Drag Racing Tech - How skinny is too skinny for the front runners wheel size, are there any issues?

I have some Bogarts 15x4's for a front runner what is the best tire size I can put on them.

Would I better off with a 15x5 for more stability going down the track?

Any issues with a 15x4 driving around town under 40 mph?


Thanks for your time :)

You would have to check with Bogart on whether or not they reccomend driving around town and such on that 15x4.
I know Weld 15x3.5 front runner has stamped in it "for drag racing use only"
Weld WILL NOT warranty the wheel if you take a turn too fast and the wheel breaks on the street.
My cousin is a rep for Weld and gets about one call a month from someone driving frontrunners on the street and the wheel breaking in half cause they took a turn at 40 or something........and now they want the damage to thier car fixed. :judge:

I run 15x5 because I drive them on the street alot.

i've driven TONS of street miles and highway miles with a 15x3.5" drag lite front runner and have had no problems at all. as long as you are smart enough to realize that you can't drive the car like a nascar road course car on the street you'll be fine. just don't be stupid and you wont have to worry about breaking wheels.

Bogarts are not built to take the strains of daily driving so unless you're talking just to and from the track, I'd say no go. I have daily driven on Weld 15x3.5s with 165R15 radials for months at a time with no problems. Only drawbacks are no sharp turns and braking is severely diminished with less rubber up front.

g

I run a 15x3.5 Prostar on the street with 165 Kuhmos. No problems here, and my braking doesn't seem to be any worse than it was with the 245s

I daily drive my 15x3.5's 90+ miles a day. Like skipper said as long as you don't try to drive like your on a road course, you'll be just fine.

....AND ABSOLOUTLY no rain (duh). My friend learned the hard way, spun 360s on the freeway, missed the traffic, and ended up on the shoulder like he pulled over......lucky bastard. He thinks they might have been slightly bent from the spinning. Bald 335 MT DR didn't help much either in a torrential down poor. He "says" he was only going 55. I didn't buy it, but it is possible I guess.

....AND ABSOLOUTLY no rain (duh). My friend learned the hard way, spun 360s on the freeway, missed the traffic, and ended up on the shoulder like he pulled over......lucky bastard. He thinks they might have been slightly bent from the spinning. Bald 335 MT DR didn't help much either in a torrential down poor. He "says" he was only going 55. I didn't buy it, but it is possible I guess.
this is my only car and i drive it in the rain, snow, ice with no problems(just go slow). I also have bald ass tires on the backl all the time due to the spool.

I drive around on Weld 15x3.5's also. You just have to realize thats whay you have on there. I'm not sure that the Bogarts can withstand DD though. Talk to Steve at SJM, he should be able to tell ya. I think why the Weld 3.5's are stamped for "Drag use Only" is because they are a 3.5" rim. I think you have to have at least a 4" to be street legal. I could be wrong though.

this is my only car and i drive it in the rain, snow, ice with no problems(just go slow). I also have bald ass tires on the backl all the time due to the spool.

I know, but it still isn't safe. How can you drive 90 miles to work (or 45 one way, whatevr it is) on Ice with your 4 tires??? Do you leave a 4 in the morning for your 8am shift? lol

It is just not safe in case it begins to REALLY POOR! In Fresno at least, sometimes it rains so hard that there is a good 1/4 of water on the freeway, not like a flood, but you know when it rains SO hard the water is just thick on the pavement. With bald MT DR, or QTP in the back, and skinnies on the front, I wouldn't want to exceed like 30-40mph.......in the sort of rain I am referring to.


Threadjack---How long (miles I guess) would a set of standard tires last out back? Like some street tires for DD and no racing? I'm goin spool one of these days and plan to roll some nitto ZRs, or sumihotos or something

With ET streets on the back of my car I cant go over 15mph in the rain without the car going all over.

I've also driven around on 15x3.5 welds for over a month going 60+ at times

me too. no problems here.

I know, but it still isn't safe. How can you drive 90 miles to work (or 45 one way, whatevr it is) on Ice with your 4 tires??? Do you leave a 4 in the morning for your 8am shift? lol

It is just not safe in case it begins to REALLY POOR! In Fresno at least, sometimes it rains so hard that there is a good 1/4 of water on the freeway, not like a flood, but you know when it rains SO hard the water is just thick on the pavement. With bald MT DR, or QTP in the back, and skinnies on the front, I wouldn't want to exceed like 30-40mph.......in the sort of rain I am referring to.


