Grinding tires.....
 

Good idea or dumb idea ?

Re: Grinding tires.....
 

Re: Grinding tires.....
 

Not sure what you mean, It's been part of the sport for decades. A tire that gets hot often will smooth off and seal (glaze) the outside of it and therefore not be spongy and gripping on dirt. Grinding a couple thousands off the top of each block will revitalize that stickiness and furthermore regain the groove edges which also dig into the dirt.
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Some teams even put talcum or baby powder into the rubber after doing it. This I am unsure of what it accomplishes.

Worked on LM's in the 80s. We did it weather we thought it needed it or not. If you don't do it, your either gonna throw a new tire on every race or your going to go out there and just spin your tires because they are not going to get the grip they were designed to get.

Setups get you toward the front, Tires win you races. The team with the best Tire Man, Stagger, compound, grooving and siping is going to be on the podium. Grinding is a must if you plan to re-use a tire. You just don't run without doing it. Sometimes you'll see a a guy after the race with a laser thermometer. Or just go and put their hand on both rear tires. The closer you can get both rear tires in temp. The better they'll run as long as they aren't getting too hot.

I figure after first corner ur back down to new rubber. I'm an idiot though.

Re: Grinding tires.....
 

Depends on the surface. Some tracks just grind off the rubber. Even seen cars come in with cord showing.

Not a idot. Good question. Now you know more about it :)

I was a tire grunt for a few years. The guys never had me grind a single tire and I don't remember anyone grinding tires in the sprint car pits. Back then if there was crappy dirty job.... I got to do it. Lol

after grinding tire we put baby powder on it to sipe it makes it easier to cut

Re: Grinding tires.....
 

I know there are a ton of guys "doping " tires in late models . Let's say I've "seen" it done.

Re: Grinding tires.....
 

Somebody is always coming up with something new to beat the sniffer! And yea it's pretty prevalent in UMP

Re: Grinding tires.....
 

Re: Grinding tires.....
 

The "sniffer" is just a simple hydrocarbon detector and fairly easy to get around.

For a low dollar racer who can't afford new tires, soaking is a much better/cheaper alternative to breath new life into an old wore out set of tires.

I only use baby powder on the Late Model tires if they are new or really clean so when I grind them (new tires have mold release coating them) I can see where the grind is.

There is an art form to it. Grinding so you don't go against the trailing edge of the tire, not spinning the disc too fast to create smoke (too many guys make smoke and when there is smoke you are just resealing the tire!).

Recently I've been using a bedliner brush that attaches to the grinder to clean tires that haven't yet been through a heat cycle (like tires that were just out for hotlaps) or need to be free of dirt/dust/grim before grinding the rubber with the disc.

You always like to think you can make a difference and tires are THE difference maker on any racecar.

i have won alot of races in a mod. we didnt even have a tire grinder i think its a waste of time i think teams do it cause they see other teams doing it. if u dont rent a track and do alot of tire testing how would u no. as far as treating tires i dont do it but i would much rather have teams treating tires than using traction controll at least u still have to b a driver. i could name a few names of guys that were very good in sprint cars with traction controll then went to nascar and didnt cut it one of them is still there he runs 40th usually lmao. computers are gonna ruin racing one of the main reasons im hanging up my helmet at the end of this year. but it sure was fun beating the mod. guys that had it lol :5::5::5::5::5::5:

I'm not sure that I would go so far as to call them idiots, maybe lazy or ignorant. They either were never taught how, or they're just to lazy to utilize what they were taught. But I agree, all these driving aids take the responsibility out of the driver's hands and put it into a computer's hands. That to me is not driving. Though I can't deny that I do quite enjoy my cruise control on long drives as my foot has a tendency to start to fall asleep after a while :3:.

Re: Grinding tires.....
 

Good point on the testing observation. Many people do things over and over again out of habit, thinking they are gaining an edge. And unless you do extensive testing, are you sure? There's a guy I've raced against a few times, who takes the groover to every new tire he gets, and puts a whole bunch of rubber on the ground. My thought is that Hoosier spends a lot of $$ in testing looking for the best tread design, and we seem to think we can improve on it. Well, one weekend this fellow had to buy a new tire at the track for the feature, and he didn't have time to groove it. They won the feature that night. Car had never been faster. What did he say about that? "Wow, we were sure fast tonight. Imagine how much faster we would have been, had I had time to groove that tire!" It never occurred to him that he was faster because he DIDN'T groove the tire...

Re: Grinding tires.....
 

i did alot of tire testing for hoosier in the mid 90s in florida , michigain , kokomo, and lps. back wnen nobody would run them they spent alot of time and money redeveloping there tires. it didnt take long and then they were the tire to beat and yes the grooves was something that they worked on but all dirt is different so some grooving is nessasary to keep from blistering and heat in general. i would like to believe i had a small hand in it but the guys at hoosier do a great job. but testing is a big part and expensive so some times all a small team can do is copy what the fast guys r doing but dont kid urself the main reason there winning is because there driving the wheels off of the car. and a little good luck never hurts lol. and if ur using any kind of trac controll then u r a loser and i dont understand how u can take any pride in what u have won. if u play golf and dont count every stroke or kick the ball out from behind the tree just so u can tell ur buddys u shot a 83 when it was really a 95 then u are a loser and have no pride.

Re: Grinding tires.....
 

Excuse my ignorance, but is traction control really a thing in dirt cars? Are you talking about late models, mods, or sprints? First I've ever heard of it in dirt.

Re: Grinding tires.....