Johnson954
January 21st, 2009, 22:18
Well, I went to Custom and Commercial and had two 16X4 steel wheels made (check out the picture). I think they turned out pretty cool, and I think it could be a great added feature to our class. I’ll let the numbers explain why…
The wheels first of all weigh about ½ pound less (16.15 lbs) than the current 15X5 rear challenger wheel (16.6 lbs). I asked Ray at C&C how cheap he could make the wheel, and for a couple of reasons it is $105. Part of that is the only way to get the 16X4 shell is to order a 16X4 wheel and cut the center out, and then out of a sheet of steel he can normally get 4, 15” centers cut out across, and to do the 16”, he can get only 3, leaving unusable steel.
I called Kartek and the current rear Challenger wheel is running $75.99 for the racer discount….so about $30 more a wheel. Kinda sucks, but stick with me because it gets better.
I checked on tires. At Kartek the current price for a M/T 33” tire is $200, and they only sell M/T tubes now, and they are $90!!!! The Yoks are cheaper at $160, but you would still have to use the tube. At McKenzies the tires are the same price, but you can get a tube for $25…pays to shop around.
I went by Town and Country tire in Victorville, and they have a 10ply 16” trailer tire for $90, and the tubes run $15. These tires are 31” tall not mounted….I would think they would be a little taller when aired up on a 4” wide rim. I took my little bathroom scale and weighed them and it showed 40 lbs.
I measured one of my mounted Yoks and it was 31 1/8 inches tall, and one of my mounted M/T’s was about 31 ½ inches tall, both of the tires are worn, so they would probably be a little taller new. I also weighed each of them, mounted with tubes and they both weighed 59 lbs. I don’t know what the 16” trailer tire would weigh mounted with a tube, but 16 + 40 = 56 lbs + tube…would probably be very close to the same.
So broken down here is the cost:
WHEEL / TIRE / TUBE / TOTAL
$76 (15”) + $200 (M/T)+ $25= $301
$76 (15”) + $160 (YOK)+ $25= $261
$105 (16”)+ $90 (Trailer Tire)+ $15= $210
So that is a $50 to $90 saving per wheel, and that is only when you are buying the wheel and tire together. If you are only replacing a tire, you would save $80 to $120 per tire!!! And being, that you’re running a 10ply trailer tire, you most likely won’t replace as many. I know initially it would be a cost to start running 16” wheels, but I don’t see that it would result in a performance advantage, so it would not be necessary to do if you didn’t want to. For those just starting out though, it could be a huge cost savings.
Let me know what you guys think. If I can get enough people interested, maybe like 15 to 20, I’ll send this info along with the racer names to Bill Savage, and he said he would consider amending the rule to allow the 16” rims. You can PM me if you are interested or just respond here.
52467
The wheels first of all weigh about ½ pound less (16.15 lbs) than the current 15X5 rear challenger wheel (16.6 lbs). I asked Ray at C&C how cheap he could make the wheel, and for a couple of reasons it is $105. Part of that is the only way to get the 16X4 shell is to order a 16X4 wheel and cut the center out, and then out of a sheet of steel he can normally get 4, 15” centers cut out across, and to do the 16”, he can get only 3, leaving unusable steel.
I called Kartek and the current rear Challenger wheel is running $75.99 for the racer discount….so about $30 more a wheel. Kinda sucks, but stick with me because it gets better.
I checked on tires. At Kartek the current price for a M/T 33” tire is $200, and they only sell M/T tubes now, and they are $90!!!! The Yoks are cheaper at $160, but you would still have to use the tube. At McKenzies the tires are the same price, but you can get a tube for $25…pays to shop around.
I went by Town and Country tire in Victorville, and they have a 10ply 16” trailer tire for $90, and the tubes run $15. These tires are 31” tall not mounted….I would think they would be a little taller when aired up on a 4” wide rim. I took my little bathroom scale and weighed them and it showed 40 lbs.
I measured one of my mounted Yoks and it was 31 1/8 inches tall, and one of my mounted M/T’s was about 31 ½ inches tall, both of the tires are worn, so they would probably be a little taller new. I also weighed each of them, mounted with tubes and they both weighed 59 lbs. I don’t know what the 16” trailer tire would weigh mounted with a tube, but 16 + 40 = 56 lbs + tube…would probably be very close to the same.
So broken down here is the cost:
WHEEL / TIRE / TUBE / TOTAL
$76 (15”) + $200 (M/T)+ $25= $301
$76 (15”) + $160 (YOK)+ $25= $261
$105 (16”)+ $90 (Trailer Tire)+ $15= $210
So that is a $50 to $90 saving per wheel, and that is only when you are buying the wheel and tire together. If you are only replacing a tire, you would save $80 to $120 per tire!!! And being, that you’re running a 10ply trailer tire, you most likely won’t replace as many. I know initially it would be a cost to start running 16” wheels, but I don’t see that it would result in a performance advantage, so it would not be necessary to do if you didn’t want to. For those just starting out though, it could be a huge cost savings.
Let me know what you guys think. If I can get enough people interested, maybe like 15 to 20, I’ll send this info along with the racer names to Bill Savage, and he said he would consider amending the rule to allow the 16” rims. You can PM me if you are interested or just respond here.
52467