How much tread is too little for a track event?

[dragon40k]

I'm still on the stock goodyears and after an event I went to in May my tires were very worn on the outer edge of the front. They were also worn on the right rear in the middle. Is there enough tread left on these tires to run another event? I can rotate the fronts to the rear and that would probably be good enough. Mostly I'm worried about passing tech if they require a certain tread depth for street tires.

Here is the section that pertains
11.4.2 Wheels and Tires
The general condition of the tire and rim assembly must be good. There should be no cracks or other damage to the wheel. There should not be cords exposed, bubbles, or other visible damage on the tire. All lug nuts must be present and tightly hold the tire and rim assembly to the car’s hub. No hubcaps or beauty rings are allowed. Imitation “knock-offs” must be removed.


Click for a larger image. They arn't the greatest pictures in the world.










I realize I may not have been running enough air pressure (it was about 40psi hot) as well as over driving the car.

Thanks for the input.

 

[sonic cobra]

as long as no cord is showing you should be OK you have to ask yourself if you can make it through the event without exposing the cord especially on the frt outer edges
I ran 38# cold in front and 32# cold in back on stockers and it worked very well for me.

 

[Fast99Snake]

moar front cambah!(more front camber, these car's need lots up front and little in back from my experience)

 

[ac427cobra]

It all depends on what track and how many days you plan on running? Some tracks like VIR Full Course are REALLY easy on tires. Other tracks like GingerMan are tough on tires.

You should pass tech fine but the tires should be rotated at track events to maximize tire wear.

Personally I run the tires right to the cords.

YMMV

:thumbsup::coolman::beer:

 

[dragon40k]

Its 2 days at Summit point on the main track. I've not been on this track. This will only be my third event. I have no idea how hard Summit is on tires but they just repaved many sections of the track so I would think that it would be easier on the tires. I'll run these stock tires for this event and get new tires in the spring.
When I get the new tires i'll get an alignment (stock plates) to get more camber so hopefully they don't wear out on the edges.

 

[wheelhopper]

Those tires are fine. Just rotate them so the tires that have the most worn edges are on the back. Maybe even add a couple pounds of air to keep off the edge a little more.

See you there.

 

[gcassidy]

Rod, if you really wanted to play it safe, you can have the front tires that are worn on the outside edge flipped on the wheel so the worn edge is on the inside. The rotation direction shouldn't be an issue as I think that's for channeling water through the tread, not something you'll need to worry about.

Also see you there.

 

[wheelhopper]

I do that with my R compounds. It makes sense though, that as long as you get no rain you could do the same with any tire. Imagine all the looks you'll get in the paddock.

 

[03'Darin]

Rodney those tires will be fine. Just as some have already mentioned, rotate the tires around to have the best outer edge tires on the front.

If you are getting excessive tire wear on the rear tires in the center drop the pressure some and if you're getting excessive outer edge wear on the front increase the pressure.

Just FYI a freshly paved track is much harder on tires than a worn track. As a track gets used more the edges of the stone in the paving get worn down making it less agressive on tire wear. The main track at Summit isn't that bad on tires.

What days are you going down? Vince and Randy are running down there on the 4th and 5th of October when I'll be at VIR for the last Koni race.

 

[dragon40k]

Rodney those tires will be fine. Just as some have already mentioned, rotate the tires around to have the best outer edge tires on the front.

If you are getting excessive tire wear on the rear tires in the center drop the pressure some and if you're getting excessive outer edge wear on the front increase the pressure.

Just FYI a freshly paved track is much harder on tires than a worn track. As a track gets used more the edges of the stone in the paving get worn down making it less agressive on tire wear. The main track at Summit isn't that bad on tires.

What days are you going down? Vince and Randy are running down there on the 4th and 5th of October when I'll be at VIR for the last Koni race.

I'll be there on the 11th and 12th for the NASA event. By then I guess the pavement will be about a month old. I'll keep a close eye on the tires and run a little more pressure than I have in the past. Thanks.

 

[gcassidy]

I wouldn't worry Rod, most of the pavement is from the Oct '07 repaving.
It's just new in T-1, T-5 & T-6.