5" LR?

Ted Hamilton

Helmet Painter / Racer
Anyone run a 5" LR and 6" other tires? Might be a way to get stagger without stretching so much... I'm unconventional in that I use rim width to get stagger too, though I know sidewall and pressure effects are magnified that way... I'm not afraid to try new things, as if you only do what everyone else does, you can only be as fast as them, not faster.... Of course I never show at the oval now anyhow, so I'm living on past laurels... Most of what I've driven has been higher power too, so ymmv. Just curious what's been tried...
 
We used to run a street race in Brazil, Indiana that was kinda like a mini Pocono. It was a triangle with 3 distinct corners. Now, this was on a sprint chassis, but I used to run a 6-6.50 on the right rear and 5-4.50 on the left rear to get some stagger. Sure miss that track. Always ran well there. I know it is not exactly what you were asking, but there are other crazies out there like you :)
 
are you talking wheel diameter?
I tried everything when we first started tough won't say for sure we did this.
I can say we have ran a 500 on the left rear too make it turn , as an at the track adjustment .
dirt oval racing , though it really didn't change much .
 
I've seen a 5" tire used on the LR at indoor tight tracks to get stagger. I believe It was Motorama up in PA that I first saw this years ago..
 
I think some of you guy's are confusing a normal 5.00 but still a 6" tire NORMAL LF used on the LR, I've done and seen that done a good bit.
 
Sometimes I wonder if a narrower RF and RR would help the tires "get down into the track" better, ie. less footprint = more applied pressure = works the tire more. Wider is better, until you're not using what the tire has to offer... Wider w/o working = more rolling resistance for no benefit...
 
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Sometimes I wonder if a narrower RF and RR would help the tires "get down into the track" better, ie. less footprint = more applied pressure = works the tire more. Wider is better, until you're not using what the tire has to offer... Wider w/o working = more rolling resistance for no benefit...
Has to be some truth to this, yard kart classes are always flipping due to skinny tires digging and over they go, but we couldn't use a tire that skinny on a race kart but something would work
 
I’d rather keep the spring rate of a 6” diameter.

I don’t see why you would need a 5” for stagger. I can get 2.5” of rear stagger relatively easy with 6” wheels
 
Yeah, I tried a 5" LR and 6" other tires. Did not find an advantage, although I also did not get to experiment with this package much either.

I originally hoped that the 5" tire would have a softer spring rate, due to its taller sidewalls. But a quick check on my tire spring rate tester indicated that my 5" tire actually had a slightly harder spring rate than my 6" LR tires. (Many factors could be in play here - my 5" tire is older than my 6" tires, and it has a harder rubber compound than what Maxxis is offering now. All of my left side tires, including the 5", are Maxxis "Blue" due to track rules.) I have not prepped this tire at all yet - just cleaned it with Go-Jo.

Since the 5" tire was harder, I held it out to only use if the track had gotten really hard. However, due to weather conditions effecting the track and due to running only a limited schedule, I only ended up racing it a couple of times. My "feel" was that the 5" was a little too hard, but my overall lap times and race results were about the same as usual.

Also note that I ran this tire on a 1999 Undertaker chassis, which is still a good kart but no longer up-to-date with the newer stuff. I was in the box stock Predator class, so engine power is also a factor here.
 
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