410.3 Have you ever broken a wheel?

[bladefan]

I’m loving this truck.
Thanks for the help and support from this forum.
It handles so amazing with the stock setup at our basher track. And I love how it mostly rolls back on its wheels after a mishap.

I some how broke two spokes on a 5 spoke wheel. It’s a set of duratrax lockups. Premounted. And when I spin the tires now they seem to be a little lopsided.

is this common? Breaking a wheel or somehow bending them so they seem weird? I pushed the spokes back into place. They’re still cracked but the truck seems to run fine when I put it on the pavement. If I hold the chassis and pull the throttle it seems like the wheels are off balance. Is this normal? It seems like this is not a good thing for handling

 

[76jimmy]

Yes I break duratrax wheels alot. The foam gets deformed inside the wheel causes it the get unbalanced. Also have to reglue them after the first run too.

 

[PrimaRC]

Try to avoid getting them wet, have they got vent holes on the tread?

 

[Billl DeLong]

Yes, very common to break spoked wheels, you can try dish wheels to get a little more durability:

https://www.deracing.net/store/index.php?route=product/product&path=270_302&product_id=636

 

[MAVERICK]

The dish style wheels are stronger than the spoke style

I think the spoke look better IMO but remember the bottom line is performance first

 

[bladefan]

Ahh! Ok thank you gents. The dish wheel link is great too thank you!

they haven’t been wet. No vent holes either.

But I had no idea that foam could cause the wheel be unbalanced. Will venting fix this?

 

[Billl DeLong]

foam inserts will degrade over time and eventually crack and the wheels will be insanely out of balance, you can feel the break in the foam and then you know it's time to replace them.

All wheels generally need to be balanced when new and not uncommon to re-balance the wheels every run if you want to stay on top of things, or simply lift the car in the air and blip the throttle to check for balance.

I have grown to only use AKA balancing clay and here's how I balance my wheels:

I prefer to buy wheels without any holes in the plastic, I only punch holes in the inside side walls of the tires.