Region: NWR / Oregon
Car #: 88
Year : 95 Posts: 2000
Status: Offline
posted
I have some used but not used up RA-1s I want to mount this weekend for ITA s***'s and giggles and I'm wondering what direction to put them. 8's seem to wear on the outsides but I don't have much experience on the care and feeding of RA-1s. There's some camber wear on them. Put the worn bit on the inside or outside? Not sure how they wear but I'm trying to put the most rubber where they wear the most.
I currently have 2.9* of camber in the front and 2.5 in the rear but I'm going to see if I can bump up the rear a bit, old bent suspension bits permitting if that matters.
-------------------- Keith Novak (Will work for tires)
Region: NWR/Oregon
Car #: #26
Year : 1991 Posts: 334
Status: Offline
posted
Keith... I am in a bit of the same questioning mode. I would guess that best to put the better rubber outside, but then I don't have much experience. Also, I paid local dealer about $75 buck to mount my new set of RA-1's...Seems it can get very expensive remounting tires all the time. Any idea how one can mitigate the expense...Make a deal with a tire shop for unlimited mounting and balancing for some advertising on the car?
-------------------- William Bonsell SCCA/ICSCC #26 SM/ITA
Region: NWR / Oregon
Car #: 88
Year : 95 Posts: 2000
Status: Offline
posted
Bill,
I've checked around. Discount tires charges $18. Les Schwab was asking $28. Nobody offered a discount for volume. At the track I think I paid $12 but that was with unmounted rims/tires.
I do know a guy with a tire ballancing machine in his garage, has a business and does vinyl so he could sticker up my car with whatever graphics he wants to promote the business. When you do the math though, great opportunity for me...not so much for him.
(Edit: Quick parting thought though...it probably wouldn't be great for me either if as part of the deal he insisted on a big yellow vinyl decal reading "DICKHEAD DRIVER".)
-------------------- Keith Novak (Will work for tires)
Flipping tires can get expensive but by extending the life of the tires it ends up cheaper in the end. Flip the tires on the rims and put them on the car according to where the most tread is needed. So if it's a predominantly right-turn track make sure the left sides have most of the tread on the outside, opposite for the right side.
And be aware that for the first session the tires will be TERRIBLE but will get better once the wear evens out.
-------------------- Colin MacLean Flyin' MacLean Motorsports
Region: NASA-SoCal
Car #: 23
Year : 1995 Posts: 912
Status: Offline
posted
Check Tire Rack's Recommended Installer page. We found a few places that were charging $10/tire and they honored the price for Toyos (I'm not sure they knew that Toyos were not available via Tire Rack).
You can usually talk them into not charging you the tire disposal fee too, or at least they'll roll the tire disposal fee into the $10 fee. Those tire disposal fees drive me crazy because I've seen a lot of evidence that the tire installers then sell the used tires to recycling companies that then make them into consumer products. So the tire installer is charging you to get paid!
-------------------- Rob Gibson RJ Racing 2010 NASA Nationals TTE Champion 2008/2009 WERC Champion 2007 NASA SoCal SM Champion rjracing.net Weekend-Racer.com
Region: chicago
Car #: 72 and ?
Year : 90 and 90 Posts: 1051
Status: Offline
posted
Listen to Collin, everything he says is what I was going to say
Dave
-------------------- Advanced Autosports, The Midwests leader in Spec Miata Service, Parts and Rentals 608-313-1230 Authorised Spec Miata service center www.advanced-autosports.com
Region: chicago
Car #: 72 and ?
Year : 90 and 90 Posts: 1051
Status: Offline
posted
I have not been paid for hauling used tires in 30 years. Even when I worked for Goodyear, we paid to have them hauled away.
Dave
-------------------- Advanced Autosports, The Midwests leader in Spec Miata Service, Parts and Rentals 608-313-1230 Authorised Spec Miata service center www.advanced-autosports.com
Region: NW/OR
Car #: 04
Year : 90 Posts: 1765
Status: Offline
posted
Here in Washington the recycle fee is $4 per tire. A trip to the dump is allowed to contain 4 unmounted tires, and minimum charge is $16.
Every time I need to get rid of a set I take them to the dump along with a quarter ton of other stuff and it only costs $16.
