Power wheels traction.

[Stuck]

We bought lil dude one of the walmart power wheel type buggies. I dont remember which one but its 6volt and is a 1x4. Needless to say speed is slow but its pretty torquey considering. It has ****ty plastic wheels with a rubber strip down the middle. It goes great on paved surfaces even on graded packed dirt. It sucks on a bumpy yard.

My first idea was to find some knobby kart or chicom jr atv tires and wheels I could fab a mount for in some way and decided that was more money and time then I wanted to waste on a $150 toy. My next idea was to take a couple of nos MTB tires from my unused pile, slice them up and tek screw them around the the plastic wheels. So I did some looking on the interwebs and apparently my idea is not so original. It seems to be the go to upgrade with the hipster youtube crowd. It seems to work ok but I wonder it there is a better choice.

So I put it to the IBB. What have you guys done for traction upgrades, short of a full on jr sized buggy build? There are plans for that down the road. Right now hes just over 2+ and has the driving skills of a monkey. Ok a dumb monkey. Hes content to just mash the go pedal with his arms hanging out the sides with the country channel jamming as loud as the ****ty little speaker will go waving at all the young mommys walking by pushing their spawn. Christ youd think he was some 18yr old redneck in a lifted OBS. He has to wear his john deer camo hat in his "truck". Steering is not a priority for him (dad is there to spin him away from the road). So no power upgrades for awhile.

I think the tires will be older Tioga something or anothers with kevlar beads. Theyre pretty luggy tires from back in the 90s. I think thats what I have left in the box. Better choices? Tires from harbor freight? Cheap jr mx tires from amazon?

 

[woods]

I'd opt for a battery swap first. I have a 33aH battery in my kiddo's, and it'll last weeks. I thought about traction, but was concerned about stripping gears and such.

 

[ScottRS]

Spool the rear end so it's 2wd. Makes the steering plow-y but it goes better. Little hooligans can learn the art of the zillion point turn.

 

[87manche]

we glued strips of rubber to all the fake plastic lugs on my buddy's boys power wheels.

it hooks now.
it was scrap rubber roofing and glue. glue made it pretty much permanent when it melted all together.

 

[Aggie06]

we glued strips of rubber to all the fake plastic lugs on my buddy's boys power wheels.

it hooks now.
it was scrap rubber roofing and glue. glue made it pretty much permanent when it melted all together.

A buddy suggested something similar. He screwed some strips of rubber to the tires. Said it works great in the yard.

 

[JR4X]

Just the drill screws alone seem to do the trick. My FIL spooled the rear axle on one and just staggered drill screws in the rear wheels. The grandkids have worn through the front tires and it’s still giving toddlers smiles.

 

[Thefishguy77]

we glued strips of rubber to all the fake plastic lugs on my buddy's boys power wheels.

it hooks now.
it was scrap rubber roofing and glue. glue made it pretty much permanent when it melted all together.

This is next for mine. Going to flue so bike inner tube rubber around the rears. Did a batter upgrade first.

 

[92 Green YJ]

I did the mountain bike tire flayed and screwed to the rear wheels on my daughters Jeep Hurricane. Works pretty good.

 

[Stuck]

Spool the rear end so it's 2wd. Makes the steering plow-y but it goes better. Little hooligans can learn the art of the zillion point turn.

Thought about that but the axle on this doesnt spin. The left side wheels just freewheels on the axle. The drive wheel also spins on the axle but it connected to a gear box.

 

[Stuck]

I bought an adapter off amazon that hooks to my tool batteries and has leads to wire in but its fast enough for now. The issue is it hangs up in the small ruts in the yard and the drive wheel just spins on the grass. If I put my shoe under the front of the drive wheel it grabs and goes right over. Theres just no traction.

I like the rubber chunk and roofing glue idea but I dont have either the rubber or vulcanizing glue. Looks like it will be the MTB tires. Hopefully the lugs are big enough.

We should be moving again within the next 6 mos and I will be able to get my shop back and then the real fun starts. Matching buggies for dad and the boys!

 

[Poopyface]

I took mountain bike tread and cut it to fit around my self propelled lawn mower's plastic tires. Glue n screw. That mower will dig down to China if you hold it.

You could probably fit two strips across each plastic tire.

 

[Squamch]

I used an old MTb tire and tech screws

 

[Texas97]

my little JD gator has traction issues. ive flirted with the rubberized bed liner in the spray can on the wheels. i dont know, i need to do something.

last upgrade i did was she wanted a cab so we made one out of cardboard. that lasted all of about 45 minutes.

 

[bgaidan]

I'd opt for a battery swap first. I have a 33aH battery in my kiddo's, and it'll last weeks. I thought about traction, but was concerned about stripping gears and such.

I've seen guys adapting 18v tool batteries too them and turning then in to kiddy drift cars.

 

[87manche]

my little JD gator has traction issues. ive flirted with the rubberized bed liner in the spray can on the wheels. i dont know, i need to do something.

last upgrade i did was she wanted a cab so we made one out of cardboard. that lasted all of about 45 minutes.

next time coat the cardboard in resin.
hardens it right up.

 

[Arps]

Super Swampers...maximum traction!

 

[quarters_ninja]

I have one with the single drive wheel. I put some self-tappers in there and traction is not the problem, it's suspension. My kid finally has it figured out that he needs to lean back a little if the drive wheel is just spinning.

A few buddies of mine got an old power wheels and painted it for my little guy. I put dual 12v agm batteries instead of the little 6v one it came with, this thing rips now. Since it's both rear wheels spinning I do not need to add traction. I would be worried about destroying more gear boxes if I did anyway. I've already gone through two and 1 motor. So far I've been able to find cheap parts on craigslist to keep it working.

