see no reason to ruin a nice wheel with crappy looking screws. First, are tires spinning on wheels? How much? how frequently? In other words, did they slip 1/4" in one run or just over a long period of time?

If tires are spinning either need new tire,differnt tire or bead locs.

I run rim screws with beadlocks. I drilled holes right through the lock ring on my brand new Deltas in between the bolts and then run 2" long self-tappers through the lock rings into the bead of the tires. Some will say it's overkill but I know those tires aren't moving.

I'm actually working on a double, bolt thru beadlock. How it works is you have the bolts that hold the beadlock ring in place, then bolts in between those that go through the bead into a thread insert in the wheel to provide extra super duper holding ability, especially if you're running Hoosier slicks....

I been running rim screws for almost 20 years. I also run tubes. Been my guess that a heavier slow bracket car needs all the sidewall support it can get.

It is bracket racing, not class or index racing where every .01 counts, nor is it a car show. Whatever helps stabilize reaction time/et is worth it. I also run a HV pump in a mild small block because good oil flow is more important that a few HP.

Do what fits your application. I tried tubeless twice, they slid both times. No way to measure impact, but sidewalls seem to survive better with tubes.

Just say no to tubes and screws.

A tube in a big tire running 140 MPH plus is a recipe for disaster.

I'm not even going to mention the 99% of rim screws that are improperly drilled and installed.

If you need tubes for sidewall support, you're running the wrong tire or your suspension needs work.
It's 2023, try some radials.

My opinions, you do you.

My racing buddies have tried latest generation radials with mixed results.

Admittedly car is slow and old. Is upgraded stock style suspension with roll bar and subframe connectors. Switch to glide extended its operational life.

Now in retirement, sole purpose is to hit tree and repeat ET. Speed is meaningless, will never match the exhilaration of dragbikes I ran pre carpel tunnel.

With the th400 in radials worked great but very short servoce life. Running without tubes, slick sidewalls seemed to go away a lot sooner.

Once again, do what gets results for you application. Overall results count, not theory or latest and greatest unless positive results are obtained.

Ran without screws for the first time yesterday. Sub 8.85 at 153 each lick. Marked the tires and no movement. After lots of experimenting I run 12 pounds in Hoosier 18260 tires. With that kind of pressure I don't need screws in my pretty new wheels.

Now nomad...KNOWS!

quote:

Originally posted by muggs:
My racing buddies have tried latest generation radials with mixed results.

Admittedly car is slow and old. Is upgraded stock style suspension with roll bar and subframe connectors. Switch to glide extended its operational life.

Now in retirement, sole purpose is to hit tree and repeat ET. Speed is meaningless, will never match the exhilaration of dragbikes I ran pre carpel tunnel.

With the th400 in radials worked great but very short servoce life. Running without tubes, slick sidewalls seemed to go away a lot sooner.

Once again, do what gets results for you application. Overall results count, not theory or latest and greatest unless positive results are obtained.

Short service life is normal to me.
Tubeless, on bias ply tires, the sidewalls are junk at 60-70 runs, the 9" radials would get me 125-140 runs and show cords.

The PBR's on the car now have more than 150 runs on them. Probably 170-ish, I've lost track.

I'm of the opinion that people runway less tire pressure than they should.

quote:

Originally posted by nomad:
I'm of the opinion that people runway less tire pressure than they should.

Bruce, I couldn't agree more. I run 7 1/2-7 3/4lbs in my 14x32 on a 2000lb roadster. On a really good track I run 8.0 but I see guys running 6lbs in the same tire at 2800.

quote:

Originally posted by nomad:
I'm of the opinion that people runway less tire pressure than they should.

Always "run the maximum pressure that maintains correct footprint."

ALL tires, daily driver, semi, motorhome, trailer, race car, etc...

Short service life? I put 408 runs on my last set of 29.5x10.5 PBR's (21psi) and still hadn't found the cords. Only reason I even took them off was because I splurged for once in my life and got some fancy wheels, and went to a bigger tire solely to kill some gear ratio and fill out the wheel tubs better.

If you have mixed results, adjust the shocks/suspension. We've had guys go mid-high 5's on the little PBR's, transbrake and footbrake. Just because a car goes down the track doesn't mean it's as good as it could be.

quote:

Originally posted by Michael Beard:
I put 408 runs on my last set of 29.5x10.5 PBR's (21psi) and still hadn't found the cords. Only reason I even took them off was because I splurged for once in my life and got some fancy wheels, and went to a bigger tire solely to kill some gear ratio and fill out the wheel tubs better.

If you have mixed results, adjust the shocks/suspension. We've had guys go mid-high 5's on the little PBR's, transbrake and footbrake. Just because a car goes down the track doesn't mean it's as good as it could be.

We don't run rim screws, we run radials.

I've mainly raced on Hoosier 29.5x9 radials both light & standard weights. We got 150+ runs on the lightweights & 200+ runs on the standard weights. Never seen cords on any of them & changed them for no other reason, but to change them.

I've run one set of 29.5x10.5 PBR's & I just changed them out at 200+ runs, no cords showing & just to change them. I have a new set of PBR's ready to go for the Spring Fling Million races. Currently I'm running a set of 5 years old set of Hoosier radials with about 140 runs on them.

I think between the 2 brands, The PBR's are the best performing radial for bracket racing.

One thing I'm finding between the 2 brands is I have to do a more aggressive burnout now. This is due from going from an N/A engine to a ProCharged engine. I'm hoping to still get 200 runs outs of the tires; time will tell!

2BKING

I noticed after being videoed on a freshly prepped track the middle of the tire track was lighter than the edges. This was at ten pounds. I just kept moving up the pressure until I had a full footprint. Amazing the stuff one can learn on his own after following "conventional wisdom".

The conventional wisdom probably came from a lack of good shock absorber technology.
Finding the correct footprint by air pressure adjustment also alters the effective spring rate at the contact patch.
By a lot. Your shock settings may need adjusted.
1/4 p.s.i. can be the same as 15-25 lbs. of spring.

They did and we did.