SLOWPOKE goes short course racing

[CID]

I've looked at those and talked with them several times. Trying to make your machine faster while hanging a larger flywheel (larger wheels and tires) on each corner, plus once in motion, they (heavier wheel/tire selection) make your machine harder to stop and not as efficient when stopping while increasing brake fluid temps. If you're boiling your the brakes and/or losing the pedal, this generally one of the first places you look. Decreasing rotational mass would put less wear and tear on the driveline and get you up on the cam quicker. Any track car I've had, first thing I sorted was the suspension and brakes, then reducing rotational mass. Clutch, flywheel, driveshaft, brakes and wheels, studs and nuts, then tuning, gearing and discarding non essential weight. Back to the wheels, trail riding is fun in a machine with more power, but I was concerned with the rocks and the trees that seems to run closer to the edge of the trail when I approach. My right front enjoys being sideswiped for some reason? I'm on the bubble on the wheels. They are rebuildable, and definitely carry a spare which I already do.

Thanks, Scrapp, some great racing efficiency insights. 👍

 

[SLOWPOKE693]

I've looked at those and talked with them several times. Trying to make your machine faster while hanging a larger flywheel (larger wheels and tires) on each corner, plus once in motion, they (heavier wheel/tire selection) make your machine harder to stop and not as efficient when stopping while increasing brake fluid temps. If you're boiling your the brakes and/or losing the pedal, this generally one of the first places you look. Decreasing rotational mass would put less wear and tear on the driveline and get you up on the cam quicker. Any track car I've had, first thing I sorted was the suspension and brakes, then reducing rotational mass. Clutch, flywheel, driveshaft, brakes and wheels, studs and nuts, then tuning, gearing and discarding non essential weight. Back to the wheels, trail riding is fun in a machine with more power, but I was concerned with the rocks and the trees that seems to run closer to the edge of the trail when I approach. My right front enjoys being sideswiped for some reason? I'm on the bubble on the wheels. They are rebuildable, and definitely carry a spare which I already do.

I 100% agree with all of this.


I wouldn't even consider these wheels for a trail wheeler. To expensive and not all that strong vs cast beadlocks.

 

[SLOWPOKE693]

Non beadlocks raises some questions -
1. How many competitors run without them?
2. What tire pressures are you running that makes that choice possible?
3. Do those wheels have that 'new' inner beadlock ridge that negates the need for the old syle BLs? They seem to be catching on in the off road racing community for the reasons you mentioned.
4. Even at my <racing speeds, I'll come down hard on a front tire a couple of times a day making me glad I have beadlocks, but I run 8-10 lbs. on all 4 corners.
5. You've been very successful so don't think I'm questioning your motives, they're obviously working.

When I was running the American Racer and Hoosier dirt track tires at 10psi front and 12psi rear beadlocks all the way around were a necessity. With the Hoosier Bites I run now they work best at 18-20psi and beadlocks are not necessary on the fronts. I'll never run non-beadlocked rear wheels though, I learned my lesson but luckily it wasn't the hard way. Trying to make the car accelerate quicker i decided to try 4 rear stock wheels. I won the race that this happened in and the tire didn't loose a single PSI but I think one more corner and I would have went from hero to zero.

 

[SLOWPOKE693]

The titanium beadlock bolts for the rear wheels showed up Friday. They are a 1/2 pound lighter per wheel than the grade 8 bolts I took out.

With the new front wheels and these Ti bolts I'll be pulling another 8lbs of rotating weight out of the car.

I also ordered an Antigravity lithium battery that weights 2.5lbs vs the 14lb gel cell battery I run now.

 

[SLOWPOKE693]

New battery showed up this week along with my new SS braided brake lines.......

Tiny little thing!

And as an added bonus, the fittings from the poly brake line kit I bought a few months ago screw right into the new brake hoses so running them from the master cylinder to the hoses is going to be easy peasy.

 

[SLOWPOKE693]

New front wheels came in yesterday.....

And I made a new roof out of .035 aluminum sheet today that's exactly 10lbs lighter than the old .090 roof I ran last year. Taking 10lbs out of the very top of the chassis is a big win in my book!

 

[SLOWPOKE693]

Got some work done on the car this weekend.....

First I got the tires mounted on the new front wheels and tossed one of them on the trusty garage bathroom scale to see where I was at. It ended up being 3.75lbs per wheel/tire less than the beadlocks so I shaved another 8.5lbs of rotating weight out of the car not counting the 1/2lb of weight I lost with the titanium beadlock bolts on the rear.