Threadjack---How long (miles I guess) would a set of standard tires last out back? Like some street tires for DD and no racing? I'm goin spool one of these days and plan to roll some nitto ZRs, or sumihotos or something
Yeah. i drive it ALL the time. Its 44.X miles to my job. takes me about 45 min avg. And i have driven in Tsumani like conditions all the time. This is Texas we have retarted weather. And i've driven with ice all over the highway too. The longest it has ever taken me to get home is about an hour and 30 min when it was iced over. I was going about 25-35 mph. with cars going 50-60 by me (then i would chug right by and see thenm in a ditch).
As for the back tires just get the cheapest ones you can find. i just put used ones on for about $40 both mounted and balanced every 6 months or so.

With ET streets on the back of my car I cant go over 15mph in the rain without the car going all over.

Really? I drove mine at 55 in the rain the other day with skinnies and Hoosier slicks, I didn't slide around one bit

Really? I drove mine at 55 in the rain the other day with skinnies and Hoosier slicks, I didn't slide around one bit

Yeah I was headed home from a cruise in one day and got caught in a down pour. Windows down, windshield wiper switch broke on me. And I hit that went street and the back end was all over the place. I got off the highway and took the back roads home going about 15 mph.

I have some Bogarts 15x4's for a front runner what is the best tire size I can put on them.

Would I better off with a 15x5 for more stability going down the track?

Any issues with a 15x4 driving around town under 40 mph?


Thanks for your time :)

Do NOT use radial tires on any front runner including ours, use a MTT-1573 tire if you need to run a DOT legal tire. If you don't, then choose an ET drag front runner.

Being 15x4 or 5 even, won't change your footprint to any degree for more stable driving. Drag wheels are not DOT legal.

I drove all over on a set of Weld Draglites, even drove to Bristol and back.

I have a set of Bogart Bolted RT's, they look like they can handle the streets as well as Pro Stars or Draglites.

I would not use the P2 Bogarts, or Weld one piece fronts on the street since they are much lighter.

Do NOT use radial tires on any front runner including ours, use a MTT-1573 tire if you need to run a DOT legal tire. If you don't, then choose an ET drag front runner.

Being 15x4 or 5 even, won't change your footprint to any degree for more stable driving. Drag wheels are not DOT legal.

Why not a radial on front runners? What if your running radials on the rear too?

Why not a radial on front runners? What if your running radials on the rear too?

Skinnies take quite a bit load from driving. No skinny wheel is street legal or safe to use on the street.

No current VW radial is designed for the speeds of our cars. They are also a smaller in diameter then a typical setup. Radials further stress a wheel due to its stiffness...if your using a drag skinny wheel on the street against all manufactures recommendations and state laws, why choose a tire that will create more chances of failure...small in diameter...not structurally safe etc etc??? Cost?? is your life worth the few dollars your saving??

...leave the radial tires for the VW's or smaller cars that are designed to use them.

If you guys want tires/wheel combo's that handle...certainly don't use ANY drag setup. Use a RR setup with smaller sidewalls that works 100X better.

Do NOT use radial tires on any front runner including ours, use a MTT-1573 tire if you need to run a DOT legal tire. If you don't, then choose an ET drag front runner.

Being 15x4 or 5 even, won't change your footprint to any degree for more stable driving. Drag wheels are not DOT legal.


me and all the local LS1 guys here have been running the cheap 165r 15 tires from pepboys for 5+ years on all of our skinnies. no problems ever. at the track your only seeing 100mph+ speeds for 2 seconds then your on your brakes after the traps. i wouldn't trust them going at that speed for a couple minutes though....that would be another story.

Skinnies take quite a bit load from driving. No skinny wheel is street legal or safe to use on the street.

No current VW radial is designed for the speeds of our cars. They are also a smaller in diameter then a typical setup. Radials further stress a wheel due to its stiffness...if your using a drag skinny wheel on the street against all manufactures recommendations and state laws, why choose a tire that will create more chances of failure...small in diameter...not structurally safe etc etc??? Cost?? is your life worth the few dollars your saving??

...leave the radial tires for the VW's or smaller cars that are designed to use them.

If you guys want tires/wheel combo's that handle...certainly don't use ANY drag setup. Use a RR setup with smaller sidewalls that works 100X better.

I run these on my convo pros, they are quite a bit stouter & little wider than the VW type radials. I use the second one down part #6652. Cost quite a bit more but I feel a lot safer with them.

http://www.mickeythompsontires.com/street.html

never noticed this one...the tread width is a bit wide for a 3.5-4 inch tire, though they do state it will work. 20 lbs is pretty heavy for a tire.

You're placing additional stress on the wheel. I certainly would consider this one before a VW tire...though still, I would not ever use it for any drag wheel since it's going to put quite a bit of additional stress on a wheel that is a VERY poor street handling wheel. If you're using this for the track to match a rear radial it may be a good choice (though as mentioned a heavy one with larger frictional losses)...not a good street choice still.

If you guys are going to go against wheel manufactures running skinnies on the street, a softer front tire should create less problems with the wheels.

