Front drag tires questions...

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Aug 9, 2022 | 06:56 PM

aceinthesky

Thread Starter

Instructor

Joined: Oct 2017

Posts: 142

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From: Houston, Tx

Front drag tires questions...

I have a set of rear f14 17's on Hoosier 28 bias-ply, I'm looking to get front runners, 17 f14. My question is this, since I want to run the front bias-ply tires I saw that they all come at 4.5 wide, idk if I should get the forgestar 5 or 4.5 wide front wheel, it seems everyone runs the 5 inch wide ones. The tire recommends a maximum of 4.5 wide wheel.

Second question, I'm getting all kinds of errors because of the current wheel size difference, front 25.5 vs rear 28, can I get away with a 26.5 tire, or do I need a 27 to 27.5 in the front.

Aug 9, 2022 | 08:38 PM

SG4247

Pro

Joined: Sep 2011

Posts: 520

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This is an excellent tire. I’ll never buy MT again for the front. Been over 150 many times with this and it’s very good.

ForgeStar fronts 17”x 5” - 26 weight is 16.0#

Hoosier LT 26 x 7.5R17 fronts 22# 25.9” tall

#38 Total

(25-1/8” loaded on car @ 40psi)

When I ran the Hoosier 4.5” bias ply, it was on a 4.5” wheel. Don’t think it would look right on a 5” wheel.

I get the Nannies with the current set up 25” Rear - 25” Front - also, so I just put it in competition mode and forget about it.

Last edited by SG4247; Aug 9, 2022 at 08:54 PM.

Aug 9, 2022 | 08:54 PM

aceinthesky

Thread Starter

Instructor

Joined: Oct 2017

Posts: 142

Likes: 8

From: Houston, Tx

Quote:

Originally Posted by SG4247

Nice thanks for the tip, but those are radials and I'm running plias-ply in the rear. I read when you mix radial and plias-ply makes the car unstable.

Aug 10, 2022 | 12:56 AM

HOXXOH

Race Director

Joined: Sep 2007

Posts: 16,557

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From: Peoria/Phoenix AZ

C6 of Year Finalist (performance mods) 2019

I ran 275/40x17 Hoosier DR's on 17x9.5 A-molds (total 42# ea) and M&H 26" skinnies on '04-'06 GTO 17" spares (total 26#ea) for years and never experienced any stability issues. Generally ran 40psi up front and 18-20psi on the back. Had 60' times in the 1.48-1.54 range with mph 125+.

That combo won't work on your GS unless you change to JL9 brakes, but I just wanted to point out that mixing radial and bias ply tires is not as big of a concern on straight line racing.

Aug 10, 2022 | 09:43 AM

da6speed

Burning Brakes

Joined: Jun 2003

Posts: 846

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From: Knoxville TN

My Weld Alumastars are 17x4.5 and I run the MT 26x6x17 fronts; they fit nice and don't bulge or look out of place on the wheel.

Also run 305/45R17 (28") rears and have never had any issues/errors.

I'm not going to tell you what type of front runners to run but I see a lot mixing bias ply rears and radial fronts and they say it's not an issue. I have yet to try it on my car with high trap speeds (150+), although I did it years ago with no problem at 120ish trap speeds in heavier cars than a C6.

Aug 10, 2022 | 01:14 PM

493lszosix

Pro

Joined: Dec 2015

Posts: 661

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From: Knoxville TN

I run the 17x5 f14 with m/t sportsman 26x6 radials, they work fine with slicks or bias on the rear, you don’t want to run a full size front tire with bias rear is what causes the sway

I’ve ran bias on the front before but they don’t last as long and don’t handle as good as the radial