Paul Gage Urethane Tires

PAUL GAGE TIRES - Handmade urethane tires for superior traction on all track surfaces.  The PGT series features a urethane compound with a Shore rating of 40 and are standard tires that fit many different car models. Paul Gage slot car wheels feature a firm compound, that is good on all surfaces and does not need gluing. The XPG series features a softer urethane compound with a Shore rating of 20.  The soft compound is good on smooth surfaces and is a more flexible tire that may need gluing. It is also not recommended for cars with traction magnets. The  LM series has a larger, 13mm unmounted inside diameter (lower profile sidewalls).  When placed on a wheel, however, they are the exact same diameter as a standard PGT tire.  This is possible because the material stretches differently.  The new XLM series has a larger inner diameter for easy installation.  The XD at the end of the part number is for EXTRA DEEP center groove for larger diameter center ribs, which fit better on many of the new style wheels used on many new Carrera cars.  XXD designates a Paul Gage slot car wheel with an EVEN DEEPER center groove for tires with a very tall center rib.  FF designates an F1 series tire with the fatter sidewalls.  SE designates a more rounded sidewall with a narrower contact patch.  This helps in fitting polyurethane tires for slot cars to clear some body work and gives a more street look on some models.  V designates a vintage, narrow tire with 2mm groovea.  The CAR series features the same urethane compound, but are exact replicas of Carrera's original rubber tires with the same width and diameter.

Polyurethane tires for slot cars possess incredible stretching properties and, as such, fewer tire sizes need to be produced.  A urethane tire with a 13mm hub opening will stretch over a 20mm hub and still have over 80% of its original side wall height.  Often, urethane tires fit tight enough that it needs no gluing. 

Selecting the right polyurethane tires for your slot car application is usually just a matter of measuring the raised center ridge on the hub of Carrera wheels.  The most common sizes are 2mm, 4mm, 5mm, and 6mm.  Most sizes will be described by OUTER TIRE DIAMETER x TREAD WIDTH x CENTER RIB in mms.

Once installed, polyurethane tires need to be trued and "profiled" (rounded off) on the inside and outside edges of the tires - this will result in smoother, more consistent cornering/handling. This can easily be done using an 80 grit garnet sand paper or emery board, then finish with a 240 or 480 grit.

Note from Paul Gage: If you wish to glue the tires on, use a clear fingernail hardener polish as an adhesive. Clean the tire with acetone, apply polish to the inner bead of the hub and the outside bead of the tire, mount the tire, rotate once on hub and allow half an hour to dry. Paul also strongly suggests coating the front tire treads with nail polish such as Sally Hansen Hard as Nails.


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