Track Tac

5 in or 6in wheels

foreverfaster

foreverfaster

Site Supporter
why one over the other 5's or 6's?

anyone ever mix and match for stagger?
more or less side wall flex?
before I choose, what are the advantages or dis advantages?
Tx.
 
I think most are 6 inch.
The difference between the 5 and 6 doesnt really effect stagger. The 5 inch has a taller sidewall with roughly the same overall tire diameter , 5 inch would have more flex due to more sidewall.

At least I think?
 
crankincraig said:
I think most are 6 inch.
The difference between the 5 and 6 doesnt really effect stagger. The 5 inch has a taller sidewall with roughly the same overall tire diameter , 5 inch would have more flex due to more sidewall.

At least I think?
Click to expand...

Generally 5" diameter is going to give a smaller circumference.

The biggest issue is the sidewall flex. You give up a lot of roll speed with the 5" diamater, due to how much the tire will roll over during cornering.

There's a reason you see the roadcourse and shifter kart guys use 5"..they are always looking for bite when cornering.

Oval track guys with lower HP are looking to free the kart up and keep roll speed...hence 6" diameter.
 
thanks for the info... is it safe to say that all mfg of kart spindles take the same bearing, regardless of wheel size?
in reference to if I purchase a kart that has 5 inch wheels and I want to go to 6 inch wheels... I will not need to change the spindles.
 
foreverfaster said:
thanks for the info... is it safe to say that all mfg of kart spindles take the same bearing, regardless of wheel size?
in reference to if I purchase a kart that has 5 inch wheels and I want to go to 6 inch wheels... I will not need to change the spindles.
Click to expand...

if you purchase a kart with 5 inch wheels its either very old or a road course kart.
for the most part they should swap
 
^^ except in the case of really old karts. I had a 1979 Bug Wasp that used 5" wheels, but I converted it to 6" wheels. The Wasp's front spindles were a different diameter than what modern spindles use, so the wheel bearings in the modern hubs would't slide over them. But new bearings that fit the spindles were too big (diameter) to fit in either my old or modern hubs. Machined the old hubs so the new wheel bearings would fit into them. But the wheel lug spacing matched do there was no problem mounting the wheels themselves.
 
Euro stuff doesn't have wheel bearings anymore. Wheels are mounted to a hub that has 25mm bearings.
 
I've had issues with the 5" rims not allowing the front spindle height adjustment at times do to the kingpin nut/bolt head, contacting the rim when moving the rim in. .
 
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