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Tire prep
- Thread starter msquiers
- Start date
This is from the Palmetto Prep Guide:
There are some particular circumstances and tires that we want to briefly cover because they are outside the box when it comes to what the normal PTS description and preps cover.
EL Tires:
EL tires were created as a cost effective alternative that could not utilize as much of the current processes of what we do with our normal tires such as cutting and prepping. These tires produce speed longer and do not wear like normal tire do for the reason that the rubber is very hard and they produce there speed mainly with a weaker sidewall. Everything that you think that you know about tires you need to forget when it comes to ELs, but we do have some valuable information to get the most out of your EL program.
Like we said above they have a very hard rubber, but it’s a very different rubber as well. This rubber almost acts like a hard plastic; it has a very low oil level in the tires and does not react positively to most of the normal treatments that we offer.
The other factor that must be considered with EL tires is the sidewall. To further explain how the sidewall works you must think back to what we said earlier about side bite; this is the same principal, the only difference is your not going to use any prep on the inside to accomplish this for the most part. The sidewall in these tires are very soft, so air pressure is very critical and will be your tuning tool as to the desired side bite your looking for. The lower air that you run will allow for the tires to produce more side bite, but in turn you will make less roll speed. To better define roll speed it is the attitude the kart has on takeoff and on the straightaway in reference to the overall speed of the kart. To give you an example the kart might appear to be good in the corner, but if it does not make any overall speed mainly it will be because it’s not making any roll speed. So there is a fine line of making corner speed and roll speed and the overall bite and configuration of the track will determine which way to go to get the most speed out of the tires. The more bite, speed and banking a track has the more air you can get on because the track is making all the bite you need; obviously if you’re on the opposite track conditions the same holds true for how low of an air you can get to make side bite. The extremes on air pressure would be 10-14 lb and on the lower side 3-4 lb, good starting points for a medium bite track is 4.5 LS and 5.5 RS and go down or up from there based on the above information that we have given. The last thing that we do when it comes to air pressure is we work with the AP split to help aid in side bite. AP split is the difference in the LS AP and the RS AP, normally most will use a 1.0 pound split. The closer that you run your AP split together the quicker the RS tires bite and the more side bite that is created. We usually adjust AP split .25 lb at a time, until we get the desired bite that we are looking for. This adjustment is mainly for fine tuning only, so once you get the overall AP your looking for you can work with the split to get the most out of your tires.
We do offer a specific EL treatment known as EL Bite. Like we stated above this rubber is very hard and un-reactive to most treatments but with the EL bite we have made strides to improve the bite in the tire without causing any problems. The tires that are currently available as of the end of July 2011 are very fresh, for that reason our only recommendation is to wipe at the race track and do nothing during the week. Go out and scuff these tires in practice and when you can come back in clean them up and wipe coats of EL bite before the next time you go out. The EL bite is mainly going to fire these tires off and when the tires come in they will make bite on there own. For higher bite tracks 1-2 wipes will be all that you need in other cases where the track is low on bite the tires can be wiped multiple times to help aid in the overall bite that the tire has a potential of making. Heat can be applied if the ambient temperature is low (below 60) but for the most part the EL bite will cure on its own and needs to be dry before you go to the grid. Please don’t reference your durometer as to what kind of bite these tires are capable of making; these tires do not soften up much as treatment is applied, so if you get them softer you will slide because the tires are actually over biting.
The EL tires are normally good for Saturday night racing up to 20 races before they start showing signs of falling off. For Money race Day time shows, a new set is needed for every weekend because of the slight advantage that the fresh rubber and sidewall gives you. There are some things mechanically that can be done with the kart to help make bite. The lower speeds that the EL tires create keep the kart more loaded in terms of not creating the needed side bite so you can run less left side weight, less cross and less RF camber for starters to get the most out of the tires so there good from beginning to end.
There are some particular circumstances and tires that we want to briefly cover because they are outside the box when it comes to what the normal PTS description and preps cover.
EL Tires:
EL tires were created as a cost effective alternative that could not utilize as much of the current processes of what we do with our normal tires such as cutting and prepping. These tires produce speed longer and do not wear like normal tire do for the reason that the rubber is very hard and they produce there speed mainly with a weaker sidewall. Everything that you think that you know about tires you need to forget when it comes to ELs, but we do have some valuable information to get the most out of your EL program.
Like we said above they have a very hard rubber, but it’s a very different rubber as well. This rubber almost acts like a hard plastic; it has a very low oil level in the tires and does not react positively to most of the normal treatments that we offer.
The other factor that must be considered with EL tires is the sidewall. To further explain how the sidewall works you must think back to what we said earlier about side bite; this is the same principal, the only difference is your not going to use any prep on the inside to accomplish this for the most part. The sidewall in these tires are very soft, so air pressure is very critical and will be your tuning tool as to the desired side bite your looking for. The lower air that you run will allow for the tires to produce more side bite, but in turn you will make less roll speed. To better define roll speed it is the attitude the kart has on takeoff and on the straightaway in reference to the overall speed of the kart. To give you an example the kart might appear to be good in the corner, but if it does not make any overall speed mainly it will be because it’s not making any roll speed. So there is a fine line of making corner speed and roll speed and the overall bite and configuration of the track will determine which way to go to get the most speed out of the tires. The more bite, speed and banking a track has the more air you can get on because the track is making all the bite you need; obviously if you’re on the opposite track conditions the same holds true for how low of an air you can get to make side bite. The extremes on air pressure would be 10-14 lb and on the lower side 3-4 lb, good starting points for a medium bite track is 4.5 LS and 5.5 RS and go down or up from there based on the above information that we have given. The last thing that we do when it comes to air pressure is we work with the AP split to help aid in side bite. AP split is the difference in the LS AP and the RS AP, normally most will use a 1.0 pound split. The closer that you run your AP split together the quicker the RS tires bite and the more side bite that is created. We usually adjust AP split .25 lb at a time, until we get the desired bite that we are looking for. This adjustment is mainly for fine tuning only, so once you get the overall AP your looking for you can work with the split to get the most out of your tires.
