I Made DIY Airless Tires

We put F1 tires on my road car!
• I Put F1 Tires on My Car
We handmade DIY airless tyres and drove them over 100mph, drifted and over a bed of nails!
Regular tyres have been filled with air for over 100 years. They work quite well, but they could leave you stranded at the side of the road with a puncture.
So, with a very small budget and not a lot of time, we decided to fix tyres forever. But, as with any great innovation, we had a few problems on the way.
🔴 Thanks so much to Caterham for lending us the car, it was perfect! Check them out here 👉 www.caterhamcars.com/en
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So, this is the benchmark. The obvious issue is that it’s filled with air.
And for something so well-developed - isn’t it weird that it can be rendered entirely useless by something as small as a nail - or even a pothole. But before we get to putting our airless tyres on the car - let me explain how we made them.
So the base is a 14’ steel wheel from a Ford Mondeo, then bolted to the outside are 15 lengths of PVC Fresh Water Pipe. And I know we’re not NASA - but it actually worked well. It's our unique Puncture-Proof Tire System! Using only pvc pipes, nuts and bolts to fit all together.
Now for the clever stuff, these smaller ones are our anti-vibration pipes - to make sure things weren’t too bumpy. Then the grippy bit - this is just the tread from a normal tyre - wrapped around the outside. Then to keep it all together, we used over 300 nuts and bolts.
⭕ Why Airless Tires Kinda Suck
• Why Airless Tires Kind...
⭕ Do Flat Tires Make Your car FASTER?
• Do Flat Tyres Make You...
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#Tires #AirlessTires #DIY

[@OVERDRIVE.studios]

We put F1 tyres on my road car! kzbin.info/www/bejne/p3m9aaWdjL6BqqM

[@tturi2]

Dude that thing looks amazing with those f1 tyres

[@garystinten9339]

First video to see an airless tyre do a burnout.. congrats boys and girls

[@lighttheoryllc4337]

What this proves is that different filaments on the 3-D printer for the actual tire concept is needed not just the same rubber filament for all the different tube positions. All nuts and bolts aside.., if they were to use different strengths of different filaments to make the different sizes of tubes in the concept 3D printed tire... it should work

[@Snackerbater1]

Use a flexible spray foam to fill inside the pipes to dampen the sound and lock the nuts and bolts.

[@chadachwilliam5515]

Speaking of “pot holes”, when repairing asphalt there is a heat pot that melts rubber to viscus enough to pump into cracks. I think using one of those to finish off the tire by filling all gaps, will be a way to actually manufacture these at a reasonable cost. You can use recycled tires to melt down to further reduce your costs. If any of that helps save or make you money, I need a back hoe. Good luck

[@grayaj23]

The most obvious conclusion from this video is that I need a Caterham.

[@OVERDRIVE.studios]

That's always true.

[@Nevir202]

Are you saying you didn’t know that BEFORE seeing this video? If so, sorry for you.

[@charleskavoukjian3441]

@@Nevir202 I’d rather get a slingshot

[@resenddelete6820]

@@OVERDRIVE.studios you got this idea from the US military, and just changed the design A smidge

[@SalveSandWonk]

@@resenddelete6820 caterhams were first based on the lotus 7 though

[@Alex-cw3rz]

This is so Old Top Gear I love it, the humour and everything so much like the testing of the Hammerhead Eagle i-Thrust, ambitious but rubbish-ish (as they were decent for 1st try tbh)

[@fsfaith]

If you like this sort of stuff recommend CarThrottle. Also HatFilms who very rarely do car stuff they are very reminiscent of the classic Top Gear trio.

[@mtylerw]

@@fsfaith I’ll check them out. Thanks!

[@kunwar4709]

Your username and profile pic don't match

[@justken5]

Now we need a British Stig. Wait...

[@dazlafantastico7466]

Yep, strong ambitious but rubbish vibes going on here 😂

[@kylewall9107]

Instead of nuts and bolts (which will invariably come loose with vibration) have you thought about tension cabling? Like using a steel cable woven through multiple peices of pipe and attached through the wheel rim. Then with wrapping the cable through multiple times before going through the wheel rim again, such that if it started to come loose, there would be a gradual degredation.

