Anyone using aluminum wheels on the front only?

[SeanM (Sean Mullendore)]

Has anyone tried using aluminum wheels on the front only, in classes other than LO206? (TAG125, Shifter)

Reason I ask, I tried to order Douglas 132/212mm low volume wheels from an online retailer. Sales rep called me up and said they weren’t in stock. 212’s were, then he tells me the hot new trend is to run aluminum wheels up front, TAG and even shifter guys are doing it to help even out tire temps.

Does this sound logical? or just an attempt to fill an order?

[Bimodal_Rocket (Dom Callan)]

Don’t personally have any experience with it but here is a recent thread:

Mixing Both Aluminum and Magnesium Rims (+Praga Dark 28)

I’ve read that magnesium rims and aluminum rims affect the kart setup differently, but what happens if you were to run both at the same time (i.e. magnesium in the front, aluminum in the rear and vice versa)? Will there be a significant handling disadvantage compared to running just 1 material? I run at a low grip track with Bridgestone YDS tires and I got a narrower set of rear tires to help with grip. They are of different designs, so I believe they are different materials. P.S. Does anybody…

From that thread:

@tjkoyen

I’ve done it before as well, but in reality, the handling effects it produces can be replicated with other adjustments on the kart that don’t affect the consistency and heat of the tires.

If you needed more heat in the tires on one end of the kart, you could run aluminum wheels on that end, but my opinion would be that if you had that situation, there is a bigger fundamental balance issue at play that needs to be solved with actual chassis adjustments.

Versus:

@Don_Westlie

You can run mag and aluminum. All depends on what you want to do. We do all the time but usually on the Vega. The YDS you’ll want the aluminum as it keeps heat in the tire. Try 6.5” rear wheels

[Paul_Montopoli]

Continuing the discussion from Anyone using aluminum wheels on the front only?:

I pay a lot of attention to what wheels people are running and I have not seen anyone run aluminum wheels on the front of an X30 Jr, Snr, or Masters kart at a USPKS race this year. I also did not notice any on karts at the F Series Gear Up race at Pitt Race (April). There were shifters there as well, and while I was not looking too closely at the shifters, I did not notice any with alu wheels.

@Muskabeatz is a shifter racer. Evan, have you seen or heard of anyone running alu wheels on the front of shifter kart?

Having written all of the above, I may try AMV Tiger alus at Road America all around as my understanding is that people could not get heat in the tires there last year.

Disclaimer: I import AMV wheels into the USA.

[Muskabeatz (Evan Batt)]

We don’t ever run aluminum fronts unless in wet conditions, and I don’t recall seeing any top teams running aluminum wheels in dry conditions.

That said, a cast aluminum wheel could be well suited to Road America, with that track surface being so slick and low grip. Wish I had some to try last time we were there in 2019, as we were constantly searching for grip that weekend.

[Mikkometalli (Mikko Härkönen)]

I have been using aluminum front wheels on my shifter kart. Because cant get front tyres to heat up enough. Moving from open face mag wheel to closed alu wheels increased front tyre temps few degrees celcius. 7`C comes to my mind - dont remember exactly anymore. I also machined a plastic planking plug to the hub to stop airflow running through.

I have been driving around local track that is quite slow

I dont recall any major handling differences. There propably is and should be - as righetti ridolfi alu wheel weights quite a lot more than douglas mag

[Paul_Montopoli]

@Mikkometalli

I have been using aluminum front wheels on my shifter kart. Because cant get front tyres to heat up enough

Interesting. Do you do this year-round or only during the colder months? What is the hottest air temps you get there?

[Mikkometalli (Mikko Härkönen)]

I have been using them through the summer. I live at the arctic circle - mid summer temps hover usually between 15-25´C. The sun stays up through the night so tarmac temp should stay pretty constant

Race season starts (snow has melted away ) about may - ends after september/october as it gets too wet, cold, miserable

[Mikkometalli (Mikko Härkönen)]

Finally - after much testing and destroying front tyres, got the front tyre temps up by adjusting toe out 2-3mm out per side, measured from the rim. Still using aluminum front rims.

Will try open mag wheels next time out on the track - does the same amount of toe out produce enough heat

I would love to use mag wheels at front as they are lighter, easier to fit the tyre and most important - look whole lot better

[WheelSpin (Spencer Uzri)]

What about camber adjustment? Increasing neg camber should concentrate the contact patch & heat up the tire quicker, but reduces front grip; more positive camber does the reverse.

[Mikkometalli (Mikko Härkönen)]

Good point and thanks for mentioning - it made me think

In my cart didnt find help from negative camper to the heat issue - it propably causes some understeer like you mentioned = tyre didnt get worked up = didnt heat up. Tried from 0 to little negative to a lots of negative. More negative just caused more tyre wear on inside and cold tear

I tested moving the seat front to back, up and down, battery to the front, several front stabilizers, high tyre pressures, different chassis heights. Some of these improved front tyre temps, but these solutions were not right, either the temps improved marginally or the kart became slower. Didnt find one single solution, that would set my fronts on fire until tested this toe out. Now I can add or reduce front tyre temp as I wish and run about recommended pressures at front. Im still running alu fronts though

For now - with this toe out have set the tyres to 0 camper unloaded.

Tyre wear is now equal across the surface