Tire shaving

[Greybrick]

Given that most tires become more efficient as the tread wears have any looked at shaving tires as a way to reduce friction caused by tread block wiggle and to give tires a lower rolling resistance;

"Tire shaving is an effective means of permitting more of a tire's performance capability to be realized early in its life. Tire shaving removes tread rubber and reduces tire weight by several pounds. A shaved tire's tread profile will usually result in a slight increase in the width of the tire's contact patch putting a little more rubber on the road. The resulting shallower tread depths reduce the tire's slip angle, increases its responsiveness and help stabilize its cornering power by minimizing tread block squirm. Minimizing tread block squirm also reduces heat buildup and the risk of making the tire go "off" by overheating its tread compound. And in many cases, shaved tires used in competition actually have a longer useful life than tires that begin being run at full tread depth."

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tirete....jsp?techid=67

[Greybrick]

Originally Posted by theclencher

iyde rather let them shave themselves

Ever notice that the top half of the tread seems to shave itself off a lot quicker than the bottom usable half?

[GasSavers_Randy]

I don't think anybody shaves normal tires. Tire rack is talking about gumball tires, and they don't last very long in the first place.

If you want less tread, why not buy used tires? They aren't very popular (as mounting and balancing eats up much of the savings), but they do exist and they're dirt cheap. Go to a junkyard and you can get tires on rims pretty cheap... perfect for A/B testing the tread block theory.

[Greybrick]

Originally Posted by Randy

I don't think anybody shaves normal tires.

Actually tire shaving is used for other reasons rather than just for track use;

Matching Tires By Shaving Them to Maintain Equivalent Tire Tread Depths

[Sludgy]

I'd love to see people driving with shaved tire in snow or rain........ A demolition derby.

[Greybrick]

Originally Posted by Sludgy

I'd love to see people driving with shaved tire in snow or rain........ A demolition derby.

Given that tires wear and from road use get 'shaved' about 99.999% or more of the vehicles on the street are being driven on 'shaved' tires of varying degrees. State of the art Michelin LLR tires Eco-Energy tires start their life at about 9/32's but for my application they don't build an Eco-Energy size.

[kamesama980]

I'll sell you my naturally shaved tires :-p

[101mpg]

You might look into siping your tires and get the best of both worlds.

I can tell you from real-world experience that it's a good thing. The tires last a LOT longer, it's cheap (bargain with them - sometimes you can talk the tire guys into siping for free if you buy a set of 80,000 mile warranty tires, etc.), and I've gotten over 120,000 miles out of a single set of tires this way. I noticed about 1/2 MPG increase on that particular vehicle (EPA 26, real-world 36 hwy).

[Greybrick]

Thanks for the confirmation 101, I first heard of shaving tires from guys that used to talk about extending tire wear and improving economy on 1930's gravel haul trucks who laughed at the lack and loss of knowledge by the military during the second war, but recently saw similar ideas for track racing. I'll take a look at the siping end.

Cheers.

.

[mustngr]

Tire shaving (or truing) also increases carcass life. Eliminate any out-of-round condition present in the tire when new. And yes, I guaranty even your high-dollar designer tires ain't nearly round from the day they're born. You'd be surprised.

Lot of us old farts have been doing it forever. Lotta young (farts) need to be convinced of the advantages.

The same is true of siping, but only if it's done properly. Proper for a street tire is different from proper for an offroad tire. Make sure your guy knows what he's doing.