Salt Lake Mini-Z Club Forum

$2.00 Mini-Z Tire installer

Everyone else has more than likely figured this out all ready but in case there is someone looking for a cheap tire installer I figured I would share what in have done to solve the issue.  All of the parts used to build this installer where purchased at Home Depot.  

I have a  PDF with the pictures which makes this way easier to follow.  If there is some where to post it on this site I would be happy to add it or if you PM me I will email it to you.

How to build
The first part is made out of a peace of ½” schedule 40 PVC pipe.  Cut and clean the ends with sand paper 75mm (3”) or longer.  Than cut a lip in one end of the pipe 2mm (1/8th) in depth.  This was accomplished by using a Dermal with a metal barb to remove most of the material and then switching to a file cutting the pipe lip down until it has a lip outside diameter 12mm (11/16th).  This lip needs to snuggly fit the inside diameter of the wheel to align the wheel with the pipe.
 
 
The next part is a ¾” collar.  These have a stop in the middle that centers the collar on each piece of pipe when used for its intended purpose.  This stop must be removed which was done with the Dermal used before.  In my case I cut this part in half for reasons shown below.
 
Put a light amount of tire glue on the wheel (Thin CA) and place the wheel face down on a flat surface.  Put the tire on the pipe, it can be slapped on how ever it fits as the collar will square it up as it is force downward.  Place the piece of pipe in the back of the wheel.  The collar can then be used to square the tire by pressing it and the tire downward until the face of the tire is in alignment with the face of the wheel.  Pick up the tire so the excess glue doesn’t glue the tire to the table, gently wipe clean.  I usually use a piece of plastic under the wheel to prevent the wheel from sticking to the table.
The collar used above works fine but to help ensure that the tire doesn’t get deformed during installation a second collar was built.
1” x ¾” reducer and the other half of the collar used above where connected.  The reducer was cut  10mm (3/8th) from the top and a small amount of material was removed from the center inside diameter such that it sides freely over the pipe, than the collar was glued to this piece.
  
Works for both front and rear tires.  Hope that helps.

Installer DIY instructions (http://www.saltlakemini-z.com/images/$2_MiniZ_Tire_Installer.pdf)

I played around with gluing tires, but I really didn't find that I needed to do it unless I was running modified, and even then I have found the tire tape to be fine.   I've only thrown tires when the the tires is very very thin.  for stock classes you really don't need to glue the tires on,  just use the 2 sided tape.   

You can create your own gallery and post the pictures there.   Not sure if it will let you upload a pdf, but if you email it to me I can put it on the FTP site and create a link for it..

Awesome tip Peter. I've never tried gluing tires either but now that I pretty much always use the same front and rear compound I might start. Like Brian said we've not had many problems with tires coming off. Just clean the inside of the tire and rim before taping. I've found that letting them sit for awhile if possible helps too, but mostly tape and run a new set.

It is probably a sign of my pour driving :).  If you don't rub the sides of the track all over the place it is more than likely not an issue.

I hope Brain gets some of the tire tape, I would like to try that.

Added your installer DIY to the first post.  :)