We do offer a specific EL treatment known as EL Bite. Like we stated above this rubber is very hard and un-reactive to most treatments but with the EL bite we have made strides to improve the bite in the tire without causing any problems. The tires that are currently available as of the end of July 2011 are very fresh, for that reason our only recommendation is to wipe at the race track and do nothing during the week. Go out and scuff these tires in practice and when you can come back in clean them up and wipe coats of EL bite before the next time you go out. The EL bite is mainly going to fire these tires off and when the tires come in they will make bite on there own. For higher bite tracks 1-2 wipes will be all that you need in other cases where the track is low on bite the tires can be wiped multiple times to help aid in the overall bite that the tire has a potential of making. Heat can be applied if the ambient temperature is low (below 60) but for the most part the EL bite will cure on its own and needs to be dry before you go to the grid. Please don’t reference your durometer as to what kind of bite these tires are capable of making; these tires do not soften up much as treatment is applied, so if you get them softer you will slide because the tires are actually over biting.
The EL tires are normally good for Saturday night racing up to 20 races before they start showing signs of falling off. For Money race Day time shows, a new set is needed for every weekend because of the slight advantage that the fresh rubber and sidewall gives you. There are some things mechanically that can be done with the kart to help make bite. The lower speeds that the EL tires create keep the kart more loaded in terms of not creating the needed side bite so you can run less left side weight, less cross and less RF camber for starters to get the most out of the tires so there good from beginning to end.
This is from the Palmetto Prep Guide:
There are some particular circumstances and tires that we want to briefly cover because they are outside the box when it comes to what the normal PTS description and preps cover.
EL Tires:
EL tires were created as a cost effective alternative that could not utilize as much of the current processes of what we do with our normal tires such as cutting and prepping. These tires produce speed longer and do not wear like normal tire do for the reason that the rubber is very hard and they produce there speed mainly with a weaker sidewall. Everything that you think that you know about tires you need to forget when it comes to ELs, but we do have some valuable information to get the most out of your EL program.
Like we said above they have a very hard rubber, but it’s a very different rubber as well. This rubber almost acts like a hard plastic; it has a very low oil level in the tires and does not react positively to most of the normal treatments that we offer.
The other factor that must be considered with EL tires is the sidewall. To further explain how the sidewall works you must think back to what we said earlier about side bite; this is the same principal, the only difference is your not going to use any prep on the inside to accomplish this for the most part. The sidewall in these tires are very soft, so air pressure is very critical and will be your tuning tool as to the desired side bite your looking for. The lower air that you run will allow for the tires to produce more side bite, but in turn you will make less roll speed. To better define roll speed it is the attitude the kart has on takeoff and on the straightaway in reference to the overall speed of the kart. To give you an example the kart might appear to be good in the corner, but if it does not make any overall speed mainly it will be because it’s not making any roll speed. So there is a fine line of making corner speed and roll speed and the overall bite and configuration of the track will determine which way to go to get the most speed out of the tires. The more bite, speed and banking a track has the more air you can get on because the track is making all the bite you need; obviously if you’re on the opposite track conditions the same holds true for how low of an air you can get to make side bite. The extremes on air pressure would be 10-14 lb and on the lower side 3-4 lb, good starting points for a medium bite track is 4.5 LS and 5.5 RS and go down or up from there based on the above information that we have given. The last thing that we do when it comes to air pressure is we work with the AP split to help aid in side bite. AP split is the difference in the LS AP and the RS AP, normally most will use a 1.0 pound split. The closer that you run your AP split together the quicker the RS tires bite and the more side bite that is created. We usually adjust AP split .25 lb at a time, until we get the desired bite that we are looking for. This adjustment is mainly for fine tuning only, so once you get the overall AP your looking for you can work with the split to get the most out of your tires.
We do offer a specific EL treatment known as EL Bite. Like we stated above this rubber is very hard and un-reactive to most treatments but with the EL bite we have made strides to improve the bite in the tire without causing any problems. The tires that are currently available as of the end of July 2011 are very fresh, for that reason our only recommendation is to wipe at the race track and do nothing during the week. Go out and scuff these tires in practice and when you can come back in clean them up and wipe coats of EL bite before the next time you go out. The EL bite is mainly going to fire these tires off and when the tires come in they will make bite on there own. For higher bite tracks 1-2 wipes will be all that you need in other cases where the track is low on bite the tires can be wiped multiple times to help aid in the overall bite that the tire has a potential of making. Heat can be applied if the ambient temperature is low (below 60) but for the most part the EL bite will cure on its own and needs to be dry before you go to the grid. Please don’t reference your durometer as to what kind of bite these tires are capable of making; these tires do not soften up much as treatment is applied, so if you get them softer you will slide because the tires are actually over biting.
The EL tires are normally good for Saturday night racing up to 20 races before they start showing signs of falling off. For Money race Day time shows, a new set is needed for every weekend because of the slight advantage that the fresh rubber and sidewall gives you. There are some things mechanically that can be done with the kart to help make bite. The lower speeds that the EL tires create keep the kart more loaded in terms of not creating the needed side bite so you can run less left side weight, less cross and less RF camber for starters to get the most out of the tires so there good from beginning to end.
Thanks! That's what I was looking for.