Adhesive, Brecoflex, Rubber, and M17

[Madison]

Rule M17 prohibits just about everything, it seems.

It seems that per M17, we're allowed to attach additional material to the outer surface of wheels that we manufacture ourselves.

However, it also seems like the easiest way of attaching such materials - screws - risks disqualification. Screw heads may be considered to be studs or cleats.

So, the only other solution I can immediately think of is gluing stuff down to the wheel's rim. In that case, can anyone recommend adhesive that will withstand the rigor of competition? Does anyone have any experience with gluing tread material in place rather than screwing it down?

In particular, I'm examining the popular Brecoflex-style belting, the belting we used last season (with a fiberglass backing), and neoprene rubber.

Mcmaster-Carr sells Neoprene Rubber Strips with an adhesive backing. Is it likely that this adhesive is strong enough to adhere the rubber to our wheels?

I'm going to go ahead and order some of it and test it myself, but I was just curious what other experience people had with adhesives and traction materials.

[Jack]

Well, 201 glued our treads to our metal wheels last year. I can't remember what we used, but i'll edit this post in about an hour with what we used.

It alwasy stated good (except the time we didn't use enough gule and the tread seperated. )

[DLyons]

our team also was reading the same rule and trying to figure out the best way of attaching the strips to a set of custom wheels. Any feedback would be great.
thanks

[Curtis Williams]

Even if they are legal, screws can be disaster when carpet gets caught on them. They can tear up the carpet or get carpet wound around an axle.

[Paul Copioli]

We have used Loctite 380 - Black Max for 3 years now. We glue neoprene pad down to aluminum wheels and had our first peel off at the Championship. The glue didn't give way, but the neoprene ripped. It is very srong adhesive.

-Paul

[Aaron Lussier]

Our team used some sort of Epoxy and let it dry for like a week

[Madison]

Originally posted by Paul Copioli
We have used Loctite 380 - Black Max for 3 years now. We glue neoprene pad down to aluminum wheels and had our first peel off at the Championship. The glue didn't give way, but the neoprene ripped. It is very srong adhesive.

-Paul

Thanks

Would it work on polycarbonate - or would the polycarbonate just melt away or something?

[Paul Copioli]

Not sure, but I bet that it would melt away. It's worth a shot.

[jonathan lall]

Is there anything wrong with Brecoflex? We ourselves are looking at it and it'd be nice to have a subjective analysis of it. How well would it do on the mesh and HDP?

[Katie Reynolds]

If you're looking to secure strips of rubber or belting to custom wheels, rivets work quite nicely.

- Katie

[DarkRedDragon]

would it be legal to use silicone? im talking about the 2 part, catylisc and base mix, it is pliable, strong, and heat resistant to the melting point of pewter. Also, could you manufacture a wheel set on your own? i wanted to make a set of silicone wheels.

[Bduggan04]

Originally posted by DarkRedDragon
would it be legal to use silicone? im talking about the 2 part, catylisc and base mix, it is pliable, strong, and heat resistant to the melting point of pewter. Also, could you manufacture a wheel set on your own? i wanted to make a set of silicone wheels.

Do you mean apoxy? Silicone is used as a lubricant and a sealant.

[DarkRedDragon]

no, i mean the solid mold kind. I was wondering if i could make an entire wheel out of it. The silicone is slightly adhesive during the drying period but that is where it stops being adhesive, when dry it is like a bouncy ball, but it dosent bounce and it dosent break unless you try to with a pointy object, lol!

[Dan 550]

To adhere anything to anything else, including timing belt to wheels (such as the nasty 2'' wide tops of the solid foam tire on the ''beadlock'' wheel), use a JB WELD product, the most common of which are JB WELD and JB QUIK. JB WELD takes a day to cure whereas JB QUIK cures in four minutes. JB WELD produces the strongest bond you will ever see, and is also useful for ''welding'' aluminum when you don't have key aluminum welding bits around, like inert gasses. JB WELD (JB QUIK) is a two part epoxy and comes in a two squeeze tube pack and a double-cylinder syringe (sometimes with included self-mixing tip) and should be available at local retaillers, including Wal*Mart, Home Depot, Lowe's, NAPA auto parts, and other stores like that.

[Greg Perkins]

Originally posted by M. Krass
Rule M17 prohibits just about everything, it seems.

It seems that per M17, we're allowed to attach additional material to the outer surface of wheels that we manufacture ourselves.

However, it also seems like the easiest way of attaching such materials - screws - risks disqualification. Screw heads may be considered to be studs or cleats.

So, the only other solution I can immediately think of is gluing stuff down to the wheel's rim. In that case, can anyone recommend adhesive that will withstand the rigor of competition? Does anyone have any experience with gluing tread material in place rather than screwing it down?

In particular, I'm examining the popular Brecoflex-style belting, the belting we used last season (with a fiberglass backing), and neoprene rubber.

Mcmaster-Carr sells Neoprene Rubber Strips with an adhesive backing. Is it likely that this adhesive is strong enough to adhere the rubber to our wheels?

I'm going to go ahead and order some of it and test it myself, but I was just curious what other experience people had with adhesives and traction materials.

yes on the adhesive question, we did it klast year...

BAd