Small tire vs Big tire

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bracketchev1221
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Re: Small tire vs Big tire

#46 Post by bracketchev1221 » Wed Jan 28, 2015 11:11 am

I started on the small tire, because it was cheaper and it was all I thought I would need. But in bracket racing now with more power, I needed the consistency and the only way to do that was put the biggest tire I could fit.

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Hitchcock
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Re: Small tire vs Big tire

#47 Post by Hitchcock » Fri Feb 13, 2015 6:39 am

My little tires are 315/60's. I grew up around big tire cars at the track, and just cannot quite wrap my head around the small tire racing. I bought the Drag Radials from some chevelle racer here in Wichita, as an alternative to buying 300 dollar a pop slicks.

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Re: Small tire vs Big tire

#48 Post by blane70 » Fri Dec 18, 2015 9:35 am

... hate trying to clean convo pros...big or small...

blakerlives
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Re: Small tire vs Big tire

#49 Post by blakerlives » Wed Mar 08, 2017 8:15 am

i prefer big tire cars because of how consistent they are and how much grip they have. I personaly have a small tire 89 foxbody that does about 11.2 sec. in the quarter.

ironmike
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Re: Small tire vs Big tire

#50 Post by ironmike » Thu Aug 03, 2017 2:58 am

I prefer bigger tires as well, as I feel too they have a better grip. We just installed 33" Mickey thompson tires on my new project truck and it feels good to have better ground clearance.

69434
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Re: Small tire vs Big tire

#51 Post by 69434 » Tue Aug 07, 2018 8:08 am

I'm going to a big tire, now that I'm using nitrous the small tires are spinning really bad.
What is the typ. big tire size? Can I still use my ladder bars?
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John_Heard
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Re: Small tire vs Big tire

#52 Post by John_Heard » Tue Aug 07, 2018 8:36 am

Really? Well I suppose you should do some measuring to see how much room you have huh? I'm sure you're aware by going big tire you'll not fit in with same type of car you have. Course if you're just test n' tuning it ain't no big deal.

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Bruce69Camaro
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Re: Small tire vs Big tire

#53 Post by Bruce69Camaro » Tue Aug 07, 2018 10:40 am

My car has a ladder bar suspension and I run a 32 x 14 on 15 x 14 rims.
One word of advice, don't do like I did and NOT stretch the quarters.
Open them up, make your life easier.
Those who think they know it all have no way of finding out they don't......... :scratch:

bracketchev1221
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Re: Small tire vs Big tire

#54 Post by bracketchev1221 » Wed Aug 08, 2018 7:59 am

69434 wrote: Tue Aug 07, 2018 8:08 am I'm going to a big tire, now that I'm using nitrous the small tires are spinning really bad.
What is the typ. big tire size? Can I still use my ladder bars?
You can re-use the ladder bars, depending on how wide they are will dictate if you need to move them. A common size tire is the 15X33. Go with the least amount of backspacing on the wheels you can to make the housing as short as possible. This saves weight and makes the axles shorter. Like was said, plan on stretching the wheel wells to maintain the same track width as the front wheels. So most likely that will need to be done first, then get the wheels and tires you want to run and set them under the car to get the rearend width.

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Craig W.
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Re: Small tire vs Big tire

#55 Post by Craig W. » Wed Aug 08, 2018 10:20 am

No issues with the ladder bars being too short to keep the car from being over-hooked on the big tire?
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bracketchev1221
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Re: Small tire vs Big tire

#56 Post by bracketchev1221 » Wed Aug 08, 2018 1:54 pm

It will all depend on the initial setting of the bars. My ladder bars were set the same from 750 hp to 980hp and I never moved them. Granted the car did leave harder and harder with more power, but you can soften the hit of the bars when you get there. Mine were Chassis Engineering 32" ladder bars. If I was to do it again, I would go with a 4 link just for the loading of the bars. In a ladder bar, all the load is applied through the single front joints. On a 4-link, it is spread between the upper and lower link joints.

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Re: Small tire vs Big tire

#57 Post by Craig W. » Wed Aug 08, 2018 3:13 pm

I'm helping on a big tire car for the 1st time and we can't keep from killing the tire, even with the instant center WAY, WAY long. Shocks are on the dyno as we speak so hopefully that'll tell us what's wrong with the setup.
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bracketchev1221
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Re: Small tire vs Big tire

#58 Post by bracketchev1221 » Thu Aug 09, 2018 7:38 am

It sounds like you are adjusting a 4 link car, so just a quick point, don't forget you don't only adjust the IC of the bars but you can adjust the height of that IC up and down in reference to the center of gravity.

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Craig W.
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Re: Small tire vs Big tire

#59 Post by Craig W. » Thu Aug 09, 2018 11:46 am

Yes, its a 4-link car. IC height isn't optimal on it I don't think but we've run out of holes. Winter project to weld in new brackets on the chassis.
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