What type of plastic are wheels made of?

[Body Paint]

If one was to have some off road wheels manufactured, what type of plastic would one ask for ?

[dave g]

polypropylene or some kind of abs plastic i would guess?

[losixxx]

white and yellow usually

[GRIFF55]

this one would have yellow spokey ones
What one would one go for mr Harris

[Nellybobs]

I think your best bet is some kind of Nylon, purely for strenght and durability, its very strong and can withstand heavy impacts, it will flex (to an extent) then regain its shape!! question is what type?? im sure there would be many different types of 'mix'......
I could be wrong but if i was designing and molding, buggy/off road wheels it would be my first option!!
A bit of research is needed methinks!!!!

[dave g]

possibly a nylon 66 material then.

[Chris Doughty]

I vaguely remember the first ever Pred wheels were made out of the same plastic as super-glue bottles, and it was impossible to get the glue to stick to them.

no idea how true that is, but I thought it was funny and worth sharing

[glypo]

I would expect they are some kind of low content GRP (e glass?)

[the mad1]

if you contact a materiel suplier and tell they what you want to do they will tell you the exact stuff for the job buddy i used to do this ll the time.

[Body Paint]

Trouble is I don't speak Chineese

I don't really want to have a 1000 wheels made to find out that they snap or glue wont stick to them or they melt in acetone etc. etc.

[the mad1]

ah right well i would suggest to enquire at a uk suplier then go buy it from your chinese suplier

[the mad1]

these should be able to give you sone advice buddy
http://www.bayplastics.co.uk/

[GRIFF55]

Wouldn't one of your sponsors know craig? Or send an email to jconcepts and the like. (proline etc)

[Body Paint]

Cheers Mad1

Griff: you're probably right, I can see the Team Captain of one of my sponsors is lurking around on here, maybe he'll know?

[DCM]

Originally Posted by Body Paint

Trouble is I don't speak Chineese

I don't really want to have a 1000 wheels made to find out that they snap or glue wont stick to them or they melt in acetone etc. etc.

well, you could always send them one or two different wheels, and they could test them and tell you what they are made of, then you would know..... is this a cunning plan you got on the burner Mr Harris?

[Body Paint]

Andy Nancholis has to test out several chineese injection moulding companies and he wants to get some wheels done. B4 wheels that fit Schumacher tyres properly, that will be a novelty

[Southwell]

Originally Posted by Body Paint

B4 wheels that fit Schumacher tyres properly, that will be a novelty

Don't be silly, your just talking crazy now!

[blue_pinky]

Cheers Craig, hadn't got round to asking the question myself!

I've been looking at existing wheels with the toolmaker/moulder I know and we suspected they are a nylon material, but as Nellybobs said, there are many mixes of Nylon!

Super glue bottles are made from a nylon blend I believe (I could also be wrong but I'm sure that's what I'd heard too???) hence the interest in getting the right blend if we do go for a nylon!

The suppliers I've asked don't know about rc car parts, but asking them for a blend that will take superglue should be easy enough, so I'll def give that a go.

We also wanted to find out what grades are used that cope with the punishment of RC cars too...and that's something the suppliers don't really know about! Getting 1000's of wheels made that disintegrate at the first sight of an impact would also be bad

So any thoughts from those in the know would be gratefully received

[Stu]

Whatever material it is it also needs to be resistant to attack by acetone, so that rules out styrene plastics - like early Losi wheels (don't put your vintage JRX2 wheels in to soak - you will be sorry).

Polypropylene, polyethylene and Nylon will not glue very well - sutch as Chris's pred-wheel tale. These plastics feel greasy to the touch even when clean

ABS will glue, is a fairly rigid and is easy to mould as it melts easily with heat (I think about 120 to 130 deg c).

I beleive most automotive parts (away from the hot engine parts) are ABS - interior trim and stuff - 'cos its cheap & easy to mould.