I tried the kartmaster hybrid ceramic bearings a few years ago and honestly they are junk in my opinion, I’ve since just gone back to OEM OTK bearings which are shockingly good when you look around at what else is out there.
The seals from the hybrid ceramic’s fit the OTK bearings if you want to pry off the OEM metal ones and replace them with these.
This is 100% accurate. The OEM OTK bearings are better than anything you could ever need in karting. Anything beyond them is a waste of money for absolutely no gain in speed.
When I was a kid, skateboards had crappy bearings that had a simple shield and you had to put graphite powder in regularly. Sometime is the early 80s sealed Swiss bearings were adopted and, boy, what a difference!
I wonder, from an engineering standpoint, how small the bearings need to be, kart and skateboards rarely reach fast speeds (100+) so I can’t imagine much stress. Maybe the lay down hill bombing is fast enough for it to matter.
Where / which online shop do you guys buy / order your tools?
I’m interested in ordering some beta tools…
Truth. Not a fan of tire wrestling.
It’s not so much the road speed, but the shaft/bearing rotation speed that needs to be considered. The range for that seems to be 1920 RPM for 60MPH up to 4800 for 150MPH (Superkart)
Really depends on what brands you’re chasing, some of the brands from Europe and Japan can only be had via a couple sources in the US.
I use amazon whenever possible, got all my Knipex stuff through them.
I got all my PB swiss stuff from Haus of Tools and have nothing bad to say.
I recently ordered Koken ratchet and sockets through Palmac and had a good experience.
The MAC stuff I ordered recently I went directly through their site as it’s pretty much that or tool trucks.
Last year I went with the Metabo “The Tank” air compressor and its been fantastic, usually mated to my Predator Inverter Generator. Both have been fantastic for me. Great combo trackside.
Todays tool haul, since I got really tired of running between the garage and race trailer for tools I needed on any given day.
Gotta love Tekton Customer Loyalty Rewards Bucks! Makes pulling the trigger on large tool purchases alittle easier.
Full SAE and Metric sets, with a braker bar and NO SKIPS! Torque wrench and their dead blow hammer.
I definately needed this . . . just don’t tell my wife. 
That hammer looks like hours of fun. What’s the item in box above it?
The milwaukee cordless ratchet I would estimate saves me at least 5-10 minutes per job. Insane time save and never have to worry about stripping on accident if you’re in a rush. Loosen it like a ratchet, spin it off. Spin it back on, then tighten it like a ratchet. Plus I prefer just being able to feel how tight i’m going with my hand compared to just zapping it with the impact.
Torque wrench I needed for head bolts on my 49 Willys motor. (Rig in the background I’m restoring)
