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Power wheel tire upgrade: Try these power wheels plastic tire upgrade hacks if you’re tired of watching your kids’ car just spin the tires with zero chance of gripping.
Power wheels tires are typically made of very hard plastic hence they have very little grip.
For this reason, towing anything -bar something that is extremely light such as a super light wagon- is a challenge no matter how hard your kiddo tries (it either just bogs down or spins its tires).
Tell me: What fun is there if you have to run up behind the power wheels to give it a hard push out of grass because it just spins?
Sure, your wannabe driver might find it amusing but you and I know that it’s pretty annoying.
So below are power wheels tires upgrade hacks you should consider to get rid of your power wheels traction problem:
Power wheel tire upgrade : improve power wheels traction with these hacks
Here are a couple of tricks you can try on your power wheels tire to have it grip better on wet grass and other surfaces:
Power wheel tire upgrade : improve power wheels traction with these hacks
Option 1 – Replace power wheels tires with pneumatic lawnmower/garden tires
I did not find good power wheels pneumatic tires out there that you can upgrade to so your best bet is replacing the disappointing power wheels tires with some nice pneumatic lawnmower/garden tires.
You can buy these off at Amazon (and there is a great variety of decent rubber tires to choose from here including the excellent Turf saver tires) or your local tire shop.
The only thing that I need to point out is that you’d have to adapt the rims to mount the tires on the vehicle correctly (remember these tires are not originally designed to be mounted to a power wheels drive axle).
The good news is people often do this power wheels tires replacement trick so it is not rocket science.
The other drawback of mounting rubber-made lawn mower tires on power wheels is that lawn tractor tires don’t come that cheap (they can set you back $50+ each).
But when all’s said and done, think about our auto tires: there is a reason they’re made of rubber (not plastic).
Still on power wheels rubber tires upgrade, there is an alternative tire you can opt for: small ATV tires.
What you do is this: stretch the smaller ATV tires (again you can buy them at Amazon) around your power wheels tires and bond them on (with epoxy).
You should notice better traction, by far, as well.
Option 2: Glue some rubber strip down the tire (the rubber strip goes down the middle)
The second power wheels traction mod that you should try is gluing a rubber strip right down the middle (of the tire)
Now, if you go on websites such as e-bay, you can order power wheels traction bands- these are basically big rubber bands that you simply glue onto the tire.
The good thing is that they are pretty inexpensive (from$12 or so) and it gives you tremendous traction on most surfaces.
Bear in mind that once on eBay, you may have to search for power wheels first then scroll down looking for traction bands for ride on toys (they may not be on page 1 but they should be there).
Option 3: Screw mountain bike tire strips to the power wheels tires
The third power wheels traction hack you can go for is a mountain bike tire…
Of course, you won’t have the entire bike tire on power wheels – a piece of the tread is what you want.
You see, you just cut up an old mountain bike tire to a fitting size then screw some of the slices on to the plastic power wheel tires.
You can use hex head self-tapping screws (screw them into the plastic and do not over-torque them)-they work great.
The good thing is that if rust does accumulate on them, it will be cleared as soon as the kids take it down the street.
You can as well use drywall screws, staples, brads, etc.
Overall, this can be an excellent alternative to the power wheels rubber traction bands because the tread patterns on bike tires tend to be designed to bite into terrain perfectly.
Be sure to do this for all 4 tires or your son/daughter will have steering problems (a good start would be probably fitting 2 strips across each tire).
Now, if you don’t own a bike and you have no idea where to start, try to search out bike tires in your area.
You can, for example, look at bike shops and/or used tire dealers in your locality (they will help you out).
Quick Tip: For better retention, you can glue then screw (the glue helps make the attachment more permanent).
Option 4: Glue an inner bike tube (instead of bike tire strips) to the power wheels tires
You can as well do what one of my buddies did: He took his old bike inner tube, proceeded to cut it up to size then ‘expoxyed’ the cuts around the power wheels tires.
His boy loved the added traction and my friend says that it has been working great on nearly all surfaces since- pavements, grass, driveway, etc.
You can even use the tube found on riding lawnmower tires-There is a small tube you can cut open then stretch over the power wheels plastic tires. You then trim it to fit and finally glue it.
Watch the YouTube Video below to see how the tube is secured
Option 5: Screw studs on to the cleats (of your power wheels tires)
If you are unhappy with your kid’s power wheels traction, you can still modify the power wheels tires by screwing studs on to the cleats.
Once you screw the anti-slip studs, you will make the existing tires have a tread similar to what you see on the “knobby” tires on quad runners and motocross bikes, resulting in impressive traction.
Power wheel tire upgrade – other options
Here now are some other ideas you can test out:
- Grip tape on power wheels tires – There are parents who simply put “grip tape” on their daughter’s/son’s power wheel tires!
- Screws in power wheels tires- You can even put screws (with a large enough bolt head) in to each rear power wheel tire (put a reasonable number then see if it helps improve grip!).
Wrapping it up
One possible problem with hacks that requires the use of screws is that screws might weaken the plastic tire and ultimately crack/break it.
In a nutshell, the best solution is lawn tractor rubber tires- you not only get super traction (the power wheels will go flawlessly in rain, snow, and even up grassy hills) but it also results in a smoother and quieter ride.
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