"Tear up the competition not your tires"
Important Questions & Answers
What is the proper way to clean maintain a
Super Tire and a Yellow Dog tire between heats? Does alcohol dry out
either tire? Is it unusual for a part #1100 Yellow dog tire to be high in the
middle of the tire when mounted on the rim?
Super Tires (R) Classics (silicones) are more sensitive to dust than Yellow Dog's (urethane). For best performance, it is important for the track to be as clean as possible. There are several ways to clean any dust/debris off the tires (be sure to check your local rules to ensure you're not breaking any rules using the following cleaning methods)
Stick tape - typically shipping labels or duct tape. Simply roll the rear tires over the sticky tape surface to quickly remove any dust/debris which may have accumulated on the tires. Note that depending on the tape used, the tires may transfer some of the tape's adhesive to the track surface. For this reason, some tracks/clubs do not allow this.
Simple Green - readily available in the cleaning section of most grocery stores and home centers. Just wipe a thin coat with your fingers all the way around the tire and remove the excess with a clean, lint-free cloth. This does NOT leave any residue on the track. Leaves your fingers smelling clean too.
Glass cleaner - available from the same sources as Simple Green. Apply in the same fashion. Generally evaporates a little quicker. Remove any excess with a clean, lint-free cloth. This does NOT leave any residue on the track.
Spit - yep, not very high-tech but in a pinch it will clean your tires.
Yellow Dog Super Tires (R) are generally less sensitive to dust/debris than the Super Tires (R) classics. If you do need to clean the tires, the same techniques described above will work just fine.
The 1100 Yellow Dog (or any other Super Tire for that matter) should have a flat contact patch when mounted properly on the wheel it was designed for. There are a few things to check:
Ensure the car/wheel you are using is designed for the 1100 Yellow Dog tire (Scalextric Aston Martin DB9, Cadillac Northstart LMP, Ford GT, MG Lola, Nissan Skyline, TVR (Newer), Viper GT, Ferrari F430, Porsche RS Spyder)
CAREFULLY inspect the entire outer surface of the wheel. Be sure to remove any flashing, burrs or other irregularities which may be present from when the wheel was manufactured. Use a hobby knife and some sandpaper to remove any irregularities that exist. Excess paint can also cause problems - particularly where the sides of the center ribs meet the "shoulders". A sanding stick or some sandpaper can be used to remove the paint.
Check the inside of the tire. Sometimes there will be a little flashing from the tire mold. If so, carefully remove it.
Ensure the tire is seated properly on the wheel. Moisten (don't drench) the inside of the tire before inserting it onto the wheel. Once the tire is mounted, slowly "knead" the tire between your thumb and forefinger as you slowly rotate the tire/wheel several times.
If you still see a "crown" (only center portion of tire is making contact with track), the Yellow Dogs can be easily sanded. Start with 220 grit - check the contact patch frequently. Once the crown has been removed, progress to 400-600 grit sandpaper - sand lightly. Finish with some 1000 grit sandpaper if you have it available.
How do tell the difference between a silicone tire and a Yellow Dog tire? I know the earlier Yellow Dogs had a green dot. The newer ones don't.
There are several ways to distinguish between the 2 compounds.
The easiest way is to use your sense of smell! The Yellow Dogs have a very distinctive odor while the Classics (silicone) do not. I find this is the quickest/easiest way to make the distinction between the 2 tire types/compounds.
Carefully examine the INSIDE sidewall of the tires. If you look very closely, the sidewalls on the Yellow Dogs appear to have a series of small round indentations - almost like pin pricks. The silicone tires tend to have a smoother sidewall with no/less small indentations.
The Yellow Dog compound can be sanded MUCH easier than the Classic (silicone) compound. Profiling (round off) the edges of Yellow Dogs with sandpaper is much easier/quick than Classics (silicones).
Are the Super wheels easy to put on standard axles? Or do you need to buy a separate axle. I own most Scalextric, some FLY and a few other brands but 90% of my collection is Scalextric/Fly. Just want to know if I can just by the tires and wheels and replace then on my current axles or not.
Most "standard" axles are knurled - the knurled ends are actually slightly larger than the rest of the axle. Because the knurled ends are slightly larger, they will not fit on aftermarket "set screw" wheels such as the Super Wheels DF. Even if the knurled ends were the correct size/diameter, they would damage the inner wheel (axle) bore and adversely affect the wheel's performance (wobble, hop). For cars with knurled axles, you'll need to replace them with aftermarket axles. For Super Wheels DF (and Super Wheels SS), the wheels were actually designed and manufactured to work with the Slot.it SIPA-01 3/32" axle. Note that once you replace the axle, most racers will also replace the rear bushings and crown/spur gear. The stock bushings are slightly oversized to allow the end of the stock knurled axles. This results in unwanted "slop" (axle movement) when using a 3/32" axle without the knurled ends.
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