[@edwardfletcher7790]

It would have just torn itself to bits ! Like a cheese slicer.

[@Wrutschgeluck]

or easyer: glue?!?!?!?

[@VoltisArt]

You're about back to steel radial tires if you're doing that much cable weaving. The idea is trying something fundamentally different. A hot melt adhesive would be an interesting approach that resists vibration, provided surfaces are properly prepared and compatible.

[@a3r797]

Or just use lock tight on the threads...

[@TheOnlyGhxst]

@@a3r797 Yeah, but then good luck getting them off if you need to fix or adjust the tires lol

[@whirlybirdrc]

Extremely suprised with how rigid the wheels where! Love projects like these. Yes it was vibrating like crazy but still.. it did what it was designed for!

[@paulrobinson3649]

As a first test, that was ridiculously successful.

[@OVERDRIVE.studios]

Thanks Paul! It surprised us too.

[@aaronklein1490]

This was honestly a job well executed guys. Wouldn't take much refinement to make them work honestly. And glad to see Scott back as well it's great woth you two together.

[@williammcintyre8570]

Reminds me of putting playing cards on bicycle wheel spokes . Live . Love it took me back 60 years. Thanks guys . DON'T EVER GROW UP. JUST GET SMARTER. GOD BLESS YOU.

[@overpoweredeverything1401]

I think we can all agree that the Caterham is just THE perfect test bench for projects like this. Very entertaining, keep it up!

[@steve.roadcap]

In case you haven't considered it yet, some (probably most) of the noise and vibration is caused by the seam where the tread meets. If you could find a way to leave about an inch of sidewall on both sides and mount that on your design, the noise and vibration should be closer to regular tires.

[@JohnSmith-ft2tw]

Actually, I thought the whole process could be improved by gluing the "drain pipes" inside a regular tire, )shortened some to fit), and then letting the sidewall "skirt" the wheel. This does away with the tread seam, which is a weak spot, and the sidewalls would prevent the tread from wandering right and left when gripping the road. It would be challenging, but this DIY is very feasible.

[@Arrowed_Sparrow]

The first job I ever has I use to retread tires. And the two ends shouldn't be connected by a straight flat cut. You make a long diagonal cut. It gives more surface area for adhesion and it won't deform.

[@kunaladhikari5215]

@@JohnSmith-ft2tw fuckin oath I think you’re onto something

[@zachsmith1731]

Also I'm sure these things aren't balanced in the slightest

[@VoltisArt]

@@zachsmith1731 That's easily fixed with a few more M6 bolts. lol

[@youtubebannedme]

this really brings back the top gear experiments vibe, hope you guys would do more like this

[@janpruijser8649]

LOVE THIS. feels like old top gear, and that’s the biggest compliment you can get. Classic.

[@NeelkanthEarthmovers]

5:20 UK: We have a lot of potholes. India: That's cute

[@1Alex925]

😂😂

[@tarunbattala9215]

😂

[@i5x0e]

💀

[@Automobilestats]

Uk: We have a lot of potholes India: That's cute Pakistan: That's super cute

[@NeelkanthEarthmovers]

@@Automobilestats Uk: We have a lot of potholes India: That's cute Pakistan: That's super cute Moon: That's Ultra cute

[@Knockthefout]

You should tell about this channel on driver61, i actually found this accidentally, it's so cool to see you 2 car friends having the fun of your life. I myslef can't wait to do car stuff when i growup 😀

[@jchrizzy6995]

Literally watched driver61 for like a year before I realized this channel was a thing

[@MiereTeixeira]

Literally just saw a post (from a few hours ago) and came here to watch this amusing video.

[@LyuboRyuk]

I love the idea and the execution is perfect! Cheap and UNIQUE airless tyres!

