Useful life of on-road tires

[zoeybadm]

Hey guys TIA,

I wanted to know how many sets of tire you guys go through during the course of race (2 15 minute qualifiers and 45minute A-main)?

I am just curious because I am about to make my debut in 1/10 on-road nitro racing and below are the two cars which I will use. Both are obviously 4wd and both cars have Sirio .12 motors. I have a brand new set of TRC foams (red in the front and dbl purple rear) and I have 2 more sets of the aforementioned setup as well as one pair of brown, blue, and purple. So in total I have 6 sets of tires and I wanted to know if I need to have at least x? number of tires.

I know for the off road I pretty much run the same type of pro-line R3 in the front and have a set of each type of rear tire in r3 compound (i.e. a set of square fuzzy, evil twin, bow tie, and holeshot) as well as the Losi Silver taper pins and then the Red Cross tires which nobody ever used at my local track until last week. The blue groove is finally starting to setup and is only 3-4 wide so passing can be hard to do unless you have a lot more motor than the next guy.

 

[Çh®i§tiªñ]

Some things to add.

Are you having the tired turned down? If so, it helps in two ways. 1. It lowers ride high and CG and 2. Because of the lower ride height and CG you should inherently get better life.

Secondly, either glue the hell out of the outside edge of the tires or at least get the stickers for the outside edge. This will help in side chunking (so does having them turned down) and ultimately ripping of the tires.

Lastly, suspension tuning is going to be the best insurance on life of the foams. If you are dialed in right, for that track, they should wear evenly which in turn shows you arent over abusing the tires themselves. Again, to help lengthen the life.

One thing I see very common, is that for the qualifiers people will run their 'beater' tires, chunked and all, just to get their main qual. THEN, depending on the main and the prize, will run either brand new freshly turned or slightly used tires for the main. Of which, a new set should last you the full 45min. I have seen guys return and re-use those same foams for multiple mains. The better the driver, the longer they can make them last.

Unfortunately, it doesn't take but one bad HACK to cause a single tire to get blow to hell, depending on what you crash into and how. Then end result is going to be to sllap on a matching new turned pair in either the front or rear. Always have a fresh 'pair' handy for either. Having multiple sets worn the same is next to impossible, if not completely impossible.

I suggest strongly to find someone at your track who will turn and true your tires for you (most guys just charge a couple of bucks and some do it for free). This will save you a LOT of money in the long run.

Sorry for not giving you a more precise answer, but I hope the info helped in some way.

 

[zoeybadm]

What you have said has been useful and helpful and for that I thank you.

I have yet to run my on-road cars on my local race track (the reason being it is 50 miles away). I just want to make sure I have enough supplies so that I do not go out there and have to dump a bunch of money at their on-track shop which is goign to be full price MSRP.

I have yet to do anything to the tires. The TRC said pre-mounted and trued so I have not taken them to anyone to have them trued....how much is a machine to balance the wheel and tire?

I have a mechanic who works on all my cars thus far and he has no on-road experience (read: his experience is in off-road only) and his has prep. all my cars for the races. So I might just buy the equip. you mention and have him learn how to use it. He is taking my B4 completely apart and rebuilding. He is adding threaded shock bodies all around with titanium hinge pins and turnbuckles at all corners. Adding Alum. servo mounts and polishing every part on the car which can be polished. The guy is a differential magician (My motor gets inspected every race in electric because the car is either too fast or too quiet for a stock motor). I just laugh.....in gas truck someone has to make sure I pit stop for fuel because I seem to break the track record by 30 seconds every time I come to the track...lol

 

[Çh®i§tiªñ]

lol - sounds like a kickass mechanic/pit boss to have. Must be nice.

As for the tire truer/lathe, they can go anywhere from 240 or so for the OFNA to upwards of 600 (around there) for the Hudy. Of course, with each one inbetween, the options and ease of use come into play.

http://www.ashfordhobby.com/prod324.htm

Thats one of the Hudy's.

Here are some more:
http://www.mytsn.com/products/desc.asp?prid=1475

I'm assuming if you mechanic is taking care of your electric cans he probably has a comm lathe. If so, he should be able to use one of these with no problems at all.

I just assume find someone that has the equipment and drop them a few bucks to turn out a few sets. In the long run, I dont think I will ever pay him as much as the lathe itself. But then again, 10 years from now I could say something much different.

If you have the cash and plan on running A LOT, just pick up a few sets of each. I would find out FIRST, what the common compound and sizes are for the front/rears at your track first. More than likely, the regulars have tried them all and will also all be running the same.

