With the cost of my new chassis spiraling way over budjet, I thought I should start looking into the other costs of competitive rock crawling. Being familiar with other motor sports, tires were always a major expense. So, for those of you without tire sponsers, how long does a set of tires last? Am in for a new set for every event? 2? 3 events?
TIA -zags-

depends on what tire...i would say most will last you the whole season

good question. Every other motor sport the tires are more or less only good for one or two events, tops.

i would think with crawling competition the tires would last until they don't hold air.. yea they get cut up and chunked, but sometimes that only makes 'em better.. in other sports the high speeds and heat kills the tires.. but there's none of that to the extreme extent in crawling.. a new set of tires should last for a very long time.. unless they can't hold air anymore..

or if your Mike Palmer, they are good for one good burnout. i wish i could post this picture and you would know what i mean!

Some competitors change tires each weekend, others get several events on them before a change. Tires seem to work best when the block edges are relatively sharp. As tires wear the corners round off and they don't grab edges as well. Usually the tires can be pulled off the wheel and put back on backwards to use the back side edge. To stay competitors you need lots of seat time, be it on the course or just practicing either way plan on using up tires. If your only doing one series you may get through the whole think on one set, but the edges will be worn and they won't work as well as newer tires.

Remember new tires don't hook up well on the rocks till they have been broken in. Run a short trail with your new tires before an event or point the truck toward an unclimbable hill and give the motor a little throttle to get all 4 tires spinning on the rocks. A few seconds of this gets the new top layer of rubber off and makes the tires work much better.

lets not forget about that last burn out ROCKRACER! LoL so how are the Krawlers holding up???:flipoff2:

I have heard that running a fresh set up and down the street at 1-2 psi helps break them in also. My plan is to keep my swampers for trials/practice. and then have a seperate set for comps. MTRs seem to be the economical choice, but the krawlers seem to have a performance advantage. Any opinions on specific tires? I also know someone who knows someone who.....(you get the idea) at Mickey Thompson. what about competition compound M/T claws?
I havent seen many M/Ts at the events I have attended.

the comp claws are too soft IMO. You'll go through a set of those in a weekend event. They wear fast, stick like glue in places like moab and farmington, but don't work great in JV or Las Cruces type situations. The lugs just fold away from ledges instead of grabbing like a swamper. But, when it's flat and vertical, the comp claws are sweet!

Originally posted by elf_cruiser
the comp claws are too soft IMO. You'll go through a set of those in a weekend event. They wear fast, stick like glue in places like moab and farmington, but don't work great in JV or Las Cruces type situations. The lugs just fold away from ledges instead of grabbing like a swamper. But, when it's flat and vertical, the comp claws are sweet!

Really? How many sets have you run on your rig? Have you competed with these tires?

i hear they kickass from tracy jordan, he said they are one of the best tires hes ever had, the soft claws that is, and if it wasnt for a certain sponsorship he would still be running them, they work pretty much everywhere he said, Mike Palmer said he loves his also, they last a pretty decent while from what ive heard and seen, palmer ran his like 8 events i think and messing around on the weekends, and they still looked pretty good, just what ive heard and seen in person:D

well nevermind then:flipoff2:

All the sets i've seen were worn to the point that the lugs were triangular in shape, as opposed to square, when looking from the side. So, that suggests that they are too soft to grab ledges, and from feeling them you can tell that the lugs would just fold away instead of biting. But opinions vary...

Kong's is running comp claws and he loves them, but doesn't compete on them. I know a tire will last a long time, I was just wondering if anyone felt that there was a point when people thought the tire didn't perform as well in a competition. Another thing, how easy is it to sell a used set of comp tires? (let's say a set of krawlers with only a couple of events on them)How much can you expect to sell them for?

Originally posted by zags
Another thing, how easy is it to sell a used set of comp tires? (let's say a set of krawlers with only a couple of events on them)How much can you expect to sell them for?

Seeing that Krawlers haven't made it public yet I'm not sure BFG would be happy with you putting them up for sale :D I know they don't mind it when you lend them to people though.

Yes
the Comp Claws due wear down fast, But they are the best set of tires that, we have ran, They stick like glue, even when you don't want them to, We have ran them now for approx 8 months, and still running them. They seam to hook up forward or backwards, and warm up fast.