[@NeedANameWithoutNumbers]

Seems like a fantastic success for a 1st build. You're definitely on to something here. If you happen to do a revision maybe leave a little bit of sidewall as sort of a bracket to mitigate the tread from sliding sideways. Also if you can do it without cutting the tread and creating a seam I'm sure it would hold tighter. Either way that was a really nice idea and if I had the funds and tools I'd be trying to replicate this to apply to my normal daily driving.

[@fieldo85]

We've been using airless tyres in the outback for decades. If you get a flat and don't have a space, do a small cut into the sidewall of the flat and pack it with Spinifex grass until you can't squeeze anymore in. Will run for 1000's of km's and save you life.

[@MishraArtificer]

And what do you seal the cut in the tire with? Will regular duct tape hold it?

[@VoltisArt]

@@MishraArtificer tape, rope, garbage bags, vines, whatever gets you home. (Wrap through the spokes and around the outside, not just along the side of the tire, even with the best tape, unless you can seal the inside like a solvent-based bike tire patch.) It just has to be enough to work until you can do better. If it fails, you repeat or try something else.

[@ThisTimeTheWorld]

Why not use closed cell foam cores or solid tires, and softer shocks?

[@michaelvos3839]

Every 3 dB doubles the sound intensity so 9 dB more is 8 Times louder!

[@ianmcmillan1411]

Geez that's incredible!! Well done guys!!!!

[@the_idiotic_thinker]

Awesome video. Really wish to carry out such experiments

[@HaywireRides]

This is really sick, I love this channel and seeing all your side projects. Keep them coming!

[@fuzaylauti6095]

Reinventing the wheel, I see

[@tjam4229]

You guys are awesome. It took me awhile before I realized that I had a permanent smile thru-out the video.

[@AfonsodaMataSlam]

This was absolutely BRILLIANT! Great fun! I just wish you'd made a longer episode on this :) Keep it up!

[@thatextraguy21]

Glad to see you guys having fun with it, that looks rad :)

[@ernestmugo1765]

Just two lads having an absolute blast!

[@jonathanfairchild]

That is genuinely impressive! That's quality to hold up to that many RPM for any material let alone some cobbled together garden shed engineering!

[@JudeAlvarez]

Did you try red thread locker? Could help with the bolts coming apart

[@OVERDRIVE.studios]

They were nylock, but we should try that.

[@weedfreer]

@@OVERDRIVE.studios maybe also try use some assembly compound....orrrrr....to reduce weight and effects of rotational forces increasing the g-force and therefore the effective weight of the bolts, why not just try and stick them together with epoxy? Maybe try pack out the outside of the wheel using space-foam held on to the piping with something like a tightly wrapped Kevlar sock before you put the tyre on?

[@yigithan3713]

ChrisFix liked that

[@JudeAlvarez]

@@yigithan3713 that's exactly where I got to know about this things years ago

[@ac-stingz]

May be cut the pipes in 2-3 sections and overlapping the position, so it won't be so bumpy?

[@Matty.Hill_87]

I'm suprised how well these worked, I was expecting catastrophic disaster almost immediately 😂😂

[@rekaksky]

That is epic crazy! Good Job!

[@Dollarspodcast]

i love it really. good job guys

[@ILIJA26101993]

Airless tyres are great, but they need sidewalls like normal tyres to look better and to prevent all kind of stuff getting into those holes.

[@luisbalderrama8145]

3:26 As a Mythbuster would state, " ...well theres your problem." I love this gents. Please keep up this great content.

[@RenderGT]

Great video, really fun!

[@Ding_Bat]

Maybe consider putting that solution inside a tyre casing, then on the rim. That way it is all contained inside the casing, lessening the chances of it coming apart. It also means a continuous tread that’s not held together by screws. Any tyre could then be converted to make us of this.

[@non1503]

Yeah that was my idea as well. It would then act as a large run flat ring. Dump some water beads in it instead of air. and you could still call it airless. lol would be heavy with water beads but would work. Also wondered why they didn't just cut the sidewalls out of a tire. that would leave a single tread ring to fit ultra snug(example you have to use heat to get it to fit. like a steel ring on a wagon wheel) . instead of a seam.

