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Awesome Tires

Filling Tires with Liquid Nitrogen

Filling Tires with Liquid Nitrogen

Filling tires with nitrogen instead of air can reduce air loss and boost fuel economy. But filling them with LIQUID nitrogen is an absolutely terrible idea since the stuff comes out of the jug at -320 °F (− 196 °C). That didn’t stop Superkot from trying it out on his Miata. It’s only a matter of minutes before the cryogenic fluid causes the tires to fail spectacularly.

Rolling Down a Hill In a Giant Tractor Tire

Rolling Down a Hill In a Giant Tractor Tire

Sitting inside a tire and then rolling it down a hill seems like a really bad idea. That didn’t stop Mikey Leach from doing it anyhow. So he and the guys from Travis Pastrana’s Channel 199 created a three-story high dirt ramp and outfitted a tractor tire with a racing seat and a five-point harness for some degree of safety. Kids, don’t try anything like this at home.

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Making DIY Airless Tires

Making DIY Airless Tires

Inspired by the expensive airless tires seen on construction equipment and concept vehicles, The Q set out on a mission to make his own shock-absorbing, puncture-proof bike tires using a similar design. What’s even more impressive is that he built them using only PVC pipe, nuts, bolts, and the tread from a standard bike tire.

How Factories Mass-produce Car Tires

How Factories Mass-produce Car Tires

All Process of the World takes us inside a Kumho tire factory in Vietnam that cranks out thousands of tires each day. They start with large quantities of rubber and other materials and extrude those into long, flat strips. Then machines cut and mold them around a circular form, apply layers, attach an inflatable structure, then heat-emboss tread patterns.

Carving a 12-Foot Alligator Sculpture

Carving a 12-Foot Alligator Sculpture

The TPC Louisiana golf course is home to numerous alligators. Among them is a three-legged beast nicknamed “Tripod.” Blake McFarland was commissioned by Zurich to immortalize the big guy. Like some of his other sculptures, he carved Tripod’s body from foam, cast a fiberglass shell, and covered it with recycled tires.

Making a Life-Size Bison Sculpture from Foam + Tires

Making a Life-Size Bison Sculpture from Foam + Tires

Blake McFarland is no stranger to making sculptures of animals. He was recently commissioned to build his largest work yet, a life-size bison for the Henry Vilas Zoo. He started by welding the beast’s horns from stainless steel, then used a foam taxidermy form, spray foam, and fiberglass as the structure for its bike tire “fur.”

Making Bike Tires from Tennis Balls

Making Bike Tires from Tennis Balls

This wouldn’t be the best use of tennis balls that we’ve seen, but we have to hand it to The Q for his creativity. For no reason other to prove that it could be done, he created a bike tires which never need air because they ride on a cushion of tennis balls. The trickiest part of the build was the rig that crams tennis balls into PVC rings.

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Cool Wheels Toy Car Displays

Cool Wheels Toy Car Displays
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These sweet wall-mounted displays are perfect for Hot Wheels and Matchbox car collections. They’re handmade from a recycled tire with a set of wooden slat shelves. They come in 20″, 24″, and 26″ sizes which hold 48, 64, and 75 cars respectively. We especially love the colorful light-up model.

Wheel of Springs

Wheel of Springs

Normally, a vehicle’s suspension sits between the frame and the wheels to absorb shocks. After seeing a vintage photograph of a car wheel with springs built into it, the car hackers at Garage 54 built their own to see how it would affect ride quality. It sounded like a busted shopping cart after the rubber came off.

LEGO Tire Grip Test

LEGO Tire Grip Test

Just like a real car, the tires on LEGO vehicle can make a huge impact on grip. LEGO expert Sariel built a motorized and weighted test rig to see how different official LEGO and third-party tires perform on different surfaces to figure out which ones are the best for traction. Place your bets now.

Michelin x Bamford B347 Pilot Sport Watch

Michelin x Bamford B347 Pilot Sport Watch
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Bamford teamed up with Michelin to create this 133-piece limited-edition B347 chronograph. Its design is inspired by Michelin’s racing heritage, with a carbon fiber case, a black and white dial with a checkerboard bezel, and a strap made from recycled Pilot Sport 5 tires. You’ll find the Michelin Man on the caseback.

