School me on drag slicks.

vader's Fury

vader's Fury

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Jan 16, 2010
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Been looking at options for tires for a drag truck I am planning to build. Seems to be a lot of options for tires. I know that every manufacturer has "special" compounds. My question is why shouldn't I just run the widest tire that I can get my hands on?

To my basic way of thinking, the wider the contact patch the more "grip" it will provide with the track and the better I should be able to launch.

I know that certain classes only allow a XXX size tire, but I am not worried about that just yet.
 
In for info.

Finished the trans on the dually and this s464 is spinning the ol all terrains LOL
 
I love my M&H 12.0/16's. They are mounted on 16x12 Real Wheels, 8 tire screws per side, with tubes. They have lasted, run straight down the track and hook awesome.
 
For a drag tire the contact patch is more of length than width.
 
I don't follow that last statement. How would I increase length? Lower psi?

The any reason I have found so far not to run the widest slick that I can find is weight. Wider the tire, the more it will weigh. I think that the HP and torque I will be making will make up for the extra weight.
 
Taller tire will increase contact patch also. It will be a balance to height vs gear ratio.
 
I thought about that and figured a taller tire would give a larger contact patch. That is one reason I am trying to figure out what tires I should be looking at as I know it can affect a lot of different things on my truck and how it is setup.

I currently am in the planning phase and besides the truck and motor, nothing is set in stone so I can make the adjustments that I want/need to before I go buying parts and having issues.
 
Look at a aired down 10.5 tire for example, there is a long and flat contact patch of rubber from front to back more than wide on the ground. If that makes sense with my bad way of explaining.
 
I follow what you are saying now. When aired down, if you put the tire on plexiglass and looked at it from underneath it would be longer front to back than it is wide.

I guess I will figure out my gear ratio and how tall a tire I will need and just see what is available to fit my height requirement.
 
Normally I end up with as wide as the frame rails and wallet allow.
 
That is my plan. And if I have to downsize at some point due to class rules then I can.

I am finding that the tire prices are not that bad, but rims for the really wide tires are the expensive part.
 
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