Ground clearance tires???

Cory1971

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Quick question for everyone. I have looked and searched but keep getting mixed answers. I just bought my kart and I want to add a little ground clearance so we can be on regular streets without bottoming out. I was told you can put bigger tires on and that would help. What sizes are people using. Right now I have Bridgestone 4.5/10.0-5. I would like it to be on and off road if possible. Does anyone have any suggestions.
 

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landuse

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Just remember that getting bigger tyres means that you will be affecting your gear ratio. Basically making the gear ratio higher. What is your gearing now? That will determine the size tyres you can safely get before negatively affecting performance
 

Cory1971

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I understand. Right now with the clearance so low we cant even enjoy the kart on our neighborhood streets and they are nice. Im not racing but still do enjoy the speed lol. I will look into the gearing and see if i need to change anything after the wheel and tire swap. I did find a guy running Hi-Run LG Turf Lawn & Garden Tire -15/600-6 and 6 x 6.5 Silver Douglas (DWT) Wheels and it works great. Do you guys know if running the larger tire will require clutch upgrade as well?
 

anderkart

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How many teeth does your clutch and axle sprocket have now?

Yep, you'll need to go with 6" diameter rims for taller tires. The 13 or 15" front tires might end up rubbing on your Bumper & Nerf-bars when making tight turns. Although you could re-position (or possibly add more) wheel-spacers to achieve additional clearance. You could also help this situation by purchasing front rims with the maximum available Offset...

I never tried 15" but my buddy ran 13" tall turf tires on his old racekart, It still turned fairly sharp before rubbing.

You probably have a stack of King Pin spacers in-between the front Spindles and the frames Spindle mounts. You could re-locate all those spacers on top of the spindles for a bit of additional ground clearance.

Your frame probably also has serveral different holes for bolting the rear axle on, that would change the rear ride-height too...



You'll need to double check your Hubs bolt patern and center-hole size to see if you need the Metric or US bolt patern, before buying rims. Here's how to measure:
 

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mckutzy

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Well first, what is the gear ratio??(tooth count on the rear sprocket and the clutch, need to count each one... )
 

landuse

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15 front and 35 in rear

Well dang!!! You are DEFINITELY going to have to change gearing with the tyre change. You have a gear ratio of just over 2 now. It is surprising that you even get that kart moving!

Your increase in clearance with the larger wheels is probably going to be offset by the larger rear sprocket that you will need.

I would get the tyres and a larger sprocket. You are going to need at least a 6:1 ratio, so that is axle tooth count/clutch tooth count.

I have a feeling that you are going to have to ditch that 15T clutch, as it has just too many teeth. Your rear sprocket is going to have to be huge to compensate.
 

anderkart

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15 front and 35 in rear

Dang, are you sure you counted right?
The axle sprocket in your pics looks like it would be somewhere around a 60 tooth...

It's easy to mis-count sprocket teeth, I'd suggest you mark one tooth with a scratch mark (or felt pen) so you'll be absolutely sure of where you started, and count them both again :thumbsup:
 

Cory1971

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My bad...lol it says 35 on the side of the sprocket. its actually a 72 tooth.. Sorry guys. My motorcycle sprockets all say the tooth count on the side.
 

Cory1971

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Ordered my wheels and tires. We will see how she does and adjust the gearing from there. Thank you guys for the help. Ill post up some pictures when I get it all done.
 
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