Sculpting an Eagle from Tires, Foam, and Steel

Sculpting an Eagle from Tires, Foam, and Steel

Artist Blake McFarland has wowed us with his incredible animal sculptures. This time, he created a life-like sculpture of a bald eagle out of bicycle tire feathers wrapped around a metal frame and a foam body. The finished bird has an impressive 6-foot wingspan and an awesome beak and talons made from steel.

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Casting a Porcelain Tire

Casting a Porcelain Tire

Artist Micah Sweezie of Ceramic Noodles shows off a full-size car tire they made from clay. It took them weeks to create the 13-part mold from the original tire, and three days to cast the porcelain version. The finished piece is a statement on the dark history of French rubber plantations in Vietnam.

Innertube Coin Flatty Wallet

Innertube Coin Flatty Wallet
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UK outfit VeloCulture makes personal accessories from recycled bicycle innertubes. Among their wares is this billfold that provides four card slots along with a zippered pocket for holding coins or spare keys. Available in all black or with a contrast color zipper pull.

Making an Octopus from Tires

Making an Octopus from Tires

Artist Blake McFarland previously showed off his sculpting skills by making a lion and a tiger out of tires. This time, he created an awesome-looking octopus by creating a steel, foam, and fiberglass form, then wrapping it in old bike tires. The glass eyes by artist Becca Barnet help bring it to life.

How Motorsport Tires Are Made

How Motorsport Tires Are Made

Everyday car tires are made mostly by machine, but the high-end tires used for racing are made by hand. In this clip from Street FX Motorsport TV, they take us inside Michelin Motorsport’s HQ in France for a look at the tire-making process, building up layer by layer of rubber, textiles, steel, and adhesive on spinning drums.

Alien King Tire Sculpture

Alien King Tire Sculpture

After seeing Sideshow’s Alien King Maquette, artist Cao Shengge was inspired to make his own version of the terrifying (but non-canon) creature. After making a clay miniature, he got to work building the life-size monster from steel, bicycle innertubes, and over 200 recycled tires.

Eren Yaeger Tire Sculpture

Eren Yaeger Tire Sculpture

Artist Cao Shengge created this amazing sculpture inspired by Eren Yaeger’s monstrous Attack Titan form in Attack on Titan. He built the creation by wrapping sections of car and bike tires onto a metal structure, then painted the interleaved rubber to look like the Titan’s exposed muscles.

How Dragster Tires Work

How Dragster Tires Work

Top fuel dragsters can accelerate from 0 to 335 mph in 3.6 seconds. While sheer horsepower is part of the equation, their massive rear tires are just as critical. Driver61 explains why dragster tires are designed the way they are and the physics that help them grip like mad and launch cars down the drag strip like a rocket.

Changing a Tire on a Spinning Car

Changing a Tire on a Spinning Car

Being able to change a car tire is an essential skill that everyone should learn. Stunt driver Terry Grant has figured out how to change a car tire while the car is still in motion. Back in 2010, he set a Guinness World Record for the fastest wheel change on a spinning car, a feat he managed to achieve in 3 minutes, 10 seconds.

Knock Knock. Who’s There? Tire.

Knock Knock. Who’s There? Tire.

A house in Pataskala, Ohio is minding its own business when an unexpected visitor arrives at its front door. But this isn’t just some annoying door-to-door salesman, it’s an errant car tire which has separated from a vehicle and comes flying at the house at roughly 65 mph. At least it has the courtesy to use the doorbell.

Inside a Rolling Car Tire

Inside a Rolling Car Tire

Ever wondered what it would be like inside of a car tire as it rolled down the road? We now have the answer, thanks to Warped Perception, who mounted a GoPro and lights inside a wheel before mounting a tire on it. Since the camera can’t see the outside world, all we see is the rubber deforming as it rolls over bumps.

Tire Tread Animals

Tire Tread Animals

Artist Blake McFarland shows off a pair of sculptures he built for the 2019 Cotton Bowl. He created versions of Penn State’s Nittany Lion and the University of Memphis Tiger out of Goodyear tires, wrapped around a foam and fiberglass structure. The sculptures weigh about 200 lb each, and used pieces from 400 tires combined.

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