Has anyone ever had a go at grooving their own tyres?

pete wood · 30 May 2006, 5:52 pm

How did you do it?
What tools did you use?

I've got some old retreads I want to carve up so I can get better fron grip on dirt until I have $$$$ to buy rally tyres.

bugbrained · 30 May 2006, 5:59 pm

hey pete i use to help my dad groove his own race tyres on his dirt speedway car . its a 240v machine with a pistol grip , has adjustiable fitting to determine tread groove width and depth ,that piece heats up enabling to cut through the rubber with a steady push along with the grip . either straight cuts , zig zag , or cross cuts etc . bandag recaps where his favourite or he would groove his own slicks or add extra tread for more traction .rallysport companies maybe able to help you out as to where you can buy the tool .
regards jeff

pete wood · 30 May 2006, 6:00 pm

I was looking for a budget way to do it. Do you know how hot the tool gets?

bugbrained · 30 May 2006, 6:01 pm

p.s. the long straight cuts of pieces of rubber would make a good whip to whip the younger brother with😂

bugbrained · 30 May 2006, 6:04 pm

not as in degrees mate but hot enough as to not make the rubber burn sort of make it soft enough as to let the tool pass through and along the trye with applied pressure

68AutoBug · 30 May 2006, 6:12 pm

Back in the "olden" days....

when regrooving tyres "was" legal....

I was working at a car sales place and a fellow used to come around every so often...

I can't remember what the tool looked like but He used to hook it up to a car battery....

I presume every tyre shop would have had one of these back in the "olden" days.... of tyre grooving....

Maybe You could use a 60-80 watt soldering iron and shape the bit to cut/melt thru the rubber....
the smell mightn't be too good...:P:P:P
You could probably make Your own rubber cutting bit...

Soldering irons aren't too expensive these days...
I buy mine from dick smiths usually....

Lee

pete wood · 31 May 2006, 10:26 am

anyone else?

HotRodMatt · 31 May 2006, 10:49 am

I helped an old neighbour do his truck tyres a few times.

The device was like a soldering iron but the tip was shaped wire like a hollow U shape. For some we did zig zags and others straight lines.

I wouldn't do it to anythig other than a tyre that is designed for regrooving.

Desert Moose · 31 May 2006, 11:18 am

I spent years doing this for motor sport tyres with the right tools, and I think it would be a hard job to make a homemade tool. The right tool is about $500 so don’t spend more then that…….lol. A grooving gun heats a blade that’s about 1mm x 4mm thick so red hot that if it not moving though the tyre it will blow like a fuse. I do still have a gun that I use on race tyres, so I can send a blade or two to you for this new toy your going to try to build.

Craig Torrens · 31 May 2006, 1:03 pm

I used an angle grinder...................bloody smokey !! and pieces of rubber went everywhere🤪

MickH · 31 May 2006, 1:13 pm

I have a tool here....called a "hot knife" will try and find it on the weekend.If i find it it's yours if ya want it.

blutopless2 · 31 May 2006, 2:21 pm

as suggested above... avoid burning the rubber - you only need to soften it. I used to work where the base rubber for car tyres was made (before the carbon black is added to make them black) and the chemicals that go in are quite nasty. Most are either listed as proven or probable carcinogens. (cancer causing agents)

pete wood · 31 May 2006, 2:23 pm

What about a circular saw. That would cut instead of burning right?

MickH · 31 May 2006, 2:29 pm

pete wood wrote:What about a circular saw. That would cut instead of burning right?

You would need a thick blade!

blutopless2 · 31 May 2006, 2:30 pm

you would still get some burning because of the high speed cutting blade. what you need is something like a lathe cutting tool that will cut the rubber while it is cold or warm. Is the tyre you wanna cut bald or still has tread on it?

pete wood · 31 May 2006, 2:30 pm

mmm, this getting way too hard, 🥲 I think I'll just put the old rally tyres on the front after all.

koolkarmakombi · 31 May 2006, 5:53 pm

a circular saw 'digs' too much and rips up the belts.

so 'a mate told me'

(blush)

kicks like a right wench when it does too!

pete wood · 1 Jun 2006, 4:52 pm

Thanks all, common sense prevailed. The rally tyres are now at the tyre shop going on some rims. 🙂

Notch Nut · 1 Jun 2006, 7:02 pm

blutopless2 wrote:I used to work where the base rubber for car tyres was made (before the carbon black is added to make them black) and the chemicals that go in are quite nasty. Most are either listed as proven or probable carcinogens. (cancer causing agents)

If you chain smoke (like myself) while getting in the groove, that would probably cancel out the side-effects associated with burning rubber.:thumb
Remember kiddies...Tobbcco BAD🙅....Burnin' rubber....FUN!!!👍
-Adam.

fekkinell · 1 Jun 2006, 7:10 pm

Never grooved my own tyres... did slam my brakes on so hard once that i ripped the tread of my old crappy tyres 😉

helterskelter400 · 1 Jun 2006, 8:21 pm

i havent had a go at regrooving my tyres but last time (2 years + ago!) i was at the tyre shop getting tyres put on rims (i take the wheels down without the car so the tyre guys dont have to get nervous about 205s on 4.5" front rims not 31x10.5R15's on 10" rear rims which is a match some of them get touchy about).

anyway i was mentioning that these rear rims were off my "off road" buggy and the tyre guy said, well, if thats the case, we could groove these rear tyres up a bit, dissapears into the back of the shed and comes out with a dusty regroover that they dont use anymore and offered me to use it in his shop if i wanted. so, they are out there. have an ask around the more friendy tyre guys.

seagull · 2 Jun 2006, 1:58 am

I have my own groving iron & still use it today

I just did the H6 front & rear as the shoulders were worn .Ran the car up to 130ks hr with no issues .

I did my wifes 4x4 and that was fine as well got another 12000 ks out of them .

did my motor bike
car trailer
off road race car

One of the best tools I have and saves the $