Fuller's Tire (1 Viewer)

[NitroIntern]

Please pardon if this has been covered before (I couldn't find it, if it has been):

I finally got around to watching the PHX finals. Did anybody else notice, during the segment of "Sounds of the Strip" when they were backing Hot Rod's dragster back into the pit, the condition of the right slick?

It looked horrible. Big chunks missing and it looked like a diagonal strip in the center of the tread was de-laminated.

 

[FC Girl]

I saw that too, but it was kind of a quick shot and the volume was down, I didn't realize that was Rod's ride.

WOW, it was bad, really bad!!!

Wonder if the 90% has been re-evaluated for better compound materials by Goodyear. From the looks of that, still some issues. it was on the outer wall of the slick if I remember correctly.

Nancy

I said this wrong, it was on the slick part towards the outer wall. My bad.

 

[mike]

This is a shot of Rods Good Year at Vegas last year...

Photo I saved from Compplus

 

[Just Paul]

I saw it, but forgot to post. It did not look very good at all!!

 

[The Counterfeiter]

I didn't see a lot of "chunking" at CSK race, but I did see a lot of tires with the center burned out after one run.
I have a customer who is a retired tire engineer who races Nostalgia Funny Cars. His opinion is that in order to make a "safe" fuel tire sidewalls need to be much stiffer, resulting in a full contact patch. Of course, these tires would be heavier and would not be subject to the "D" deformation we see in slomo videos and would not be able to put full power to the track surface.
So . . . you pick. A totally safe tire or performance?
If you think Goodyear has problems in NHRA - there were 32 incidents in the two NASCAR races this weekend of cars destroyed by tire blowouts.
I can't figure out why Goodyear continues to do this in both series - there must be agreements in place that absolve them from any liabilities.
If Goodyear pulled out of NHRA fuel racing and NASCAR, it would be the end of both series. There is a lot going on here that none of us will ever know about.

 

[FC Girl]

jim, that's very interesting. Didn't know about the cars in NASCAR.

 

[Larry]

Top Fuel is asking alot from Goodyear .
Even the Drivers want the performance but there is no guarantees with that kind of heat and down force.

Maybe it's time to turn it around and build a safe tire then see how fast the crew chiefs can make the cars go!
That's how I would do it .
No worse than changing the whole points system.

But that takes leadership and thought and a commitment to safety over speed and ET even most drivers would find hard to accept.
It's that need for speed and the first time ever thing and the ink thereof.

 

[rocketman]

I heard its such a concern that a lot of teams are just going ahead and putting a new set of slicks on the car before every pass because of the concern of the tire chunks hitting the rear wing struts. When it was suggested to Garlits that new tires be put on his car before every run when he made that brief come back at the US Nationals (prior to the chunking problems) Garlits said something like "if it's gotten to that then it's over".

 

[J.C.]

I can't figure out why Goodyear continues to do this in both series - there must be agreements in place that absolve them from any liabilities.
If Goodyear pulled out of NHRA fuel racing and NASCAR, it would be the end of both series. There is a lot going on here that none of us will ever know about.

I agree with Jim, if Goodyear decided to quit making fuel tires today, what would NHRA do? What other tire company wants to invest the time and money into making tires for a market which is so small? I imagine the only reason that they keep doing it is for the advertising/marketing value of getting the Goodyear name out there. I find it hard to believe that they actually turn a profit from the sale of a couple hundred tires a race to fuel cars, given the huge amount of R&D that is required to keep the tires relatively "safe"?

 

[FABMAN]

I agree with Jim, if Goodyear decided to quit making fuel tires today, what would NHRA do? What other tire company wants to invest the time and money into making tires for a market which is so small? I imagine the only reason that they keep doing it is for the advertising/marketing value of getting the Goodyear name out there. I find it hard to believe that they actually turn a profit from the sale of a couple hundred tires a race to fuel cars, given the huge amount of R&D that is required to keep the tires relatively "safe"?

I have been using Goodyear Tires since the early 70's. I recently put a new set on my F350 ( 6 Tires ) and 4 on my Ranger pick up. Goodyear knows the importance of being in auto racing, Drag Racing no small venue for Goodyear, you have sportsman and pros and that adds up to a lot of tires. Mickey Thompson, Toyo, Hoosier are putting a lot of research into the big tires, so the growth and money are there.

 

[john]

I find it hard to believe that they actually turn a profit from the sale of a couple hundred tires a race to fuel cars, given the huge amount of R&D that is required to keep the tires relatively "safe"?

When you pay for one of those slicks, you might get some insight into that. They are not giving them away.

 

[jackass]

I know several teams with the IHRA and the NHRA who stated they went thru a set a round last year with the 85% rule in the NHRA.. and some ran less nitro with IHRA and still had the same problems...

i've seen the same thing happen in dirt oval racing.. weather it GoodYears , Hoosiers or American Racer ( McCreary) tires.... but... it only happened when the wrong compound (too soft) was used for the race.

Most of the NASCAR tire issues are self inflicted.. most not all... normal set ups where teams don't have problems use 8 inches or more of the contact patch .. when you push the level and only use 4 inches .. problems are going to happen... and yess wiht the cambered rear ends you cna cut back on the amount of contact patch.... and add to that a stiffer RR spring.. you get tire abuse...


Billy

 

[The Counterfeiter]

Most of the NASCAR tire issues are self inflicted.. most not all... normal set ups where teams don't have problems use 8 inches or more of the contact patch .. when you push the level and only use 4 inches .. problems are going to happen... and yess wiht the cambered rear ends you cna cut back on the amount of contact patch.... and add to that a stiffer RR spring.. you get tire abuse...

Billy - you have some good NASCAR knowledge. NASCAR continues to allow teams to ignore Goodyear's recommendations on tire pressure and camber. I was on the starting grid at last year's Brickyard and couldn't believe the static camber. A good thing that the new NASCAR cars are built like a tank when those tires blow - Smoke was lucky to walk away along with many others at LVMS.
It's unfortunate that NHRA and NASCAR are putting "the show" ahead of safety - JMHO

 

[jackass]

Jim.. i probably should have mentioned some of the Team self inflicted issues are due to the new car....the overall design while well intended to be safer and is much safer... smokes crash as a good example..... The car just does not want to turn. And some teams have to go to extreme setups to try and get it to work.. hince the failures...


Hopefully Goodyear has some new ideas for the TF slicks ot help them last longer and be safer before we have a big problem ....again...

 

[jimi]

Hopefully Goodyear has some new ideas for the TF slicks ot help them last longer and be safer before we have a big problem ....again...[/QUOTE]

the problem with the t/f f/c tires is, as the car accelerates it completly distorts the tire, all original design aspects of the tire are changed drastically causing the center of the tire in some instances to never contact the race track,as well as flexing and rolling over itself repeatedly at high loads,(the fall race at vegas larry dixons car made a pass and replay on tivo you could see daylight under the center of the tire for at least half of the track)the cars are using 8 maybe 10 inches of tire to stay hooked all the way down,sometime you need to feel how hot a 9" stocker tire is after a pass it would scare you.