Tread Wear

[clydefrog88]

more specifically, we would like to know the wear on a 1" wide wheel as compared to a 2'' width. Is the tread wear on the 2" width significantly less to justify the jump up from 1"? Also, if you use either width with roughtop, how often do you replace the tread?

[wilmo]

We used a caster/ifi combo with the ifi's being 2 wide per motor. We replaced the tread after 2 regionals, driving on concrete for 5 hours, and other presentations. The tread was about 1/2 to 1/4 worn, still enough to grip very well. Hope this could help.

[Stephen Kowski]

in 2006 we used the 4" X 2" wheels and we have been using that conveyor belt material for years. The gum rubber wears pretty quickly from what I've seen; the blue nitrile roughtop wears a lot better, but it is a higher durometer material. I would say you can probably get away with two regionals with gum rubber without a huge problem.

[ewankoff]

we used the 6" x 2" IFI wheels with rough top treads through 2 regional, champs, and 2 off seasons so far. We use a six wheel drive set up with a lowered center wheel. After two regionals we noticed that the centered wheel was pretty worn down. We purchased new treads but determined it would take too much time to change them at a competition. still with pretty worn treads we can still push around other bots just as well as day 1.

[Peter Matteson]

2006
We used 4 IFI 1x4 wheels and 2 IFI 1.5x4 wheels. We blew one tread off a wheel at the Philly regional during elims. We changed tread after our second regional at the Championships even through we didn't really need to.

2007
We used our own custom 1.75"x4" wheels with the same tread and there was very little wear on them after two regionals, the Championship (20 matches!), BattleCry, and IRI.

My take away from this was that we had a tendency to wear our tread far more on the lexan and diamond plate surfaces from last year than this year's carpet only surface. I believe the worst field element culprit for tread wear was the 2003 grated ramp. I would say fequency of tread change depends more on the field surface than anything else based on my observations going back to 2003 when we used pnuematic tires.

Pete

[AdamC]

We, 395, used the 1"x6" IFI wheels with the wedge tread. It held up throughout both regionals, nationals, and extensive off-season expos and tests. However, by the end of it all, we had ground off all the tread and were left with a thin layer of gum-rubber over the fabric base. Needless to say, I HIGHLY recommend that you replace your wheels AT LEAST after your regionals and before ATL. We're looking into alternative tread functions, but as of yet have not found anything.

[Cory]

We used 4" wheels this year with appx. 0.8125" tread width. We changed the treads once or twice per event. Roughtop seems to wear quicker than wedgetop. However, this comparison is from 6" to 4" wheels, and 4" wheels will wear quicker right off the bat.

We can retread all 6 of our wheels in about 10 minutes if we're working quickly, so it's never really a big deal.

Originally Posted by Cory

We used 4" wheels this year with appx. 0.8125" tread width. We changed the treads once or twice per event. Roughtop seems to wear quicker than wedgetop. However, this comparison is from 6" to 4" wheels, and 4" wheels will wear quicker right off the bat.

We can retread all 6 of our wheels in about 10 minutes if we're working quickly, so it's never really a big deal.

Interesting. Our wheels were exactly the same size as yours, and we never needed to retread. In fact, we still have the same tread on, and it's just fine. We used the McMaster Blue Nitrile roughtop...

I'm wondering what the difference was between our setups, as they were surprisingly similar.

[Cory]

Originally Posted by 114ManualLabor

Interesting. Our wheels were exactly the same size as yours, and we never needed to retread. In fact, we still have the same tread on, and it's just fine. We used the McMaster Blue Nitrile roughtop...

I'm wondering what the difference was between our setups, as they were surprisingly similar.

We were wondering the same thing a few weeks ago. We're planning on doing some wear/traction tests with the different roughtop types.

The blue is supposed to wear significantly better than the brown that we used. Other than that the only explanation I have is that our outer wheels generally dont wear very much, but the center wheels wear down way quick since the robot is constantly changing it's wheelbase between front and center and rear and center.

[Peter Matteson]

Originally Posted by Cory

We were wondering the same thing a few weeks ago. We're planning on doing some wear/traction tests with the different roughtop types.

We did this and ended up with the compound we use because of it. I highly recommend taking the time to look into it. Like I said before all our practice driving, 2 regional, nats and 2 off seasons we still haven't retreaded 2007.

[Josh Murphy]

We used 6 IFI wheels on our machine last year. We used the same tread the entire season. Not one ripped or fell off. They did however have wear on them. If we use them again we probably will change the treads after every competition as needed. Overall I think they were pretty good to us and they worked great with our design.

[ParkerF]

This past year, 148 used six 4"x2" IFI wheels with the roughtop. From what I understood, the team never had to replace the treads. They survived through 2 regionals, and nationals with no problems. Right before going to IRI we went ahead and replaced the treads to be sure they'd perform their best. Our practice bot finally started blowing treads in the last few driving practices right before IRI. It had been through the build season and summer without needing treads replaced, even though it never saw carpet. Concrete sounds like it would wear more than the carpet at competition, but I could be wrong.

-Parker

[Gamerboyb1]

hey sorta off topic but does anyone need to replace their treads because if you do and you have a good method please let me know.

[ParkerF]

Which treads are you using and which size wheels? I've replaced the IFI wheel treads several times so I could sort of explain how to do that, but it all depends on what you're using.

-Parker

[Gamerboyb1]

It is not the putting them on its how do you keep them on like rivets or screws and yes they are iri