RC tires are so expensive most RC lovers try their best to take good care of their tires so that they will not have to replace their tires as often and so they can save some money. 

One of the first steps a lot of people do in order to maintain their tires in good and proper condition is to vent them. Now you must all be wondering what exactly it means to vent an RC car tire.Well, let us find out.

What is venting RC tires?

Venting your RC tires basically means punching holes in your tires. Yes, you read that right! People who own RC cars or trucks punch holes into the tires of these vehicles. Now you must be thinking why they do this, right? Like what could be the possible reason for punching holes into your brand new RC tires?

To know more about venting RC tires and the reason behind this activity, you will need to know a little bit about RC tires. Unless you have some knowledge about the RC tires, you might not be able to understand why people punch holes into their tires.

One of the first questions that might have popped into your mind when you read that punching means venting is about the air inside the tires escaping outside. You must have pictured deflated tires all of a sudden. Well, let me clear something up for you. RC tires are not filled with air. Instead they are normally  filled with foam. This is what gives the tires their particular shape and makes them very flexible.

Now that you know that about the RC tires, let us find out why holes are punched into them.

Why do people vent their RC tires?

• By putting holes in your tires, you are allowing the air to go into the tire and also out of it. By doing this venting, you basically allow air to move freely in and out of the RC tires.
  
• Most of the time, people vent their cars to make the driving experience smoother than it was. It is also said to make the vehicle move faster, that is, it could increase the speed of the vehicle as it can move more smoothly.
  
• Due to the presence of the holes in the tires, there will be less or almost no bouncing. Basically, this is another advantage of venting RC tires.
  
• Also, when you punch holes in your RC tires, you have another positive point as well. By putting holes in your tires, you are making way for any dirt or water that gets inside the tire to be expelled out of it through the holes.
  
• If your RC tires are completely sealed without any holes, it could cause a few problems. If they are completely sealed and covered, it will make the tires to be rigid and not flexible. If this happens, when you are driving you will not get any traction.
  
• Also, without any holes, the tire will often keep bouncing on the track.
  
• Due to the above two reasons, a sealed tire might tear or rip off, causing you to have to buy a replacement.
  

Now, one needs to know that there is another way to vent an RC car tire and that is by venting the rims. Most of the time, the wheels you buy or get are already vented. If your rim of the wheel does not have any holes when you buy them, then you can drill a hole in it,

But there is one disadvantage to venting the rim of the wheel of a RC car wheel. It is that if you put or punch  a hole in the rim of the wheel, you might be allowing water and dirt to get into the wheel. This can cause the wheel to get heavy and can interfere with the way you race. 

This is why most people tend to vent the tires and not the wheel’s rim.

Conclusion

The two different methods of venting are both controversial yet accepted by some different communities. They might choose to vent using either one of the methods depending on their type of racing. It could depend on how they race, their racing style, the type of track they race on etc. all of this could play a major role in how and where you vent tires. 

So there you go, that is how and why one tends to vent their RC tires. It is usually considered to have positive benefits for the overall performance of the RC vehicle. Now that you know more about venting an RC tire, you can choose whether you want to do it or not. Make sure you do your part of proper research before you choose how to vent your RC tire.