Or I sell them to Keith.....
I bought the tire machines because I have 2 cars, and at the time we were camber limited by the rules (the good old days) and flipping really helped. The machines have really paid for themselves.
The issue is the mounting machine is old school and tends to scratch wheels. I can mount for you guys but you need to scuff up the wheels first....
Region: NW/OR
Car #: 04
Year : 90 Posts: 1765
Status: Offline
posted
quote:Originally posted by Keith in WA: I do know a guy with a tire ballancing machine in his garage, has a business and does vinyl so he could sticker up my car with whatever graphics he wants to promote the business. When you do the math though, great opportunity for me...not so much for him.
(Edit: Quick parting thought though...it probably wouldn't be great for me either if as part of the deal he insisted on a big yellow vinyl decal reading "DICKHEAD DRIVER".)
How about I cover your car in "Google" stickers and mount 1 set for every dent you put in a certain P-car.....
Region: Detroit
Car #: GLD. # 16
Year : 1994 Posts: 125
Status: Offline
posted
A group of us SM'ers pooled our money and bought some tire changing equipment to share (like Greg). It's more than paid for itself. At $80-$100 a pop to flip / balance tires it did not take too long to pay it off. Comes in handy for the street cars, too. I even fixed a tire on my brother-in-law's front end loader.
-------------------- Jeff Thompson SM #16 - Detroit Region Great Lake Division
Mount the side of the tire with the most rubber to the side that wears the fastest. Don't worry about direction, unless it's wet.
Remember guys, take care of the trackside vendor whenever possible with regards to mounting your tires. In most cases that is who you bought your tires from and they don't make much on the tires. Secondly, they can easily save your ass in an emergency situation !
Region: NWR / Oregon
Car #: 88
Year : 95 Posts: 2000
Status: Offline
posted
That was the real question...which side of the tire seems to wear faster with RA-1s.
The 8's seem to wear fastest on the outsides for everyone but it's a stiffer tire. Plus learning recently that my pressure gauge was reading 10# low the odd wear pattern I developed in my tires isn't a good indicator of much usefull other than 8's don't seem to like 42# cold so all my tire data is crap.
-------------------- Keith Novak (Will work for tires)
Region: Central
Car #: 97
Year : 1991 Posts: 602
Status: Offline
posted
quote:Originally posted by JST #16: A group of us SM'ers pooled our money and bought some tire changing equipment to share (like Greg). It's more than paid for itself. At $80-$100 a pop to flip / balance tires it did not take too long to pay it off. Comes in handy for the street cars, too. I even fixed a tire on my brother-in-law's front end loader.
Ditto. BTDTRacing bought our own, it's..um... vintage equipment, but electro/pneumatic and does a damn fine job. Not as fancy as a recent model but a hell of a lot cheaper Craigslist find!
Region: NER
Car #: 7
Year : 1999 Posts: 636
Status: Offline
posted
Mine wear on the inside, unlike most of you. My RA1s have exhibited this wear pattern for the last 2 seasons (since I built the car). My SM race shop has aligned it at least 4 times and I always get more wear on the inside of my tires...
-------------------- -Cy Supported by LTD Racing & Speed Shack - New England's Premier Auto Accessory Store Rt1 AutoMile - Norwood, MA http://www.speedshackonline.com
Region: Pacific Northwest
Car #: TBD/Under construction
Year : 1991 Posts: 7
Status: Offline
posted
I just completed my Driving School at Pacific raceways yesterday and am looking for used but still useable RA-1's or 888's I'd be elated with either. My first novice race is September 26th so if anyone has a set or.. I'd be interested. Let me know. Thanks!!!
Region: Northwest, Oregon
Car #: 79
Year : 90 Posts: 3336
Status: Offline
posted
Mark, I'm so glad you're making it happen! I hoppe your driving school was good and your car ran well. All my spare RA1s are spoken for, but I will keep an eye out.
Pat
-------------------- Crew Chief, 3D Racing #64, aka Team Scrappy 2.0 3rd place E2, 2009 25 Hours of Thunderhill
Crew Chief, EGR/Miller Motorsports #64, aka Team Scrappy E2 Champions, 2008 25 Hours of Thunderhill
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