WLToys a9x9 Hexless Wheels and Tires

The tires on my venerable WLToys A979a finally wore out, along with the wheels all being broken and made of mostly…
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updated May 6, 2022

Description

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The tires on my venerable WLToys A979a finally wore out, along with the wheels all being broken and made of mostly glue, and as a replacement set was ~$15 I thought I'd try printing some.

These tires are "airless", and are locked to the rim for side loads as well as rotational. they have a little texture to help them grip but are not great grass tires. I can post grass-paddles if there is interest.

I spent a long time playing with materials, I was unconcerned with ultimate grip but wanted balance. The cheaper TPU's were pretty useless on another car, so here I went with NinjaFlex. This ends up being ~$2.50/corner, with the wheels like ~19 cents of that.

So far, driving hard, I've gone through ~20-25 1500mAh batteries and I'm starting to lose the first layer on the knobby bits. Still plenty of life left, so this won't be $1/run or anything.

If there is interest, I may make a bigger rim and less ninjaflex version later.

Print Settings

Supports:

No

Resolution:

0.2

Filament: any NinjaFlex (shore 82a) and PLA

Notes:

The wheel needs to have the central hole cleaned to remove the supporting bridge layer.

The tires need to have the manual support holding up the upper sidewall pulled out. It's pretty straightforward and removes easily for me.

Post-Printing

Make sure you have the old hex nut removed the pole centered. The wheel should fit right on, the pin is aligned with one of the spokes to make this easier.

You can put the tire on before or after installation of the rim. When you do, ensure the bed-side of the tire and the bed-side of the wheel are opposite, check the beads to ensure they match their holes. The anti-rotation notches line up with the spokes.

If you print the rims clear, it is pretty easy to see when the tire is fully seated. Make sure it is or the tire may not roll smoothly. I just wiggle the tire until everything goes in.

Category: R/C Vehicles

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Model origin

The author marked this model as their own original creation. Imported from Thingiverse.

License