[eugenebrooks]

We use thick, slow cure, cyano glue. Surface preparation is the key.

We carefully sand the back of the tread material (using a belt sander) to get just into the black rubber surface below the first cloth layer that does not glue well at all. We then sand blast the aluminum surface and scrub all the dust off with soap, water, and a stiff brush. The final cleaning of both the tread material and the aluminum is done with a clean rag with some MEK on it.

We then slather both the tread and the rim with the slow cure cyano glue using an acid brush, and clamp the tread on the wheel with the moral equivalent of a giant hose clamp actuated with a pair of long jaw vice grips. Needle nose vice grips can be used to pin down any spots that lift under the clamp. The glue is then zip kicked by applying the zip kicker with an acid brush.

After zip kicking, the glue will cure to the point of being able to take the clamp off in about 30 minutes or so. The glue fumes are quite irritating, doing this outside or under a fume hood is a good idea.

Glued properly with good surface prep, the black rubber will be left on the wheel if you peel the tread off, and you really can't do much better than that. If the tread comes off and looks like it was sprayed with aluminum paint, you did not get the wheel scrubbed well enough. If the glue separates from the aluminum without leaving black rubber on the wheel, you did not get the surface clean enough. Rivets are optional. Use them if you think they will help.

I would like to note that cyano glue sticks to the black polycarbonate the kit wheels are made of really well.

Ideally, your treads should be cut so that the ends of the tread just meet when they are clamped on the wheel, without puckering. If your treads do not do that, you risk peeling getting started at the gap between the ends of the tread. If the treads that come from Andy Mark are too short, you can buy wedgetop belting from McMaster and cut your own to fit properly.

Have fun,
Eugene