i have been watching this and I am going to say this,when we ran q-midgets I ran treaded tires my friend ran dirt slicks. When his son was asked which car he liked to run he picked mine because he could move up the track and not spin out. Slicks are fine as long as you run the part that is pack,but move out of the groove and spin out. Tracks are hard,they are not tore up from week to week they just water it and race. SoCo tire the types of racing you metion is all asphalt. thank you for listening to my ranting.
Why not just run treads?
- Thread starter Mcarlson8
- Start date
SoCo Tire Treatments
Moderator
Roll speed is roll speed no matter what type track you are on. Did mention Jerry, Jamie, theyre on dirt....mostly.
jsstump#70
Member
Because their rules state EXACTLY what tire must be run. What manufacturer, and even compound and production code. They don't have a choice what tire to run. They might have a soft or hard compound to choose from in F1 or Indy on occasion and even offer rain treads. In certain conditions, like rain, they do choose treads because they are faster at that time. With the huge amount of varying conditions that can be encountered, rarely is saying "always faster" and "never" a prudent choice.
Our track is gracious enough to allow open track after the nightly features while tech is occurring for required classes. Of course we run open class so we always go last, we put a set of treads on "just to see". 4 tenths slower and a blistered set of treads was what we wound up with.
I've been watching this thread and pondering and waiting to respond. I'm no tire guru but I'll give you all my experience. I showed up at a track with 4 opens and a clone. We were all on slicks. Every kart there was on treads. There were probably 50-60 karts there and 20 of which were opens. Just about everyone there told us we'd better get some treads on or we'd be left in the dust. This is a dirt track not clay. And there were literally only 4 or 5 of us on slicks. After hot laps and the first heat and we lapped a good majority of the field of opens and my clone lapped the field, the regulars were scrambling to get slicks on. So to me, a slick worked properly will be faster in almost every instance. The only time I've seen treads be faster is right after a hard rain and you still get a race in. But that's like a mud bog and you don't take bald tires to a mud bog. Lol. But if the track comes in after a few laps, that dude on treads may as well get out of the way. And Peters knows exactly what I'm talking about. Lol
Thank you to everyone that has read this thread and commented. And especially to the ones that have tried both tires and have real world experience. I really appreciate it. You guys have all helped me out and made me understand a little more. Now if I could only get prep in CA so I could actually try it
Penetrating oil, tranny fluid/conditioner, mineral spirits, diesel fuel. You can get lots of "prep" in CA. Just gotta home brew
ShallowPockets
New member
Like sprint cars, a treaded tire needs something to get a hold of. My dream race would be UAS on a track with 10" cushion or berm to pound. Take lots of gear out, get your momentum going. When the track is hard and black, slicks are the only way to go. Biggest problem imo is people don't know how to race the track with treads. You can't just run right through the black groove. That's why everyone blisters them
What kind of home brew would you, or anyone, recommend for a loose dirt/clay mix?
1. 1/3 acetone, 1/3 mineral spirits, 1/3 transmission fluid - This prep is for at the track application. I Have found that is takes about 15 - 30 minutes soak time depending on the weather and works pretty good.
2. 1/3 mineral spirits, 2/3 diesel fuel - This prep is very slow soak stuff.
3. 1/3 transmission fluid, 1/3 diesel fuel, 1/3 mineral spirits - I have not used this one.
4. 8 ounces TIRE CLAW, 1 quart diesel fuel, and the balance of a gallon Xylene - fast tire prep. Person who gave me this claims it will soften a 70 (durometer) to a 0 in about 20 minutes!
5. 50% Xylene - 50% Toluene - This is for at the track application where quick softening is needed. I have to say so far this is my favorite. I requires less than 10 minutes soak time and really works.
Most of this stuff is available at hardware store or parts store. Even at paint stores. These are not my recipes. Just a Google search will find you some ideas
2. 1/3 mineral spirits, 2/3 diesel fuel - This prep is very slow soak stuff.
3. 1/3 transmission fluid, 1/3 diesel fuel, 1/3 mineral spirits - I have not used this one.
4. 8 ounces TIRE CLAW, 1 quart diesel fuel, and the balance of a gallon Xylene - fast tire prep. Person who gave me this claims it will soften a 70 (durometer) to a 0 in about 20 minutes!
5. 50% Xylene - 50% Toluene - This is for at the track application where quick softening is needed. I have to say so far this is my favorite. I requires less than 10 minutes soak time and really works.
Most of this stuff is available at hardware store or parts store. Even at paint stores. These are not my recipes. Just a Google search will find you some ideas
I've never used these inside. I have used #1 and #5 but it was a while ago. I've always just wiped the outside. I always liked getting them softened with with one of these. Then, once the duro is down, I use penetrating oils. Castle thrust is really good to apply on Monday and Tuesday and allow to sit for the week. Then trackside, pb blaster works pretty good. Use the thrust (it's a little thicker) like Track Tac tire tuff mint. And use the blaster (thinner and soaks in quick) like prw orange. Since you can't get actual preps, these are probably some of the best you can do if you want to get slicks working.
SoCo Tire Treatments
Moderator
Everyone always posts this without giving credit to the original author.
Jamie Webb wrote this years ago.
Ted Hamilton
Helmet Painter / Racer
I was at The New Stateline Speedway and showed up with treads. Warmup and 1st Practice....ok times. 2nd practice session, no setup changes, put slicks on with no real prep -- instant .4 sec. gain on a 11 sec. track. Left the slicks on for the rest of the day. Track had a dusty layer outside groove, and was a weird spongy tacky surface in groove. IMO, the reason we have single groove tracks is because everyone's on slicks. Treads would be slower, but provide better racing.
openoutlawdude
New member
I don't see any fast guys stayin on the bottom anywhere around here, all the tracks have a groove that goes from being on the bottom to midway up the track in both turns, but on the straits the groove is at the top edge of the track, because that is the fastest line. This is on slicks, Burris tire country. Anyone shows up on treads and they are out to lunch, that's a fact
Interesting topic, this is a debate is Socal as well. We are required to run a Burris TX22 or TX33 (treaded tire) only, but who says you can't cut/grind it down to basically a slick and prep it?? Luckily the track we run at is sandy and stays so wet that you pretty much need the grooves just to get a hold of the track, but it if your track(s) are dry with a groove, you might consider the gray area of the rules.
And why do you say you can't get prep in CA?? I get mine shipped from Palemetto's, no issues. Works great on burris slicks! Other in the area use TracTac.
And why do you say you can't get prep in CA?? I get mine shipped from Palemetto's, no issues. Works great on burris slicks! Other in the area use TracTac.