good cheap way to soften tires?

[honda4life72]

ok i need to soften my tires big time , i race flat track in the knobbie class and need more traction..... a few guys a t my skool race go-karts and told me all these ways to but it will cost me like 75 bucks to do it like that, so anybody have any ideas how to soften them without spending alot of money?

thanks in advance

[naw0029]

Originally posted by honda4life72
ok i need to soften my tires big time , i race flat track in the knobbie class and need more traction..... a few guys a t my skool race go-karts and told me all these ways to but it will cost me like 75 bucks to do it like that, so anybody have any ideas how to soften them without spending alot of money?

thanks in advance

Haha funny you should say that, i raced karts for 9 years and the world of tire prep is nutz. As for softening try wd40, its not going to work like prep but if u soak tham and wrap them with clear wrap it may work. Ask your friends about trie warmers all karting people know that little trick, hope this helps, lets us know how you make out.

[DVXracer]

Let the air out ?

[Scott-300ex]

Could you slit grooves in the knobs?

And do "Burnouts" right before the race to get your tires warm and put hairdryers on them before that.

Maybe put some flame to them might soften the compound.

I wonder if you drill holes in the knobs if that will let them give more, drill them in the middle you know.

[416exriden]

when i raced karts we used paint thinner mixed with some other stuff and put it in a paint pan thing and used a paint roller and just rolled it on the tires works grate.

[GPracer2500]

Tire siping could help.

[naw0029]

As for grooving i know with the sprint car tires when we grove them you do get alot more heat to the tire faster inturn making it softer.

[honda4life72]

well one guy told me do the inside with a 50/50 mix of pant stripper and hotlap and outside 50/50 paint stripper and gold prep? and blow torch them before the race and stuff but thats alot of money for all that stuff.......and yea i may try grooving the knobbies and stuff while i am at it

[400exrider707]

Spray them with wd-40 then go throw them on a metal roof and let them bake in the sun for a while, then take off and repeat.

[rooster300ex]

Originally posted by GPracer2500
Tire siping could help.

Thats what I did to my 18in rear duro's for flat tracking. Helped out alot.

[honda4life72]

Originally posted by GPracer2500
Tire siping could help. whats that?

[F-16Guy]

It's where you cut a bunch of small grooves in the tread to create more gripping edges. It's pretty common in snow tires for cars. You may be able to have it done at your local tire shop.

[rooster300ex]

Originally posted by F-16Guy
It's where you cut a bunch of small grooves in the tread to create more gripping edges. It's pretty common in snow tires for cars. You may be able to have it done at your local tire shop.

No they are slits in the tread that you can't see until you use your fingers to seperate them. I used a razor blade. I'm sure they make a siping tool.

[54warrior]

Here is a link to the "Hot Lap" Tire Softener stuff:
http://www.stockcarproducts.com/acc19a.htm
and some others:
http://www.racerpartswholesale.com/tirepwr.htm
http://www.allstarperformance.com/product.htm?prod=456



Nacs Racing sells tire groovers for cheap.
http://www.nacsracing.com/htmlcatalog/tire-groover-tool.htm

I believe that the same tool can be used in conjunction with a different type of blade to also sipe the tires..

But if you plan on doing alot of tires, this is the groover that you want:
http://www.allstarperformance.com/product.htm?prod=527

Tire Siper:
http://www.allstarperformance.com/product.htm?prod=33


Grooving is basically adding more grooves to the tire. (Designated by the blue lines in the picture below) This will provide more biting edges and result in greater traction/forward bite.

Siping is adding smaller "slit's" in the tire which will help the tire to build heat faster which can result in greater grip. Too much heat can be bad too though, so you've got to find the right setup for your conditions. (Designated by the yellow lines in the picture below)

The following picture shows the typical flat track tire, and I have shown how people typically groove/sipe them.

[honda4life72]

thank you so much , i really appreciate your help :D

[54warrior]

Here is a picture of the tires from Tim Farr's KTM450. If you look closely, it is siped. That is an extreme amount of sipes, must have needed the tires really hot to hook up.

Note that this tire has NOT been grooved, only siped.

http://www.atvriders.com/gallery/2008ktmtimfarr450xcatvphotogallery/images/IMG_6662.jpg

Note from this view, the fronts have not been siped, and the rears were.

http://www.atvriders.com/gallery/2008ktmtimfarr450xcatvphotogallery/images/IMG_6669.jpg