Tires/Wheels/Hubs

[331kimmel]

Hello All,

New to the karting world and just recently picked up my first one. I’m racing on dirt and was wondering what kind of set-ups people have for this.

Also I am wanting to replace my front tires but they seem to have an unusual hole patter (2 3/8 inches) and the diameter of the hub where the wheel slides on seems bigger then most (2 inches). I’ll post some pictures to go with this. But curious if there are any recommendations on this ?

Thanks ahead of time

 

[Bansil]

Why not just use the wheels you have, and put different tires on them?

 

[331kimmel]

Why not just use the wheels you have, and put different tires on them?

I want to get wider wheels/tires on the front

 

[anderkart]

Are you setting it up for a dirt Oval track, or a dirt track with right & left turns?

If Its dirt oval, what size is your track? (smaller oval tracks usually require more R/L tire stagger than larger oval tracks)

________

The modern CRG front hubs/rims have a three-bolt on 2-3/8" bolt-circle patern, but they have a 2-3/16" center hole, and you need that to be a perfect fit... I've never hear of any racekart rims with a 2" (or the equivalent 50.8mm) center hole.

But another option would be to ditch your front hubs and simply buy spindle mount front rims instead. Are your front spindles the typical 5/8", (or 22mm.) (or 26mm.) in diameter; or some other size? You'll probably need to be using a caliper to accurately measure.

PS: also make sure your accurately measuring your bolt-circle patern center to center like this diagram

 

[331kimmel]

Thank you for your reply.
This kart will be used on a smaller dirt oval track. I also haven’t heard or seen anything online with the 2” center hole, very odd. I thought about going the spindle mounted rims but the spindles are 3/4” in diameter which also seemed to be an odd size. Was trying to decide what the best bang for buck option would be. Might just have to keep what I have for the time being or replace the spindles to a standard size. Thanks!

Are you setting it up for a dirt Oval track, or a dirt track with right & left turns?

If Its dirt oval, what size is your track? (smaller oval tracks usually require more R/L tire stagger than larger oval tracks)

________

The modern CRG front hubs/rims have a three-bolt on 2-3/8" bolt-circle patern, but they have a 2-3/16" center hole, and you need that to be a perfect fit... I've never hear of any racekart rims with a 2" (or the equivalent 50.8mm) center hole.

But another option would be to ditch your front hubs and simply buy spindle mount front rims instead. Are your front spindles the typical 5/8", (or 22mm.) (or 26mm.) in diameter; or some other size? You'll probably need to be using a caliper to accurately measure.

PS: also make sure your accurately measuring your bolt-circle patern center to center like this diagram

 

[anderkart]

You can buy front wheel hubs with the US (not metric) 3-bolt patern and 3/4" ID. bearings here: https://out2win.com/catalog/wheelhubsF.html

Most oval racers run front wheel hubs with the US 3-bolt patern (instead of spindle mount front rims) because it's much easier to source the 6" diameter rims you'll be needing for oval track racing; so I think that'd be your best option.

 

[331kimmel]

Awesome, thank you for helping me out on this. I will look into the link you sent me. Appreciate the help!

You can buy front wheel hubs with the US (not metric) 3-bolt patern and 3/4" ID. bearings here: https://out2win.com/catalog/wheelhubsF.html

Most oval racers run front wheel hubs with the US 3-bolt patern (instead of spindle mount front rims) because it's much easier to source the 6" diameter rims you'll be needing for oval track racing; so I think that'd be your best option.

 

[anderkart]

Your welcome. I can help with tire/rim selection but something we need to research first is if your track requires everyone to run the exact same brand, size & compound tires. Lots of dirt oval kart tracks have that strictly enforced rule...

Does your track have a website? I'd like to check it out to give you better advice.
Most kart track websites include their rules, most also have a classified section where the racers commonly sell off their used sets of 4 tires mounted on rims for like $20 each...

 

[331kimmel]

I actually won’t be using this for any official (specified) races. Family and friends all have karts, I think we are up to 8 now, and we have 3 tracks in back yards that we race at. So it’s nothing fancy but still want to put a little money into it to be competitive. We don’t have many rules and regulations (yet), other then have to run slicks. Actually just had my engine take a crap on me (Briggs and Stratton animal) so now I’m in the market for a new engine as well if you have any recommendations.

 

[anderkart]

I raced at a small 1/10th-mile clay oval track that might have been a similar size of your tracks.

I started out running a set of tires/rims that were the very common size & stagger for the typical (larger sized) dirt oval track that are usually around 1/5th mile; but I always pushed in the turns couldn't ever seem to win any of my heats or main events. But that all changed when I called a really cool/knowledgeable guy named Brian Carlson for advice. After telling him how small my track was, he suggested I needed quite a bit more stagger for tight corners of smaller tracks; so I ended up buying the set of the 4 Hoosier tires mounted on the rims that he suggested. And that's when I finally started winning races...

He's got a lot of good info about tire/rim stagger-combinations and the various tire compounds on his site.
The same the tire/rim combination that hooked up my Invader Offset chassis kart might not be a good choice for yours, but If your gonna buy a brand new set of tires and rims anyway, I'd suggest you at least give Brian a call and see what he suggest for your kart and tracks.
Here's a link to his site: http://www.carlsonmotorsports.com/HoosierTire.HTM

If your not sure what size your tracks are, you could check out the videos and info I posted on my old thread here on this forum. The videos on this thread all show the same 1/10th mile track: http://www.diygokarts.com/vb/showthread.php?t=6364

 

[Brianator]

Anderkart: just out of curiosity did you guy run with some "wedge" on the oval track also?

 

[anderkart]

Anderkart: just out of curiosity did you guy run with some "wedge" on the oval track also?

Yes, but the oval racekart guys use a different term for that. They refer to it as adjusting the 'cross weight percentage', instead of 'adjusting more or less wedge' term the oval car racers typically use. But It's basically the same thing.

You'll find lots more info about oval racekart setup & adjustments at this link:
http://www.ackc.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/Basic-Kart-Setup.pdf

 

[Brianator]

Thanks! I helped a friend build and race a Thunder car and we'd play with the wedge so I had a feeling karts did the same. One guy actually built the wedge into the car by tweaking the chassis before welding the cage and it worked out really well for him!