wide tires in the front?

daver · #1 01-05-2005, 04:15 PM

Anyone else running wide tires all around?

Keeps the car from flipping over on tight turns, but still haven't figured out which wide tires to run to keep the car balanced better.. seem to spin out easier, though the floor surface and particular tire selection probably have alot to do with it.

Body has to be clearanced abit as the wide tires would bind at full lock, but I just ground the front wheel wells slightly bigger on a body I don't care about.

Anyway wondering if anyone else is running them up front?

Also is there a better battery available for the SE Chassis? Would be nice to retain the lights and get slightly better run time.

damootch · #2 01-05-2005, 11:16 PM

Quote:

Anyone else running wide tires all around?

I never thought of running the wide tires up front. Good idea!! Must be why you get 4 adapters in a kit, duh. I will try this out. I am curious to see how it will effect the handling, steering, etc. I might try the slicks up front and something with more grip in the back.

I'll post some results later.....off to run some laps around the track.....

gtr2112 · #3 01-06-2005, 01:06 AM

the batteries plus in my area is working on getting 110mah batts for the SE's. they're working it out with the manufacturer. will know in a week or 2. just got some 160mah's for my MT. big difference. the tires for the wide wheel kit are too hard. they're all too slick for me.

#4 01-06-2005, 05:48 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by daver
Anyone else running wide tires all around?

Keeps the car from flipping over on tight turns, but still haven't figured out which wide tires to run to keep the car balanced better.. seem to spin out easier, though the floor surface and particular tire selection probably have alot to do with it.

Body has to be clearanced abit as the wide tires would bind at full lock, but I just ground the front wheel wells slightly bigger on a body I don't care about.

Anyway wondering if anyone else is running them up front?

Also is there a better battery available for the SE Chassis? Would be nice to retain the lights and get slightly better run time.

I have a pretty wide selection of wheels from a lot of different cars. Having the wide tires up front will only work if you have the Motorworks style steering instead of the standard bit steering. The Motorworks steering does not utilize a suspension bar so all FOUR wheels always stay on the ground. With a suspension bar, the bit will turn much tighter because once you turn only THREE wheels are touching the ground. This will allow the bit to easily pivot around the one rear wheel touching the ground as opposed to Motorworks steering, where both rear wheels are touching the ground.

This is the main reason why your zipzap will easily spin out with wide front wheels. To fix it, try removing the suspension bar and instead of adding springs to the steering knuckles, replace them with a straw (see post regarding lost springs). Or maybe limiting the movement of your suspension bar would help.

As for the zipzaps se battery, the overall dimensions are for a single cell is 10mm dia x 10mm lg. This is much shorter than the standard 1/3aaa battery. I doubt you'll find a NiMH battery with those dimensions at a capacity higher than 70mah. If you do find one, let us know! Hope this helps.

#5 01-06-2005, 05:53 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by gtr2112
the batteries plus in my area is working on getting 110mah batts for the SE's. they're working it out with the manufacturer. will know in a week or 2. just got some 160mah's for my MT. big difference. the tires for the wide wheel kit are too hard. they're all too slick for me.

I was trying to hop-up my friends Microsizers Pro and I also used the extra wide wheel kit. I don't think that the wheels are too hard because of the rubber material, but because of the small diameter. I replaced these wheels with larger diameter MW slicks glued together and the difference was VERY noticeable in terms of traction resulting in far fewer spin outs.

Azimov · #6 01-08-2005, 10:25 PM

I don't recommend wide tires on the front of an SE. They look cool, but the turning radius is huge. I've tried it a couple of ways, and just don't like the handling.

daver · #7 01-18-2005, 02:39 PM

Just put together a 77 Transam SE (w/ working lights) & put wide tires on the rear, but noticed all 3 wheel pieces didn't want to fit together properly and once I finally did get them together (I thought reasonably well) the rear end bounces while runnign and the wheels are noticably not cylindrical while watching them spin. (car upside down)

So I'm sorta considering cutting off the mounting pegs and supergluing the wide wheel 'insert' to the axle, and then maybe running some sandpaper around the circumference to make sure at least those 2 pieces are round and smooth.

Wondering what axle and transfer gear most people run on their zip zaps? (ie what axle should I glue the wide wheels too?)

I was thinking of keeping the blue stock axle and gear, running the NOS motor and calling it a day.

Any thoughts?

#8 01-18-2005, 06:07 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by daver
Just put together a 77 Transam SE (w/ working lights) & put wide tires on the rear, but noticed all 3 wheel pieces didn't want to fit together properly and once I finally did get them together (I thought reasonably well) the rear end bounces while runnign and the wheels are noticably not cylindrical while watching them spin. (car upside down)

So I'm sorta considering cutting off the mounting pegs and supergluing the wide wheel 'insert' to the axle, and then maybe running some sandpaper around the circumference to make sure at least those 2 pieces are round and smooth.

Wondering what axle and transfer gear most people run on their zip zaps? (ie what axle should I glue the wide wheels too?)

I was thinking of keeping the blue stock axle and gear, running the NOS motor and calling it a day.

Any thoughts?

I've had the exact same problem with that wheel kit. Sanding them down is the easiest way to ensure good wheel/ground contact. But before I sanded the wheels, I tried cutting the 3 wheel pieces off and letting the rubber tires align themselves. This also worked reasonably well.

damootch · #9 01-19-2005, 08:48 PM

Quote:

I was thinking of keeping the blue stock axle and gear, running the NOS motor and calling it a day.

I have had the best results with the NOS and blue gear combination. It seems like the blue/stock gears have the most torque. Which is probably good with the wide rear tires.

daver · #10 01-24-2005, 11:46 AM

Just thougth I'd let everybody know, the wide tire/wheel kit was reduced to $2.97 at my local RS as of yesterday. Might want to stop by yours and check it out.

also cutting off the 3 little pegs on the wheel expander piece was a great suggestions and my wide wheels alighned themselves pretty well once the tire was stretched over.