[@WONMARK]

Me in Africa watching Scott call a road a pothole...🤣 You guys are on to something big... Thanks for the video

[@Z_Anomaly]

RSA!!!

[@andrewhuggins8146]

Seriously. They didn't even go airborne. We have way worse pot holes in America.

[@VoltisArt]

Michigan feels your pain, friend. Ice and plows kill the best of roads.

[@antcommander1367]

watching this in middle of nowhere (somewhere in finland) our unpaved roads are literally pothole with yumps, that is sometimes used in rally.

[@BrentBestwick]

Those had no right to be so durable.....

[@ikejon-ubabuco2717]

Amazing video! I'm hoping one day airless tires will be the norm. I'm sure i'm not the first to point this out, but 99.5dB is WAY more than 2x louder than 90db. Assuming that your measurements were taken at the exact same distance in both scenarios, its roughly ~9 times louder (8.91 times louder to be more accurate). With a standard reference sound intensity of 1E-12, the sound intensity values you end up comparing are .001 and .008912509 etc etc

[@albertusaswin2012]

This is wonderful!

[@markvicferrer]

This feels straight out of MythBusters. Good choice with using such a light car. But as soon as you mentioned drifting, you guys should have on some helmets.

[@sergis3521]

Wear freaking helmeeeeet we want you for tomorrow as well

[@OVERDRIVE.studios]

The next Caterham is having a windscreen at least!

[@WallaWalla-bv3db]

I like that these guys are engineering but they are totally just having fun. This has to be the best kind of job out there

[@hughb5092]

I enjoy these videos for the sheer fun the boys are having playing with grown up toys.

[@sirwaffleburger9195]

Did you try threading wire through it? I think that would be less likely than bolts to fall out, and if it's properly tensioned, it could better spread the throughout the whole structure.

[@senordinkus]

How would you make it less bumpy?

[@zachmoyer1849]

@@senordinkus more forgiving tubes held under tension in a more oval shape maybe?

[@senordinkus]

@@zachmoyer1849 It'd look like a flower lol. I'm not an engineer, but it'd certainly be neat to see them do that.

[@zachmoyer1849]

@@senordinkus the lotus eleaf tire lol

[@jamesengland7461]

Charming sound, the unsprung weight reduces as you drive, withstands your industry- standard bed of nails, immune to imperceptible potholes; what more could you ask for?

[@ReVDeatH]

Mileage, these didn't last long enough. Needs more prototypes and design corrections but these did hold up well for the first attempt

[@RedFox0333]

Good work!

[@haft0004]

Neat and simple, would like to see a another try with lessons learned.

[@jamesengland7461]

Here's where the beginning of mass production falls on its face: Press release: due to a pandemic of shortages of blue and black pipe, nuts and bolts, we regret to inform you that we will not be able to fulfill your order for an indefinite period. Thank you for your patience.

[@c.ramdath.26]

Honestly, if you can create a mechanism to keep the tread from swaying, and clean up the plastic areaa, thats a good design. You guys should make a bigger version and take it off roading

[@leokaravasili9649]

just leave an inch of the sidewall and figure a way of getting them on without cutting them in half haha

[@jcpt928]

Tread "sway" is part of tire design - the lateral forces present when it occurs is part of the reason it's taking so long for these to come to market.

[@IndependenceCityMotoring]

Having a sidewall on each side instead of open sides would solve this.

[@psychosis7325]

Mad respect to the Enginerd for not just making those but also going along for the maiden voyage 👍 Epic!

[@NLBassist]

Love it!

[@jurchiks]

I'd say that was an unexpectedly good result! Solve the loose bolts and rounding, figure out a way to dampen the noise (sidewalls probably, even if they're mostly decorative in this case), and that should already be a pretty good tire.

[@RishabhSyalOfficial]

5:10 you should see the road condition in India. It is basically offroad terrain compared to this

[@jamesengland7461]

So you're saying you want a set?

