Car swaying side to side on low pressure slicks vs radials?
04-01-2013, 01:05 AM
#1
Car swaying side to side on low pressure slicks vs radials? Making a pass in a friendsMT slick car @ 15psi, and remembered how squirrely things can feel on the backside, made me wonder if this was due to the low pressures we run in those tires, and if that would change if I decided to run a 275 radial instead.
Is there anything people have done to reduce this swaying to give the car a more steady feel?
Is there anything people have done to reduce this swaying to give the car a more steady feel?
04-01-2013, 07:21 AM
#2
If it does that at 15 psi you can bet the wheels are too narrow. Been down that road. I have decided the guy that specifies wheel widths in the tire catalogs is the same guy that puts RPM ranges in the camshaft catalogs. Or at least they are on the same drugs.
Another racer put me onto this about thirty years ago: use wheels about 1" wider than the tread area. Has never failed to work. That includes both Hoosier and MT. Especially radials. "Radial wobble" is easily cured with wider wheels. You run more air with a wider wheel to get the tread area flat. I have found they also hook harder & run more MPH that way. No down side. Many of us do that.
9" radials are faster on 10" wheels, 10.5" like 12" wheels. My 13" MTs like 14" wheels.
Another racer put me onto this about thirty years ago: use wheels about 1" wider than the tread area. Has never failed to work. That includes both Hoosier and MT. Especially radials. "Radial wobble" is easily cured with wider wheels. You run more air with a wider wheel to get the tread area flat. I have found they also hook harder & run more MPH that way. No down side. Many of us do that.
9" radials are faster on 10" wheels, 10.5" like 12" wheels. My 13" MTs like 14" wheels.
04-01-2013, 11:05 AM
#5
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I would just run radials. I had the same issues with my QTPs now I run Mickey Thompson ET street radials (not bias ply) and don't have any issues. 325/50 on a 10" wheel.
04-19-2013, 10:18 AM
#7
My previous car was like that with actual slicks in back but with stock radial street tires in front - went away when I changed to 4 ply tires in front. From what I've read, you're supposed to use radial tires in front if using drag radials in rear, and non-radial tires in front if using actual slicks in rear.
