sidewaysagain
Member
My current one is a older aluminum kinda bent up. Either remove it for good or get a newer plastic one?
Are sprocket protectors worth the trouble?
- Thread starter sidewaysagain
- Start date
racinnut15xm
Member
i will say i was of the same mindset you are thinking. I took the half off that had the gear on it, more so because it was a pain with the rear floor pan. It was ok with my oldest who could pass and didn't bump many people. Put my youngest in it and he would run up on peoples LR or bank off someone or someone hit him and it would knock the chain off, didnt seem to matter what area was hit it always knocked it off. Put guard back on that side and it was fine.
XXX#40
2A supporter
Driving in the pits?
One Fast Kat
Member
I never run over a 66 tooth rear sprocked, No gear guards and do not have any problems. dirt, Open Animal class. I am very heavy also. I do run the rear floor pan. And sometimes I will admit that I do overestimate my driving ablilities and go for a long spin in the grass. still no problems.
We pit near the exit of the track, so we push the carts on stands to staging and then drive them back to the pit area. We discussed putting the carts on stands at the exit, but there is not a lot of room there, so we didn't bother. My partner's ultralight aluminum gear guard didn't stand a chance when he hit a large chunk of asphalt after dark. Our last race.was.last night, so the asphalt will have until April to settle in. Lol.
Ted Hamilton
Helmet Painter / Racer
^^ I'm surprised that the track (and insurance) allow driving in the pits. Most places that's a no-no. Anyhow, I hate the danged sprocket protectors, and if I HAVE to run it, I usually run it on the "inside" of the sprocket hub so that I can still change gears without it having to be removed. I've not been in a situation where I think it has saved me, but I suppose I don't know. For my current LO206 sprint build, I'm going to try NOT running it. I usually run without one on my 2 cycle UAS karts. I suspect that chassis design and flex around the motor mount to rear bearing hanger determine if you need one for alignment reasons. I also don't run my chain so loose that it can be popped off. IMO, if you can put your chain on by hand without loosening the motor mount butterlies, the chain is too loose and risks a bump-off. I go for about 1" up and down slack mid-chain. I've not see laptime benefit to any more, and there's lots more risk.
1fasttiller
Member
I'm amazed at those of you saying it makes gear changes dfficult... how? We have always ran them (plastic dual sided) and they're a piece of cake! I can change a gear just as fast with one as without. Maybe its the PMI ones we use? Now we have the mini gear and I don't really care for the carbon fiber guard though. They look cool but its too rigid and breaks or cracks too easily IMO. Not to mention cost..
racinnut15xm
Member
I had the motor shifted all the way to the left and the floor pan cut out didn't line up correct. After putting it back on and trimming the floor pan it wasn't bad. Just being a little lazy cost me 4-5 dnf's.
1fasttiller
Member
I hate full floor pans, thats the first thing I remove. No need for them and they are just in the way.
Kj26
Member
We've raced on the bumpiest tracks known to mankind & had chains come off at full speed on 1/4 mile tracks, our 5 yr old carbon fiber guards are still rolling, they just have some hash marks in them. I wouldn't run anything but them anymore.
DaggerMotorsportd
New member
yes, it helps with keeping the chain on as well
I tried running without it once and that was the one time my chain came off. It grabbed all the sprocket bolts and bent them all, making it a big pain to replace and damaged the sprocket hub threaded holes when backing them out. During a test created a lot of wasted time. Ended up swapping out the entire axle of the spare kart. Will never run without one again.