[@arjunn674]

Tru AF

[@sriharidesai7606]

@@jamesengland7461 well sets* because the amount of uhh lets say perfectly engineered potholes are astounding in India >

[@RishabhSyalOfficial]

@@jamesengland7461 prabably when I have a driver's license XD

[@RishabhSyalOfficial]

@@sriharidesai7606 True

[@Prophet10Joseph10]

Needed to use rivets. Looked like a lot of fun. Great video.

[@mr.paulino9318]

That's a great invention. If you perfect the durability this most definitely is the future

[@MAGIeYUU]

Can you test acceleration and breaking compared to regular performance tires ? The usual principle is that air allows deformation required to get more (or optimal) adherence with the surface, more contact area. I'm curious about that principle since you need more rigidity in your concept to maintain integrity of the tire to lateral forces, it should adversly affect the contact area with the pavement. Let me know !

[@avixs1543]

I guess with airless tire a softer rubber would be needed to make up for that? You can kinda see the lack of grip when they are driving around.

[@OVERDRIVE.studios]

Would you put these on your car? I think with some work - these are *THE WAY FORWARD*

[@jamesengland7461]

Yes. Many kilometers forward. More than can be counted on both hands.

[@toonverbruggen7351]

You should do some timed laps and see what the difference is between a normal tire and these.

[@sriharidesai7606]

not literally this tyre but yeah any airless tyre prolly

[@C.I...]

@@sriharidesai7606 Nah

[@BobMonkeypimp]

But sometimes I need to reverse...

[@bxbank]

That was pretty good!

[@chatedits9456]

The fact that it worked fine (other than those small problems) is impressive.

[@jaixc]

Anyways.. I believe your design is much better take on the airless tire than Michelins idea using all rubber. Though, you could use a rubber coating on each of the pipes to absorb more of the vibration and impacts in the wheel itself. I also believe having a little lip on the outer diameter tread to the inside and outside of the tire pad would help with keeping the internal parts in while cornering as it'll dimple at the more force, keeping the inner wheel together more in unison. Like what you could had done was kept some of the sidewall of the tire you used as a part of the tire to keep the smaller light blue pipes from slipping out. I was surprised this set up held up at 100mph, and was able to take corners without falling apart, I mean aside from loosing a few nuts and bolts (could has used large rivets instead), you just had horrible vibrations probably due to the seam in the tread and no real dampening or balancing in the construction of the wheel. If there wasn't a seam and you really thought about balancing each wheel, it may had not been bad at all. And you probably could had went faster in that straight away. Whats crazy is that Michelin didn't come up with the initial design.. the original design was created in the 1930's was called the Elastic Tire. Similar idea of what Michelin is using now, but it has it's flaws as it gives away in corners and it's not rigid enough for highspeed cornering. Your design takes on a different perspective though, rather than using all rubber, just the tread itself is rubber, and the inside of the wheel is plastic and steel. Mind you that your wheels aren't really balanced, and there is a seam in the tire cap.. but overall you could improve this design and make it a pretty rigid tire and wheel if you put your mind to it.

[@kerhs8271]

These are so cool, and it would be pretty cool to see a set for motorcycles and dirt bikes🤩

[@darkshadowsx5949]

that would be pretty dangerous.

[@BlurpGooDiJabba]

yes i drove a old cruiser and got a puncture and the tire separated from the rim and i completely lost control over the rear end, im lucky to still be alive.

[@TomThompson]

Suggestion. Here in the US, and I believe in most racing circuits, they have this thing called a "helmet". If you think your tire might come apart and start spraying nuts, blots, and tubing maybe you should invest in a couple helmets. Just a thought. Great video guys. Loved it.

[@deanag8457]

this is genius. cant wait to see ur developement

[@ravenclawgamer6367]

I have a wonderful idea for noise issue. Line up a sheet of foam in between two sheet of silicon/rubber and provide the outer layer with tread outer cover.

