Tire Rotation

Are you guys rotating your tires every few weeks? My track is clockwise, so most the high speed turns are right handers and the left turns are usually a lower speed. Should I swap the tires around?

I’d be careful about switching tire rotational direction after they’ve been run in a few times. Not every brand, but definitely some can have some issues if you don’t run them according to the directional arrows. I can’t remember having issues with MGs. I’ve swapped rear tires before without issue.

As far as flipping tires on the wheel to extend the wear life… Definitely do-able, but keep in mind that on a tire with a more square profile like an MG the tire will camber as you wear them, so flipping them will reduce your contact patch if they’re well-worn, and can lead to some grip issues.

In our league if you are caught running your tyres in different direction then you are disqualified, so you can’t simply swap left rim with the right. You will have to take the tyres from the rims and manually switch them.

What a ridiculous rule!

Interesting approach from LeCont tires. We use the “white” in the senior classes in the F-Series Gearup. On the second day of our 2 day race weekends, if the track is not too abrasive, I flip the tires and use them again. They don’t seem to fall off much from day 1 to day 2. Maybe a tenth at NY Race Complex – track is not at all abrasive. I actually went .2 tenths faster on day 2 but possibly the track was a tick faster on day 2.

From LeCont’s Website: “LeCont karting tyres do not have a real direction of rotation, because the tread thanks to a very innovative and specific production technology, is not cut and glued as almost all the products of competition, but it is manufactured in one single peace. This gives to LeCont tyres a unique characteristic on the safety side: in no way, in fact, LeCont tyres will “dechap” because of the treat ungluing.”

http://www.lecont.com/en/communication/news/tyres-without-direction-of-rotation

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I am not a tyre technician but I would assume that the tyres have a direction for a reason.

The tire rotation is more important when it comes to the faster classes. Our local track has a lot more left hand turns than rights and it’s not uncommon for us to flip tires to they wear more evenly.