You bought your child a Power Wheels vehicle and you are thinking of changing the tires. You start looking at other vehicles for a style you like best and that will still look good on this particular vehicle.
You pick out a set and now you start to ask ‘are the tires interchangeable’?
Unfortunately, Power Wheel tires are not interchangeable. Power Wheels tires are created specifically for each model depending on the build and make.
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Why Are Power Wheels Tires Not Interchangeable?
Power Wheels toy vehicles come in various shapes, sizes, and designs that range from cars, motorcycles, and trucks. Each toy has unique characteristics. These include but are not limited to terrain, speed, and specific tires.
This means that the tires are not interchangeable. If you were to buy tires that were made for another Power Wheels model, it can alter the performance of the cars. This means that if you were to change the tire diameter, the gear ratio will change and may end up causing the motor to burn out.
If you were to add more traction with spikes or rubber, it could impede the natural spinning action and may cause the break gears and motors to overheat.
Some tires don’t function well on pavement, while others don’t function well on dirt. So, it is best to choose tires that are specific to the model of the toy vehicle you have.
Fisher-Price makes it easy to find replacement tires.
Are Upgrades Available?
When purchasing Power Wheels toy vehicles, most of them come with plastic tires. The plastic tires do not provide a high performance. Upgrades to those tires are available and can be upgraded to either pneumatic or rubber tires, depending on your preference.
You can check for upgrades on the Fisher-Price website however, chances are you are not going to find any there. But don’t worry if you don’t see them on their website, there are other sites that will have tire upgrade options available.
Plastic to Rubber Tires
Plastic tires are not really that durable. They just don’t last long depending on how often your child plays tied to the vehicle. When your child starts to spin on the grass, mud or snow, it is frustrating to them and they don’t even understand why their toy vehicle isn’t moving.
They don’t know that it is because the tires lack enough grip to keep the vehicle moving.
Plastic wheels lose traction over time. By adding a layer of rubber, it will add traction to those tires. There are a few do-it-yourself repairs to the plastic wheels that can give the tires traction by adding rubber.
They are easy and inexpensive DIY solutions. They will help the tires last longer. The duration of the tires will depend, however, on how much your child drives their vehicle.
Pneumatic Tires
Now if you are looking for pneumatic tires there are some available on certain websites. But they will not be the right size. You would have to search for the closet size that would fit your child’s toy vehicle and then modify it so that it would fit correctly.
You may even have to try and search several sites to find some that will be the closest fit. The closer the fit, of course, means the less you will have to do on modifications.
There is another option instead of having to modify the tires because they are too big, you can always have the toy vehicle lifted. This will give the tires more room to spin and will give the vehicle a cooler look.
The easiest way to do this is to buy an old Power Wheels and use the parts to lift the current Power Wheels toy.
You need to just make sure the old one matches your current one in make and model just like you would if you were working on a new car from junkyard parts.
Don’t buy a different model. If you buy a different model because it is cheaper than the model you have, then the modification won’t go as planned.
It really isn’t hard to find an old make and model identical to your child’s toy vehicle at yard sales, online, or open markets. Kids are always outgrowing toys or just get tired of using them, so parents are always disposing of them.
Conclusion
Even though the Power Wheels tires are irreplaceable, you can still upgrade them to better, more versatile tires.
Remember that whether you have upgraded to rubber tires, modified pneumatic tires, or you added pneumatic tires and lifted the body of your child’s Power Wheels, make sure the wheels are tight and do a test drive.
Once you have completed the upgrade and made sure everything is tight, your child’s vehicle should be able to handle other terrains like grass, dirt, and gravel.
