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Weighting tires

Posted: Mon Apr 02, 2012 9:18 am
by HANCOCK
Hi im looking into getting a new set of tires for my comp truck am im considering putting some weight in them to get the truck more stable and better traction. This is for a pure comp & social wheel so no road or speed driving. Who here runs weighted tires and how much are you running and what sort (water/lead)? Has it made a big different to the performance of the truck? Have you had increased drive line issues with the increased wheel weight?

Thanks Nathan

Re: Weighting tires

Posted: Mon Apr 02, 2012 12:56 pm
by 91Mav
Go to http://www.azrockcrawler.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; then click "Tech" then Miscellaneous/Tire Ballast (Water).

Re: Weighting tires

Posted: Fri Apr 06, 2012 12:44 pm
by HANCOCK
Anyone with first hand experience with this?

Re: Weighting tires

Posted: Fri Apr 06, 2012 4:17 pm
by KiwiBacon
I've driven plenty of tractors with water ballasted tyres. The tyres lose all compression and all shock absorbtion. Ride quality sucks.

Re: Weighting tires

Posted: Sun Apr 08, 2012 10:50 am
by dck7aok
Hi.
Some rigs like my moon buggy, it is virtually essential to use weight in the tyres for balance.
I have used both H2O and steel shot.
My thoughts:
Water worked well although i reqired an awfull lot of it in the 37 inch trepadores(with internal locks) and the deformation of the tyre suffered from the lack of compressable air inside the tyre. Rotation was not noticably affected nor was the drive chain.
Steel Shot is very good for stability of the rig. Smaller area of the shot means that tyre pressures can be altered to acheive flexible tyre surfaces. BUT the rotational resistance created by the shot is as much of a nuisance as it is a benefit. (just try to roll a wheel with shot). You need 30% more horsepower just to overcome this, I needed to shorten the ratios). The out of balance effect of the shot in the front wheels causes them to bounce much worse than the H20 at even very low speeds.
What do I prefer?
for the moonbuggy steel shot - now i am used to it.
Hope this helps
Dan