spridgets
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re: Tire size

To: spridgets@Autox.Team.Net
Subject: re: Tire size
From: CONAN@RALVM8.VNET.IBM.COM
Date: Wed, 1 Apr 98 22:36:09 EST
Reply-to: CONAN@RALVM8.VNET.IBM.COM
Sender: owner-spridgets@Autox.Team.Net
>>                                                             Funny thing
>>- it actually cornered better with the 145s but the ride is much softer
>>with the bigger tires.
>>
>>Les

  Hi Les,
  This is because you squeezed 185mm(nominal) section width tires onto -real-
skinny wheels.  185mm is about 7-1/4".  How wide are your rims? 3-1/2"? 4"?
Even the late style Midget wheels were only 4-1/2".
  A 185 section tire needs a minimum of 5" rim width (measured -between- the
mounting flanges).  5-1/2" to 6" is better.
  Putting a wide tire on a skinny rim puts a lot of bulge in the sidewall of
the tire, which wobbles and flexes back and forth as you corner.  Probably
was pretty unstable even in a straight line.
  Running normal air pressure in that kinda combination would also tend to
result in noticeably more wear in the center of the tread than the edges too,
as the bulging sidewalls flex and allow the tire to turn into a round, balloon
tire shape.
  If you run lower air pressure to compensate for this you soften the sidewall
even more, allowing even more flex and wobble as you drive.
  A 165 section width tire (as in the 165/70) calculates to about 6-1/2".  I
don't think I'd want to put this on anything narrower than 4" minimum, and
4-1/2 to 5" would be better.
      Ed in NC

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