 

[Stuck]

Apparently we need to sticky an IBB power wheels upgrade/project thread.

 

[ScottRS]

Thought about that but the axle on this doesnt spin. The left side wheels just freewheels on the axle. The drive wheel also spins on the axle but it connected to a gear box.

I had the same (ish) scenario, I made my "spool" out of a chunk of 1/2" rod and a couple of 3/16" round flanges screwed to the wheels and pinned to the rod, and replaced the stock "axle" with it.

Might sound silly, but I'd do the MTB tires on the non-drive wheels too, one of the big wear things I've seen on a bunch of these is they straight up wear through the stock "tires". At least if you put MTB tires on and they wear them out, you can replace them before you start losing structure.

 

[Toreadorranger]

I did the mountain bike tire flayed and screwed to the rear wheels on my daughters Jeep Hurricane. Works pretty good.

We havent had an issue with my kids hurricane. It has alot more aggressive style wheels then most other powerwheels. I did do some reading on using my drill batteries but most things say the hurricanes gearboxes are right at their limit and are a ticking timebomb with extra power.

 

[92 Green YJ]

We havent had an issue with my kids hurricane. It has alot more aggressive style wheels then most other powerwheels. I did do some reading on using my drill batteries but most things say the hurricanes gearboxes are right at their limit and are a ticking timebomb with extra power.

Yeah I’ve read that as well. Iirc there is a company out there that makes metal gear sets for the hurricane gear boxes. I looked into them briefly but decided to just wait and see if she shredded them.

I do know something is wrong with it right now. It won’t move when she hits the pedal. Haven’t had a chance to figure out the issue yet though.

 

[Add]

Ls swap it

 

[Texas97]

next time coat the cardboard in resin.
hardens it right up.

nah, that wasnt the problem. the problem was the cab was not that fun or easy to get in and out of and was more cumbersome than it was worth. hell, i used some real heavy duty stuff that a big sprayer came in.

 

[Stuck]

I had the same (ish) scenario, I made my "spool" out of a chunk of 1/2" rod and a couple of 3/16" round flanges screwed to the wheels and pinned to the rod, and replaced the stock "axle" with it.

Might sound silly, but I'd do the MTB tires on the non-drive wheels too, one of the big wear things I've seen on a bunch of these is they straight up wear through the stock "tires". At least if you put MTB tires on and they wear them out, you can replace them before you start losing structure.

I thought about making new mounts out of some pillow blocks for the axle and flanging the drive and free wheel to it but once he grasps the steering concept and we move Im moving him up to a bigger machine. Hes really digging the big 24v Grave Digger buggy. We pass the toy aisle at wallyworld when i check for ammo and he starts yelling Digger! when we get close.

Damn I wish I could get that excited about something. I like the fact that his current one is a bit slower for now. Plus Ive got wee dude yet to grow into it.

 

[BUCKLAND]

This,

Just the drill screws alone seem to do the trick. My FIL spooled the rear axle on one and just staggered drill screws in the rear wheels. The grandkids have worn through the front tires and it’s still giving toddlers smiles.

my kid wore the tires off of his. He thought himself going down the paved driveway wot, lift and cut the wheel. Instant 180 back to wot, sitting there grinding those tires. Makes me laugh my ass off thinking about it, got to go find that video.

 

[ironman_gq]

A lot of guys add bike tire strips to the wheels, then they start looking for new gear boxes. The added traction tends to kill the gears, they really have a problem when you upgrade the batteries.

 

[JR4X]

This,

my kid wore the tires off of his. He thought himself going down the paved driveway wot, lift and cut the wheel. Instant 180 back to wot, sitting there grinding those tires. Makes me laugh my ass off thinking about it, got to go find that video.

I’m trying to get pictures and videos of this one.

 

[2big bronco]

My kids has "rubber" (seem more like foam) tires on his that seem to get great traction everywhere. Its rare he needs to shift into 4wd

And here he is stoked dad let him go dtive his monster truck with no pants

Next is a half legit roll cage and better seatbelt. Hes rolled it once getting trapped under it. Ill bet it weighs 80+lbs

 

[Texas97]

My kids has "rubber" (seem more like foam) tires on his that seem to get great traction everywhere. Its rare he needs to shift into 4wd

And here he is stoked dad let him go dtive his monster truck with no pants

Next is a half legit roll cage and better seatbelt. Hes rolled it once getting trapped under it. Ill bet it weighs 80+lbs

you're junkyard looks even more desolate than it normally does. damn.

 

[larboc]

You sure it's 1x4? The ones my kids have use a motor at each rear wheel. The powerwheels brand barbie jeep we have has the motors wired in series so each motor sees the same current, effectively behaving like an open diff in the rear from the factory. If you rewire them so that the motors are in parallel it goes faster and has MUCH better traction.
The other major issue with the powerwheels jeep is that it has absolutely zero suspension travel/articulations so as soon as one wheel is off the ground, it's spinning. I also got a red, very chinese, ride on jeep from the neighbors and it has small springs on each axle support point in the rear and the spindles in the front which gives it just enough traction to keep the rear wheels on the ground to keep going. That thing does REALLY well off road. My 1yo son has gotten really into driving them around, my 3yo daughter got frustrated by the poor traction of the barbie jeep an is now more into the golf cart. Don't think traction is all that good of a thing though because it allows kids to get into trouble or into the road in a hurry. My son disappeared one day out of the yard and my wife and I were running around frantically trying to find him because all we saw were his clothes in a pile where we last saw him. He'd shucked his cloths and stole is sisters jeep and took off down a trail on our property and piled it into the rhubarb at the bottom of a low water crossing.

The red "ceep" however makes it through stuff like that no problem and is hard for him to get stuck, unless he drives it off the pond dam. It will usually carry a front wheel in the air and keep right on going.