Directional Arrows on Tires
- Thread starter Ragnar
- Start date
CarlsonMotorsports
Site Supporter
Maybe Patti, or someone from Goldspeed, could answer this best.
In my opinion, it is not critical to use the tires directionally, especially on dirt. There is no tread molded into them and the webbing in the tire's contact patch is wrapped in such a manner that it is highly unlikely that it could ever come unwrapped or have the belting come undone due to our low HP, low CoG, low weight, etc karts. Under severe braking (ie lock-up) on pavement would be the only chance of the webbing coming undone, and I've never seen that in karts.
Most racers routinely "flip" their tires on their wheels to get more life out of them (and maybe more importantly, more sidewall strength.)
In all honesty, we do more damage to the tires and webbing with all the chemicals we fill them with!
I know on some big car tires, we've seen delamination of the rubber from the webbing and cause all sorts of problems, high speed imbalance, catastrophic failure, etc. But in reality, I seriously doubt we need to worry much about it in karting.
Not to say that an ounce of prevention can't still go a long way.
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Thanks and God bless,
Brian Carlson
Carlson Racing Engines
Vector Cutz
www.CarlsonMotorsports.com
27 years of service to the karting industry
Linden, IN
765-339-4407
bcarlson@CarlsonMotorsports.com
In my opinion, it is not critical to use the tires directionally, especially on dirt. There is no tread molded into them and the webbing in the tire's contact patch is wrapped in such a manner that it is highly unlikely that it could ever come unwrapped or have the belting come undone due to our low HP, low CoG, low weight, etc karts. Under severe braking (ie lock-up) on pavement would be the only chance of the webbing coming undone, and I've never seen that in karts.
Most racers routinely "flip" their tires on their wheels to get more life out of them (and maybe more importantly, more sidewall strength.)
In all honesty, we do more damage to the tires and webbing with all the chemicals we fill them with!
I know on some big car tires, we've seen delamination of the rubber from the webbing and cause all sorts of problems, high speed imbalance, catastrophic failure, etc. But in reality, I seriously doubt we need to worry much about it in karting.
Not to say that an ounce of prevention can't still go a long way.
-----
Thanks and God bless,
Brian Carlson
Carlson Racing Engines
Vector Cutz
www.CarlsonMotorsports.com
27 years of service to the karting industry
Linden, IN
765-339-4407
bcarlson@CarlsonMotorsports.com