[@drnerd]

Brilliant fellas! great work!

[@OVERDRIVE.studios]

Thank you, we loved making this.

[@drnerd]

@@OVERDRIVE.studios it shows, looks like your having a riot! 😊👍

[@Theneweastwood]

We all need these now!

[@AlvinFlang69420]

Honestly for the price and engineering this is an astonishing success!

[@philspencelayh5464]

I think I'll stick to standard tyres unit they're perfected, good try

[@Somebody-qo9ob]

These actually seem to be quite solid

[@smoothbraindetainer]

Well liquid or gaseous tires wouldn't work, so they better be

[@Erickpicapiedra]

Wow this so much fun

[@marcoc.1646]

To me, all those bolts and nuts look like potential bullets when the car is traveling at high speed. 1200 bullets from tires alone. A real killing machine ;)

[@stevetaylor1085]

This is amazing! I would 100% use these.

[@mugoletti9730]

You are calling tires that are mainly made of holes "airless"?

[@Frozander]

That's the definition of airless. Exactly how Michelin does it, though they don't use pvc pipes.

[@kevinbrennan684]

Hi from South Africa - Just what I need for my garden zero turn lawn mower as I am fed up with punctures. Well done guys

[@ger128]

Very impressive!

[@amxt9437]

what a great idea and execution but it has to put through in duration of time for reliability

[@jamdc2000]

Next time better use rivets

[@orbe5533]

For homemade they look so clean!

[@user-hm7zn8hl9g]

Everything is fine in this video. And the car, and the wheels especially.))))

[@C.I...]

A great idea, except in terms of aerodynamics and debris. And expense. And reliability. And ride quality. And noise. And grip. And weight.

[@jamesengland7461]

So, yeah. Nearly perfect!

[@simonarends7802]

But the unsprung weight decreases as speed increases, this is a great feature for performance!

[@LuisVasquez-nu4hu]

It's just a rough prototype

[@tips4truckers252]

Pretty good design actually I was impressed

[@dj2stalker]

im mostly impressed with how well the tread stayed attached to the whole thing.

[@CarLoverPhotography]

1:06 i died 😭😂🤣 also nice caterham

[@Arrowed_Sparrow]

When putting tread on a tire don't make it a straight flat cut. You need to make a 4 inch... or a 10cm diagonal cut on both ends. It provides more surface area for adhesion and it removes any deformation at the seam. You could make it longer than 10cm, it's just a good amount of surface area with minimal waste. And I'm totally going to try and make these lol. Awesome video.

[@lighttheoryllc4337]

What this proves is that different filaments on the 3-D printer for the actual tire concept is needed not just the same rubber filament for all the different tube positions. All nuts and bolts aside.., if they were to use different strengths of different filaments to make the different sizes of tubes in the concept 3D printed tire... it should work

[@brennenwhipp1253]

Good video!

[@miaouew]

That's a cool little car!

[@FormerlyKnownAsAndrew]

This is really impressive.

[@LaggyWizard]

For a first design those things did pretty good. Imagine if you could have a seamless tread and a balancing system

[@Jay-00000]

loved it

[@tylervanorman492]

Sweetage! Definitely has the old TG flavor. Good work guys

[@dclxmusic]

Honestly, when we are living in the post apocalyptic wasteland and new tyres are impossible to come by, this is gonna be one of the most useful videos on the internet.

[@Jazzy--]

Considering this is literally homemade, a factory made version with a little improvement would be perfect! Great job guys!

[@RS265trophy]

good job !

[@danielsgrunge]

And they look awesome as well

[@cameronrich2536]

Nice dude

[@Khalid.F95]

That was a very thorough scientific experiment, I enjoy it

[@GrimmsDeath]

like the idea of using easily source-able replaceable components. Obviously needs some tweaking such as a better retention system to keep it together and the tread on.

[@PrinceEdwardIII]

thanks for this tutorial, im gonna remember it in case i need tires in a post apocalypse scenario

[@browninplay]

hahaha the part about potholes was so accurate :')