to skip or not to skip

T

tyreguy

New member
looking at all the things we have to do to stay with the pack in the LO206 sr class I've started looking at my drive line.
I currently run WSM skip tooth sprockets. Got thinking, should I be doing something differnt here????
Tell me what you think.
 
Think about this; the last tooth on the sprocket, that the chain is fully engaged with, is taking all the torque put out by the engine. All the other teeth are just there, doing nothing but keeping the chain from falling off the sprocket, waiting their turn to be the last tooth. I doubt if skipping one tooth does anything at all. It does seem to make a good marketing tool! lol
 
Good thought Al, I always used because of the heat lose. Think the torque transfer happens so quickly that stress level is less than we think (at least on that one tooth). And with the demands on chains these days , the less heat the better. And this maybe one of those theorys that have no good information to back up the theory
 
tyreguy said:
Good thought Al, I always used because of the heat lose. Think the torque transfer happens so quickly that stress level is less than we think (at least on that one tooth). And with the demands on chains these days , the less heat the better. And this maybe one of those theorys that have no good information to back up the theory
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More teeth, more heat transfer from the chain to the sprocket. In the area where there is no chain contact, more teeth, more heat dissipation. In any case, even with a gear ratio of 4.8 – 1, with a Yamaha turning 13,000 RPM, I've never had any trouble.

Have you ever heard about people sitting on the front porch watching the grass grow.
 
alvin l nunley said:
More teeth, more heat transfer from the chain to the sprocket. In the area where there is no chain contact, more teeth, more heat dissipation. In any case, even with a gear ratio of 4.8 – 1, with a Yamaha turning 13,000 RPM, I've never had any trouble.

Have you ever heard about people sitting on the front porch watching the grass grow.
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Best when also eating watermelon.
 
Ok, I'll be the guy to go against the tide (again.) :)

Personally, I like the skip tooth gears. Is there an advantage to using them? Maybe, but it would be difficult at best to quantify.

They are slightly lighter (which should theoretically anyhow help on acceleration,) they do offer less drag/resistance (when measured with the chain rolling off of the gear to the garage floor,) they seem to wear better (especially side to side,) less chance for a rock or something to get caught in the gear possibly.
I certainly see no harm in using them, and potential for gain. An advantage perceived is an advantage achieved. If your driver thinks the gear will make him faster, his confidence level goes up and ultimately he is faster. How much is "that" advantage worth? (Maybe the same amount as ceramic bearings, eh?) ;)

I use skip tooth gears on all of our karts and like them. To each their own though.



-----
Thanks and God bless,
Brian Carlson
Carlson Racing Engines
Vector Cutz
www.CarlsonMotorsports.com
26 years of service to the karting industry
765-339-4407
bcarlson@CarlsonMotorsports.com
 
I agree with Carlson. I would use the skip tooth gears to simply reduce the rotating weight. Even if there was nothing else to gain from them.
 
I agree also, but I did find a sprocket that is full tooth and is so lite it's scary. Nitro...haven't used it yet but wow its lite.
 
coastalracer82 said:
I agree with Carlson. I would use the skip tooth gears to simply reduce the rotating weight. Even if there was nothing else to gain from them.
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The reduction in rotating weight, compared to the axle the wheels the break disk the sprocket holder the chain and the clutch, is so small, I'll bet you'd have trouble, (they are all connected you know) calculating the difference in horsepower saved. And if you could calculate the savings, I'll bet it would be so small as to be virtually insignificant.

Now I'm not saying anything good or bad about the skip tooth sprockets. If you want to spend money on them, it's your money.
 
alvin l nunley said:
The reduction in rotating weight, compared to the axle the wheels the break disk the sprocket holder the chain and the clutch, is so small, I'll bet you'd have trouble, (they are all connected you know) calculating the difference in horsepower saved. And if you could calculate the savings, I'll bet it would be so small as to be virtually insignificant.

Now I'm not saying anything good or bad about the skip tooth sprockets. If you want to spend money on them, it's your money.
Click to expand...

I fully agree with Al on this one. When you add in the weight of the rest of the kart and driver the miniscule weight reduction of the skipped teeth is further reduced from having any significant effect if any . But it may help you sleep better knowing you've removed that last gram.
 
Go the whole hog a drill a bunch of holes the the carrier and the side of the clutch drum too. Not sure it's worth the effort whether you are looking at it from a rotating mass/inertia POV or a mechanical resistance one.
 
some one once said An ounce off the clutch is worth 10 lbs in the seat well maybe every where except the jr class inerita helps more i think
 
Ditto
Someone with experience please tell us how much faster your are with less teeth.
Or, if someone want to send me one of these sprockets i can test it on my inertia dyno and see if the acceleration time is better.
 
I firmly believe in making things as light as possible on a kart but only so I will be able to put weight in the kart where it will be most beneficial for best handling.
 
Just a quick follow-up.....


If it didn't matter, then wouldn't we all be using a much more durable (ie heavier) motorcycle chain and steel gears? I'll bet we'd see that difference on all of our dynos. :) FWIW, I've got a belt drive on my dyno -- maybe that explains how some dyno operators are coming up with their impressive numbers. ;)

Like I said above...as far as going from 62 teeth to 31 teeth on the same circumference, it's probably not even a measurable advantage, (at least with our level of measurement - yes, even yours, Jim.) :)
 
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