The importance of balancing kart racing tires cannot be overstated. Most people would not even consider putting a tire on their car or truck that has not been balanced. However, some of those same people will fit a new tire for their kart racing and not balance it at all. The truth is, balancing kart racing tires is much more important than any other tire. Even when using today’s fully mechanized kart racing wheels, there is a need for balance. There are several styles of kart racing tire balancers on the market. If you have metric wheels instead of American pattern wheels, you will need a set of metric adapters. Every kart rider should balance all of his karting tires before putting tires on a kart.
By purchasing a kart racing tire balancer, anyone can learn how to balance tires for their kart racing. In addition to the balancer, you will need a permanent marker, wheel weights, scissors or cutters, and racing tape. Then follow the instructions below:
1. Connect the wheel to the hub and slide the hub onto the axle.
2. Center the wheel on the axle and place the ends of the axle on the sides of the balancer.
3. Turn the wheel slightly and let it come to a stop on its own.
4. Mark the wheel at the top with a marker. You have now determined the lightest point on the wheel.
5. Cut off a piece of weight and tape it to the wheel for now. Try to get the weight as close to the axle as possible.
6. Now turn the wheel until the weight is in the 3:00 or 9:00 position.
Let go of the wheel. If the weight falls to the 6 o’clock position, you must remove some weight. If the weight reaches the 12:00 position, more weight needs to be added.
7. Repeat steps 5 and 6 until the tire is balanced. This has been achieved when the weight can be placed in any position and the tire does not move.
8.Then remove the tape from the runners, put the weight back in the same place by removing the paper from the back of the wheel weight. Apply a small piece of racing tape over the weight to make sure it doesn’t move. You have now balanced your first racing kart wheel.
I’ve been asked multiple times how much faster the kart can do this. The answer is most likely 1 to 3 tenths of a second per turn. That’s not much, but racing, of any kind, is a game that consists of maybe hundreds of little things. So even though a tenth of a second isn’t much, if you find 10 things that give you a lot more speed, all of a sudden it’s a full second. And that’s a lot on any track!
Kart racing tire balancers are sold in many go kart stores including mine. http://smokinjoeracing.com