As for them coming already trued, yes, they do. But the difference is going to be the amount of meat they have on there. Out of the box could be 3x as thick as what they actually run at your track. The gain, ride height being lowerred as well as your center of gravity. The loss, only a couple of times you will be able to re-turn them.

Check out the track, find out what they are running, and chances are they will all be turned down thin.

If the track owner/operator is cool, he/she should tell you that right over the phone. They usually know what the 'choice' setup is right off the top of their head.

Good luck! Tear em up and do it fast!

I should have posted the Cobra lathes as well, this is one that I have considerred buying myself. More cost effective for me.

http://www.teamcobra.com/cobra/tirelathes.htm

 

[Waste Land]

Radials seemt o wear out really fast. I bought Team Sorro Slicks and i dirft, slide and bash around and they neve wear out. They actually helped grip so much that my .15fe is decent....

 

[zoeybadm]

Christian,

Thank you again for the helpful insight and for saving me the time to use the search function. Actually my pit guy is a random guy I met at my local track and we moved up from novice to pro stock buggy together and he is an enginnering student who loves to work on cars 1:1 and the various other sizes. You are correct, he does use a comm lathe to cut all my motors and should be able to quickly pick up the tire cutter if I decide to go that route.

Thanks for the heads up on checking the local track conditions...in any event, when I finally get my ass out to the track I can start tearing the crap out of the tyres. What I heard from one of the local pros is that they are running TRC dbl purple in the rear and reds up front but he made no mention of how much they are cutting down so I will have to ask the same guy what is up. Either way thanks for the info.

 

[FRIDGE]

you dont need a tire truer all you need is a knife file LOL

 

[Çh®i§tiªñ]

The Elligi's O just picked up are pretty turned down out of the box. The TRC's and Jacos have more meat on them, and IMO definately need a turn down.

I'm going to give these Ellegi's a test this Sunday as soon as I get the ride height set well with the thicker tires.

 

[FastEddy]

zoeybadm,
Where is it that you are racing now? I'm familiar with all the tracks within 75 miles of SF. and a good amount of the racers. I would like to come see you race.

Are you racing this weekend I want to meat up with you.

-Ed

 

[zoeybadm]

Originally posted by FastEddy
zoeybadm,
Where is it that you are racing now? I'm familiar with all the tracks within 75 miles of SF. and a good amount of the racers. I would like to come see you race.

Are you racing this weekend I want to meat up with you.

-Ed

I race in Sacramento, CA at www.capitalrc.com which is on South Watt. I only got into this hobby (sport) three months ago and only starting racing two months ago.

So far I have only raced in pro-stock buggy, pro-stock truck, sportsman nitro (all 1/10 scale of course). I rarely get to race in nitro against the experts which is what I need to do to get better. In buggy and truck I have been only making small advancements in my time because I honestly do not get enough time to pratice which I need to do a lot more if I am going to be able to effectively compete at a higher level than my local track.

I am looking to start racing regularly at Delta R/C because I hear the competition is much better out there with more people in each class and right now I really need to step up the level of competition if I want to move to the next level which is bigger races. I ran three classes for the first time last week and that was nuts and my eyes were all bugged out from all the driving. After the 10 minute nitro main I was so tired.....

Also I will need to pick two classes to run as I have come to the conclusion it is insane to try and run more than two classes in one day.

I just got my on-road cars and have yet to drive my 1/8 scale buggies anywhere besides the backyard or front because capital city RC only runs 1/10 scale...the track is too small.

Originally posted by FastEddy
zoeybadm,
Where is it that you are racing now? I'm familiar with all the tracks within 75 miles of SF. and a good amount of the racers. I would like to come see you race.

Are you racing this weekend I want to meat up with you.

-Ed

I am not racing this weekend as I am up in Tahoe visiting family. I will be in Sacramento for the Points Series race which is on Wed. I heard that Delta R/C starts outdoor racing in April so I may be paying a visit out there in the next week but I am not sure yet.

FYI I am moving back to Sacramento because I just recently accepeted a new job which is moving me out of the city but I will still be racing in Antoich when the time permits.

Last thing, my I ask what your name is as we may know the same people. The local guys around here are Stan Lacy, Nathan Lavery, Ron K. (cannot remember his last name right now), Mark Anderson. There is a number of other guys which I know of but I am not personal friends with...for example Lloyd Dasonville, Don Azevedo...