Drag slick tubes....

juiced305diesel

juiced305diesel

Strokin'!
Joined
Jun 27, 2007
Messages
163
...do we really need them? Yes I am aware that they will leak but the tracks near me have air on site. I do not plan on running the slicks on the street only at the track.

Thanks in Advance
 
I ran them without in the beginning, and now I run them. If I was to do it again, I would buy the tubes and put the wheel screws in the first time around. They dont feel as wobbly at lower psi, and I did notice a little bit of wheel spin on the rims. My2C
 
I didn't think they were nessecary until I saw some non tube slicks blow out due to a loss of bead. I now think of it as cheap insurance and something to not worry about as much after tubes are installed.
 
If you already dont have wheel screws plan on putting them in. Its easy, and you wont have to worry about it moving again. Be sure to put them inside and out.... I have seen some only on the outside like beadlocks, and you are asking for trouble/problems. Also be sure to index your screws so that they are strait across from each other on the wheel or the tire will wear funny from the wrinkle not being strait across when you launch. Hope this helps...
 
We have run extensively with tube-type race tires on tubeless wheels with excellent results, even without screws. But we seldom go under 20psi pressure.

Pat launched our car at over 7000rpm and the tires spun wildly on the rims, but did not lose pressure, running tubeless. If you spin the tires on the rims with tubes, the tube can tear and lose pressure unless the valve is air tight. So far on our trucks, we have never spun a tubetype tire on a rim.

We have a set of tires for Casper with tubes in them, and they shake at 100+ mph even though they are balanced. We thought it would be safer running tubes, but aren't convinced anymore.
 
Kat brought up a good point, and thats pressure. They are running 20 lbs of air, and lighter cars and trucks are running 8 to 10. If you will be running in the lower range I would think that a tube WITH screws would be better. And I think its a MUST to run screws if you run tubes. One slip on the rim, and you have torn the tube. $.02
 
Yeah my wheels have the screws inside and out for the wrinklage. I ordered them without the tubes for the same reason that i plan on running them with a decent air pressure in them. I really don plan on on airing them down at any point. Thanks guys for the helpful info
 
I run rim screws and tubes on my Nova, and although it sucks to spend the money, I feel a lot better now. I saw a brand new $200 slick become junk due to a sidewall fracture due to it spinning on the rim, so yeah I'd say pony up the $$$ for tubes and drill the wheels and be done with it.
 
yep

toolmanoffroad said:
If you already dont have wheel screws plan on putting them in. Its easy, and you wont have to worry about it moving again. Be sure to put them inside and out.... I have seen some only on the outside like beadlocks, and you are asking for trouble/problems. Also be sure to index your screws so that they are strait across from each other on the wheel or the tire will wear funny from the wrinkle not being strait across when you launch. Hope this helps...
Click to expand...

This is good advise from the toolman. Get your screws indexed properly and for sure run them on both sides. I slipped mine bad one day before they were srewed and it lost 1/2 of the pressure, i was luck it didnt lose the bead, i was running to low of pressure and the wheel went down and hit the track, i was at 5 1/4#. I now run 16 screws in each wheel, 8 per side, and i do not run tubes, however i have nothing against them.
 
I watched a friend (incidentally a lady who also raced her diesel tow rig in an NHRDA race) crash her mid-7 second dragster due to rolling the bead off on the slicks (running rim screws but tubeless). When I crashed my low-9 second car (lost a motor in the top end) I landed hard enough on the side to severely bend the wheel, and grind the heads of the rim screws, but I never lost pressure. I'll always run tubes for that reason. Several people on a drag racing forum have commented that the sidewalls seem to last longer when running tubes.

Regards,
Michael Pliska
 
I was spinning the rims inside my M&H 31x12 slicks, and could not run tire pressure lower then 15 psi. Went to Staun racing air up bead locks and no more movement. The air up bead locks apply 2 tons of force to the inside of the bead. I have ran tire pressures as low as 8 psi with no problems. In rock crawling applications they run 0 tire pressure with Staun air up bead locks. I went to them about a year ago as a beta tester/sponser. They wanted to see how they worked in drag race application. You can't even tell someone has them unless you realy know what to look for. No more ugly screws through your nice custom wheel ether.
http://www.staunproducts.com/
 
So you'd recommend Staun's for a drag racing application?

EDIT: How hard are they to balance? The Pirate4x4 review said 'easy' but I thought that was a little too subjective.
 
Were is a good place to get the tubes ?

I have some pretty good side wall damage on 34x18x15 Cepek pulling tire and I was told I could put a racing slick tube in it to exstend the life a little longer.

BBD
 
BBD, i think that would work fine, call Smilies Racing 972-289-7223 ask for the drag dept., they can price them for you and even send you a pair.
Ryan
 
joefarmer said:
So you'd recommend Staun's for a drag racing application?

EDIT: How hard are they to balance? The Pirate4x4 review said 'easy' but I thought that was a little too subjective.
Click to expand...

Works great for drag racing.
The bead lock set up uses a inner tube that is 1 inch dia. smaller then the wheel dia. that it goes on to. And then has a nylon outer shell that goes around the tube. Then you air it up to 55 psi to lock the bead.
As far as balance no problem. From talking to the guy at Staun, Goodyear had developed a air up bead lock set up for NASCAR at one time similiar to Stauns set up.
 
It looks like a really smart design and a way to keep 'stock' appearances up. :evil
 
just called to price those Stauns and they're pretty expensive compared to tubes & screws. Sounds like they're around 200 each
 
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