trimming tread idea (Asymmetrical)

[4RnrRick]

I've been thinking about this a lot lately and wanted to know if anyone has tried it.....

Lots of people modify the thread on tires to incraese the perfomance of them. But I'm always seeing people modifying them symmetrically around the tire. basically the same modifications all the way around a tire. Wouldn't it be better to make say 1/2, 1/3 or 1/4 of the tire different from the next. so you can have part of your thread tweaked for slick rock stuff (basically a tight tread pattern with a good surface area and siping) and another part for jagged rocks (big open gaps to cling to rock ledges)?

Hope that makes sence...... anywasy I've been thinking about modifing my tires Asymmetrically.......

Any idea on this or has anyone tried it.......

[roktoy]

Have not tried it but it seems to make sense.
Jay

[DirkDigler]

saw someone do it with Kongs. One side was about 1 inch wide and the other half was about 2 inches wide.

CAn't remember who.....but he's on this forum!

[Ace]

Any tire modded by you is modded ASSemetrically!

Sounds like a decent idea. I say try it, if it works I'll copy it like everyother good idea I see.

[DirkDigler]

Yeah....like you copied me with that slinky adjustable wheel base idea!!!!!

[4RnrRick]

Originally Posted by WannaBeDigler

saw someone do it with Kongs. One side was about 1 inch wide and the other half was about 2 inches wide.
can't remember who.....but he's on this forum!

I wasn't refering to the width of the tire being Asymmetrical, but around the tread around the tire..... so if you cut the tire in half and rolled it out flat, it would look like this:

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\.\.\.\.\.\.\.\.\.\.\.\...\...\...\...\...\...\... \...\
/./././././././././././.../.../.../.../.../.../.../.../
\.\.\.\.\.\.\.\.\.\.\.\...\...\...\...\...\...\... \...\
/./././././././././././.../.../.../.../.../.../.../.../
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Or you could osilate from side to side half way around the tire like this:

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\.\.\.\.\.\.\.\.\.\.\.\...\...\...\...\...\...\... \...\
/./././././././././././.../.../.../.../.../.../.../.../
\...\...\...\...\...\...\...\.\.\.\.\.\.\.\.\.\.\. \.\.\
/.../.../.../.../.../.../..././././././././././././././
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basically so you can great two different tread patterns around the tire.

[Ace]

Originally Posted by WannaBeDigler

Yeah....like you copied me with that slinky adjustable wheel base idea!!!!!

I thought I gave you credit on that one???

[DirkDigler]

sorry 4runnerrick

Now I get it! Sounds good. Let us know if it works.

Ace,
No...you never posted a thread, stating who came up with that idea!
That's alright........as long as you and I know that it was my idea first!haha

[JasonInAugusta]

Rick... here's my thoughts. (last time I checked, they amount to less than $.02)

The problem I see with a tire such as the one you're describing is that if part of the tread (or compound) works, the other half might not. Inconsistent performance. Your 2nd pattern would be the more consistant of the two.

The way I see it, you're buying two sets of tires to cut up and hope they work when you intermingle the tread/compound.

It'd be much less work to buy the two sets of tires, glue'm up to two sets of wheels and take'm with you when wheeling and swap out if needed.

I'm sure companies like BFG and Pro-Comp (and several other tire manufacturers) have tried this idea (they've the R&D resources to do so). If the idea ever worked out we'd have seen such tires on the market by now and Pro Rock buggies would be running such a tire.

But...they don't. A consistent tread pattern yeilds consistant, predictable performance.

Find a tire that works best, improve on it by narrowing, siping, adding lugs, etc...

Just my thoughts. ;)

[4RnrRick]

but with an automotive tire, you need to keep the tire balanced for high speed use. maybe high speed is the wrong term - but in any way teh tire needs to stay round..... for these little rock crawlers we don't need that. that is what I was thinking......create a tire that when you start to slip and and turn over to the other side which might be gripper since it has bigger gaps in teh tires or more surface area.......

But I do see what your saying, hence the reason why I posted it to talk about.

[JasonInAugusta]

Keeping it balanced isn't the issue, consistant traction is. If the tire has a circumference of 18.8 inches (6" tire) and you splice two tread patterns together, you might have a tire that works well for 1/2 the rotation...or 9" of distance. If the other portion of the tire slips, you're hosed.

[KidWithAcrayon]

Like jason said, you would have trouble running your tire that way. I would just switch your idea around.I think you should run the tread pattern with the lugs and stuff wider apart, and have the inner part of the tire with the lugs close together.

[stlcrawler]

Good Year uses an asymetrical patern on some of its wrangler tires. The idea there is to have a tight lug pattern on the outside shoulder for cornering and an opern type patern on the inside for dirt/gravel/snow. If I were doing it I would use tighter lugs on say 1/4 width of the tire then open up the tread for the rest.

[DeezUU]

FWIW , the original Dick Cepek FunCountry had a pattern like the 1st . It was tightly spaced then graduated to an open spaced . I believe it did this 3 times around the tire . The theory was that it would give different levels of grip at different RPMs . I don't know if it worked , but it does make a tad bit of sense ! I had 36" FCs on my 1st Yota for about a year before I even noticed the difference in tread space and when I rotated em the 1st time .... I had to do a double take ! Not sure if the new FC Kevlars do the same .... but I just thought I'd add my $.02 .