After the tires were back on I tackled the seat mount for the new carbon fiber seat I picked up a couple months ago. Due to the design of the bottom of the seat I was able to get my ass several inches lower in the car without moving the computers under the seat.

And I'm throwing in this picture I took at sunset yesterday just because.....

 

[Scrappapotamus]

Just curious how many Big Mac value meals you're eating these days? Getting the all out of your machine is going to make it quicker, handle better and give the ability to carry more speed through the corners and rough considering the suspension isn't working as hard, and braking should be noticeably enhanced as well. Lowering your center of gravity with the new seat smart as well.

 

[TripleB]

Tiny little thing!
View attachment 420047

TWSS!

 

[SLOWPOKE693]

Just curious how many Big Mac value meals you're eating these days? Getting the all out of your machine is going to make it quicker, handle better and give the ability to carry more speed through the corners and rough considering the suspension isn't working as hard, and braking should be noticeably enhanced as well. Lowering your center of gravity with the new seat smart as well.

I'm 6' 2" and 180lbs soaking wet. No room for weight loss in the driver area or I'll have to fill my pockets with rocks so I don't blow away in the Texas wind. 🤣

 

[SLOWPOKE693]

Last night I ordered the adapter fittings I need for the master cylinder and calipers so I can plumb the poly brake lines and remove the ABS unit and all the steel brake lines. I also ordered a new window net mounting kit because MAO changed the rule this season and my old one is now illegal. 😕

 

[SLOWPOKE693]

So things got a little out of hand at the beginning of the week when I went to finalize the seat bracket. I pulled the floors and console out to have a better look at things and figured out pretty quick that I could move all the computers and wiring under the seat over to the passenger side without any issue and then started looking at the shifter/passenger seat mount and decided some things could use lightning so I pulled out the sawzall and with a few snips a bunch of weight fell off the car.....

The bar with the bolts from behind the seats in the last picture is getting replaced with a piece of tubing that will be welded in once I cut the frame side slugs off and cap the ends of the tube.

 

[SLOWPOKE693]

All the parts for the ABS unit removal and dirt car poly brake line install are here and now it's time to rip all that heavy crap out!

 

[SLOWPOKE693]

This thing weights 6.5lbs according to my trusty shop bathroom scale.....

New braided brake hoses and poly line fittings are bolted in.....

Today I'm going to pull the rest of the steel lines out along with the rear brake hoses and get the new rear hoses installed so I can get going on routing the new poly lines along the chassis and up to the master cylinder. Unfortunately I ordered the wrong adapters for the master cylinder so I'll have to wait until mid next week when the new fittings get here to get it all hooked up and bled. 😒

 

[SLOWPOKE693]

Made some progress yesterday.....

 

[SLOWPOKE693]

Later today I'm meeting up with another member from here to trade a set of stock 2019 R front suspension arms for his 2024 Talon R-4 front arms. I'm curious to see how shrinking the WB on my car makes it handle. We had minimum WB rules in roundy round racing so I'm thinking that shortening up the WB on my Talon will be a good thing. We shall see.....

 

[DRZRon1]

Later today I'm meeting up with another member from here to trade a set of stock 2019 R front suspension arms for his 2024 Talon R-4 front arms. I'm curious to see how shrinking the WB on my car makes it handle. We had minimum WB rules in roundy round racing so I'm thinking that shortening up the WB on my Talon will be a good thing. We shall see.....

awesome - how many pounds overall have you dropped?

can't wait to see when you switch to all titanium fasteners on the car and any shots of this fancy driveshaft?

 

[SLOWPOKE693]

awesome - how many pounds overall have you dropped?

can't wait to see when you switch to all titanium fasteners on the car and any shots of this fancy driveshaft?

I won't know how much weight I lost until it's all together and back on the scales but I'm shooting for 1650lbs or less with me in it and full of fuel.

Funny you mentioned the titanium fasteners, I've been looking at this website casually the last few days.....

#1 in Titanium Dirt Bike, ATV and UTV Nuts, Bolts & Parts - RaceTech Titanium

racetechtitanium.com

No carbon fiber driveshaft yet, the front clutch delete parts are still being made.

 

[SLOWPOKE693]

Still no fancy driveshaft but I do have a carbon fiber hood and center console ordered and on their way to me.....

 

[SLOWPOKE693]

Got the front brakes hooked up to the master cylinder and the rear brake line from the master cylinder back to the proportioning valve I mounted to the shifter. Once I get the wiring all straightened out and secured in its new home on the passenger side I'll finish running the brake line from the prop valve to the rear brake tee.