How often to grind tires?

[latemodel86]

I can only run D55 and D21 crate tires and I was wondering how often I should grind them or does it just depend on what they look like? Another question is when people say the tires looked glaze, are they talkin' about how the tires have a shiny look to them?
Thanks

[rubbinsracin]

that's a good question. we grind ours sparingly in order to make them last as long as possible. When we first get them we hit them with a belt sander with some low grit paper very lightly to get the "shine" off of them. then i guess we do it 2 maybe 3 more times through the life of the tire. (we try to get 8-10 or more races out of them)

what are other people doing? how are you prolonging the life of your tires? do the tire treatments you can buy through places like Speedway Motors extend the life of the tires?

[latemodel86]

We don't do the tire prep deal. We did back when I ran karts a few years ago and that was a lot of money for such little tires, and I hate to see the tire prep bill for late models. Plus if I'm gonna win or run top3, I wanna do it without any advantages. Which I'm sure there's a few people I run with that do prep their tires.

I'm not sure what other people are doin' to keep their tires to last longer. I just now though about it a little more in depth and I'm kind of doin' some of this stuff now and I really don't know much about grinding, siping, and grooving, so I thought I'd ask. I'm kind of the one who makes the decision on what to do to the car, what tires to run, etc. and I use to not do that, so I'm just tryin' to learn as much as I can.
Thanks for your help!

https://www.passmoreracing.com

[Egoracing]

If you are grinding them enough to shorten the life of the tire, lay off a little. I hit them every chance I got, sometimes 2 times a night at the track and never noticed a difference in how many races they lasted but there was a large difference in the performance!

[rubbinsracin]

what do you grind yours with ego? at the track we are only allowed to use a #24 metal grinding disk. and man just barely touching it really tears up the tire so thats why we hit it a few times as possible.

[Graff Spee]

You are just trying to knock the glaze off of them. It just gives you a faster tire untill they heat up. So it helps in that first three laps when you are making all your slick moves! 80 grit works great!!!

[Egoracing]

A buffer and 24 or 36 grit sanding pads.

[joedoozer]

A buffer and 24 or 36 grit sanding pads.

Yup same here. A buffer with a 36 grit sanding disk. We run American Racers SD 48's and I sand them after every night of racing.

At the end of the night before I load the car, I pull the race tires off. Put some old tires on, to trailer the car. First thing the next morning I wash the car. I don't use any degreasers or soaps on the tires. Just a pressure washer at the local car wash. Get right in there with it and get that dirt out of the pours. Tire feels a little slippery when its wet when I am done. Then the following weekend when I know it will be a sunny day. I sand the tires down, blow off the rubber dust. And spray them down with some WD-40 (buy it in a gallon jug and put it in a spray bottle). Wrap them in plastic wrap (you can buy it at Lowe's for $20, near the moving section) and set them in the sun. I am on my 6th night on the tires. Fronts look like new but the rears are showing some age. I can get one more show maybe 2 out of the rears.

I am running on a budget too and I need to get some life out of my tires. This system has been working well for me. Maybe some guys have some better tips. Something maybe not so labor intensive.

By the way Passmore Racing, I love your videos online. I have watched your in car camera videos a lot, good stuff!

[Egoracing]

We used simple green on the tires and it did nothing to them but it REALLY opens up the rubber.

[joedoozer]

We used simple green on the tires and it did nothing to them but it REALLY opens up the rubber.

I got a gallon of it in the garage. I might give that a try. I use to wash the car in an "all you can wash" place for $6. I moved and the town we live in doesn't have an affordable car wash. So simple green might be my new weapon of choice haha.

[Egoracing]

Try it out, when it is dry it feels like a treated tire. We used to wash them between qualifying and the heats and before the feature with it to give them a good surface to run on. Black plastic concrete tub and 10 gallons of water will wash them a bunch of times, just use the rinse water to wash the next tire. Spray with Simple Green scrub with a brush to get the dirt out of the grooves and rinse, then let dry as much as possible.

[stock car driver]

I grind my tires to sipe them so they work better sooner at the start of races. Mine dont glaze over.

I grind them each night and when new. If its a really dry heat and Ive worn most of the ground in sipes off Ill hit them again at the track.

I use my own disc, its on here in the classifieds as the jnjfab ultimate tire grind disc, check it out I also posted a picture of how the tires look after using it.

Jeff

[latemodel86]

Simple green will ruin your tires and dry them out.

[latemodel86]

Yup same here. A buffer with a 36 grit sanding disk. We run American Racers SD 48's and I sand them after every night of racing.

At the end of the night before I load the car, I pull the race tires off. Put some old tires on, to trailer the car. First thing the next morning I wash the car. I don't use any degreasers or soaps on the tires. Just a pressure washer at the local car wash. Get right in there with it and get that dirt out of the pours. Tire feels a little slippery when its wet when I am done. Then the following weekend when I know it will be a sunny day. I sand the tires down, blow off the rubber dust. And spray them down with some WD-40 (buy it in a gallon jug and put it in a spray bottle). Wrap them in plastic wrap (you can buy it at Lowe's for $20, near the moving section) and set them in the sun. I am on my 6th night on the tires. Fronts look like new but the rears are showing some age. I can get one more show maybe 2 out of the rears.

I am running on a budget too and I need to get some life out of my tires. This system has been working well for me. Maybe some guys have some better tips. Something maybe not so labor intensive.

By the way Passmore Racing, I love your videos online. I have watched your in car camera videos a lot, good stuff!

Thanks!!!!

[dirttrackrocker]

a mixture of 2 parts water and 1 part Tide with Bleach alternative works GREAT!!! Tires look like brand new when your done.