alright so i was wanting to add some tire screws to my slicks this year and was wondering, do they go only on the outside or on the inside of the rim also? and also is there anything special about tire screws or are they just regular plated grade 8 screws that I could go get at my local hardware store?

 

oop just found this. it answered both questions for me. sorry guys to waste your time. who knows though, maybe this might help someone else out on here

http://www.summitracing.com/expertad...ive/answer/656

 

I use these on 13inch wheels.
8 on each side of the wheel.

http://www.jegs.com/p/Moroso/Moroso-...47335/10002/-1

 

Just be sure they're spaced correctly and on proper angle.

 

a 45 degree angle is what i read, that right? also when installing the screws, what do you have the tire pressure set at? thanks for your guys' input

 

when i installed the screws i had the slicks and tubes at 20psi. 8 on each side and i eye balled all the bolt holes, some are 45 but some are pretty straight. just make sure you have them balanced after you install them

 

I've seen a little bit of everything.

Standard sheet metal screws, fancy coated ones, 45, straight ... etc.

If its a drag only car I don't think it matters as long as you evenly space them and balance the wheel afterwards.

I've seen a guy that only ran 4 on the outside and went 6.20s in the 1/8

 

Here is how Mickey Thompson recommends screwing and balancing there tires.

http://www.mickeythompsontires.com/tech.php?bulletin=s4

On 13" Weld wheels you have to drill the wheel in the valley the bead sits in (This is because there is not a flat lip to drill a hole through). It is easiest to drill from inside the wheel out. The screw will be at a 45 degree angle in the bead.

From my experience in FWD drag racing and working on ProMod teams we don't balance our slicks.

Do a google search, and you'll see everyone has a different opinion on balancing.

 

alright cool I think I got all the info I need now. I went ahead and ordered them from jegs since I couldn't find any grade 8's locally. yeah i've always heard that you dont bother with balancing slicks but I could see why with the screws why you would probly want to. I have a buddy that has a tire mount machine and balancer, so I might as well do it. thanks again guys for your help

 

heres a good write up ipg did on some welds
http://ipgparts.com/blog/tech-articl...ll-rim-screws/

 

Awesome! that one's a nice write-up

 

Anything faster than 200mph usually gets bubble balanced.

 

Like I said, "Everyone has a different opinion on slick balancing". The fastest car I have worked on would safely go 250 mph down the 1320 without the slicks being balanced.

 

No balancing on my slicks. If you space the screws properly it will not throw off the balance of the wheels. I has slight vibration on decel but nothing when going down the track. Most of that went away when I did the proper calculations to set my torque wrench to get proper torque on the lugs with the extension and deep socket.

 

I mean this in the nicest way possible because I know inflection is subject to the reader online, but Mickey Thompson, Goodyear, and Hoosier strongly recommend bubble balancing on slicks with either beadlocks or inner tubes.

I was only in the R2B2 shop a couple of weeks but I know they bubble balanced theirs (back when Al Billes was there) not to mention the 2 nitro funny car teams I've been a part of both had their slicks bubble balanced. Heck, if you buy the tires at the track the tire reps will balance them for you as they usually have a couple of balancers under their awning. When I first started on a fuel team that was a typical thursday job . . . take the wheels down there, have them mounted/balanced, roll them back to the pit, check beadlock torque . . .

 

when i did the wheel screws on my V2's (13") i did it exactly like weld says to. 45 degree angle 8 on each side. to drive the screws into the tire the tire pressure has to be at least 20 psi otherwise the screw pushes the tire off the bead. oh and i absolutely ballanced my slicks. dont remember how much weight i had to add but its a good ammount.

 

so is bubble balancing more precise than the normal tire balancer machine you see at tire shops? like I said, my buddy has a balancer but it's the type you see at tire shops and I might as well do it just for ***** a giggles since I have it at my disposal. but I do see you other guys' point about no need. my first set of slicks I didn't have them balanced and the only time I felt some vibration was on deceleration like turbo-ls said. but I went down to a 13" wheel this year from a 15" and wanted to use screws thinking i might have more tire slip on the rim being that they might hook a little better than the 15's and also will be launching from a higher rpm as well this year

 

What are your recommendations on balancing skinnies? Yes or no?

 

Bubble balancing is old school and really only done with the 15x10/12/15s you see on high HP rwd drive cars because they don't fit on dynamic balancers and they also have issues on the high speed/soft bearing ones because it would spin fast enough to swell the tire a little.

Its also way easier to bubble balance because the balancers are like 30lbs and easily mobile which makes way more sense at the track. However bubbles can only measure in one plane unlike the dynamics which can measure in two.

If you do put screws in them I would balance them. You are adding weight above and beyond what the manufacturer accounted for.

 

I see. yeah I figured mobility was one of he reasons for bubble balancing but thought maybe there were other reasons as well. well since I have the resources available to me I might as well balance them once the screws are in. thanks again for everyone's help

 

Yes. Most the 1 piece Weld skinnies we have balanced use little to NO weight.

 

I apologize for the newb question. But at what point do you need rim screws? How much can it benefit you? Does it only help in the 1/8th? I have marked my rims and tires and they do move. Do they move multiple revolutions or do they only move those couple inches that I see with the marks? And is the only purpose to stop the rim from slipping on the line? Is there any down side to them? Do they have a higher risk of bursting? So for all the questions but they are important.

 

when you run tubes you have to have rim screws to avoid tearing out the valve stem if the tire moves. but you dont have to have them to put wheel screws. if you say your tire is slippin then rim screws would keep it in tact and makes you faster. spinin the tire on the slick is similar to losing traction but to an extremely tiny amount probably not even noticable.

people run tubes for consistency, ability to run lower psi before it wrinkles and to avoid having to worry about air retention

 

so quick update. got the tire screws in. I decided to only put 6 per side 12 per wheel, being my cars not a monster hp build I figured that should be enough. got them balanced and they both ended up needing 3oz of weight! now I'm not saying that it can't be done without balancing, as myself and many others have done it without any issues, but I'm glad I went ahead and had them done.