SJM:

I just ordered a pair of 15" x 3.5" prostars for my camaro. I don't intend to drive on them every day, but they will no doubt see a great deal of street use as well as track use (trap under 120 as of now).

I will always be aware that I am on non-street reccomended wheels, and will drive accordingly. What DOT approved tire do you suggest for partial street driving.

PS--I am VERY weight concious

MT told me not to use the #6652 radial for a stock weight fbod. They are rated for ~900 lbs each....too weak for a fbod.

MT recs the 8ply bias front for a DOT legal tire that will hold an fbod weight.

I ran the cheapo tires in front for a long time. I think I ran two different sets over 4-5 years. I always bought the ones that you could inflate to 44psi. I did blow out the side of one a few years ago.

I hope my Bogarts hold up to some street driving, my Draglites went like 10,000 miles on the street.

MT told me not to use the #6652 radial for a stock weight fbod. They are rated for ~900 lbs each....too weak for a fbod.

MT recs the 8ply bias front for a DOT legal tire that will hold an fbod weight.

They have 990 lbs load rating written on the side of the tire. That is quite a bit more than the above named 165r radials, that is why I went with them. My car weighed under 3,200 the last time I weighed it.

SJM:

I just ordered a pair of 15" x 3.5" prostars for my camaro. I don't intend to drive on them every day, but they will no doubt see a great deal of street use as well as track use (trap under 120 as of now).

I will always be aware that I am on non-street reccomended wheels, and will drive accordingly. What DOT approved tire do you suggest for partial street driving.

PS--I am VERY weight concious

I would use MTT-1573 tires. Nothing else if you need to be DOT legal. The VW radials are the same weight, the ONLY ones that are 17# instead of 19 lbs are rated far below your trap speeds...so you're not loosing weight by using those VW tires.

If weight is a main concern, you should have considered our wheels which would net you 30% less weight then your prostars. With your prostars...you're leaving ~ 40-50 lbs of converted static weight on your car by choosing them over our wheels. That's more then a k-member, and many other mods folks consider.

I wouldn't advise using any skinny wheel on the street. Be careful.

What about the Hoosier Pro Street Radials?

EDIT: They suggest a min 5 inch rim.. too wide...

my TELSTARS are street legal. and are a solid center not hollow like a weld

I would use MTT-1573 tires. Nothing else if you need to be DOT legal. The VW radials are the same weight, the ONLY ones that are 17# instead of 19 lbs are rated far below your trap speeds...so you're not loosing weight by using those VW tires.

If weight is a main concern, you should have considered our wheels which would net you 30% less weight then your prostars. With your prostars...you're leaving ~ 40-50 lbs of converted static weight on your car by choosing them over our wheels. That's more then a k-member, and many other mods folks consider.

I wouldn't advise using any skinny wheel on the street. Be careful.

I sent you an email but figure you might see this before monday:

can you please PM me a price for a 15x3.5 P1, and a price for a 15x3.5 P2

It just so happens Summit sent me the wrong bolt pattern prostars :)

I sent you an email but figure you might see this before monday:

can you please PM me a price for a 15x3.5 P1, and a price for a 15x3.5 P2

It just so happens Summit sent me the wrong bolt pattern prostars :)

PM's aren't activated on the boards. You need to e-mail us or call us if you need a quote or assistance.

Steve

I would use MTT-1573 tires. Nothing else if you need to be DOT legal. The VW radials are the same weight, the ONLY ones that are 17# instead of 19 lbs are rated far below your trap speeds...so you're not loosing weight by using those VW tires.

If weight is a main concern, you should have considered our wheels which would net you 30% less weight then your prostars. With your prostars...you're leaving ~ 40-50 lbs of converted static weight on your car by choosing them over our wheels. That's more then a k-member, and many other mods folks consider.

I wouldn't advise using any skinny wheel on the street. Be careful.

I hate to say it, I appreciate your help and all (I really do), but my wallet does not agree with your advice. Maybe I should have mentioned I'm a college student trying to scrape by paying bills.....while spending every other penny I have on my car :jest:

Those tires are 200 bucks (for 2) not including shipping. I think I'm gonna grab some cheapy skinnys, until my trap speeds get too nutty.

Thanks again. I will DEFINITLY be a future customer for my Line-lock/ABS delete. Once I graduate shortly.....its gone with the prostarts/cheapy tires, in with the Bogarts!!! :rock:

I wouldn't advise using any skinny wheel on the street. Be careful.

Considering that we're using an appropriate tire for the skinny wheel up front, for those of us that dont intend to use them for street use all the time, but do plan on bolting them on and driving to the local tracks (within a 75mile one way trip), what do we need to periodically check our wheels for to make sure we're safe on the trip to the track, while we're at the track, and on our trip home?