daigo

Well, actually both. The dust from inside the tires can cause them to plug. I've just given the tires a good cleaning on the inside before mounting. From there on it's just the valves.

TD in DC

Can moisture in the tires cause the valves to malfunction?

The air tank at Summit Point is notorious for being full of moisture . . .

kurt M

Crud can make them leak or stick. As was said, clean the tire inside befor mounting and maintain the pressure valves and there is little problem (they are very simple devices as is setting them) My guess is that some folks try them or have an idea of what they do without having the full kit or story. Not having the pressure setting tool would make them a PITA to use in my book.

TD I have the full set if you want to see it or how it works.

TD in DC

Yes I do. So you use them currently, or you just have them for the "future."

TD

Janni

Spoke to Longacre. These were originally designed and used for circle track racing so the guy at Longacre didn't know to much about how they would work in a road racing application - i.e. would they fit in a standard BBS wheel valve stem hole, etc.

They referred me to Hoerr Racing.

Spoke wtih Brian at Hoerr. They have several customers using them. Here are the highlights:

1. they should fit in the standard valve stem hole of my BBS wheels. That would require using the Quick Change adapter. (I wold prefer to be able to TRY them first without drilling a second set of holes in my wheels)

2. Setting them is reasonably easy - esp if you want the high end of the scale - 38 PSI (I would want mine all the same, as we set up the car for equal pressures)

3. Dirt can cause them to fail. Shouldn't be an issue with road racing - unless you are a frequent dirt / grass mower. But this is a concern. they have covers to put on them for storage / cleaning purposes.

4. In order to ADD air to them, you have to remove the tirelief and screw in the "inflation adapter" - making hte between session pressure setting a little more complicated - esp since they will have cooled and lowered the pressures. Currently - we just monitor them and make adjustments - but you'd pretty much have to always add air (nitorgen) between run sessions to make the most of these. Alternatively - you can retian the standard valve stem if you want to drill the separate hole for the tirelief.... trade offs..... perhaps I would drill AFTER I decided to make them a permanent addition - in order to retain a standard valve stem and make bleeding / purging / refilling easier.

5. Still trying to determine legality for my series. Any of your thoughts on that? It's a spec series that says in the rules that if a modification isn't specifically listed as APPROVED - it isn't. Or - is this just another way to manage tire pressures - other than standing on pit road and bleeding air down during the session????

Still debating. Answer to number 5 will most likely determine if I experiment with these. I'll also talk to some other pro teams to see if they have ever used them / thought about it....

Will keep you posted if I decide to use them.

Hope this helps.

OGRacing

Kurt

Dave Coleman was using the tireliefs years before I started using his services. He used them in SCCA and swore by them. We started using them on the OG Racing car in 1992. Once he instructed me on the use and care of them we had only 1 or 2 problems in over 75 race weekends. We didn't use the removable type with the setting tool/gauge. Dave drilled and tapped the wheels and screwed them in with teflon tape. One of my tasks was tire pressures. We used nitrogen because it was already available. Once I knew what the pressures that we wanted it was an easy task to adjust to the desired pressure. Virtually a set and forget. Dirt wasn't a big issue. There are caps that are available to cover them when washing the wheels/car. Had to replace a spring one time. With the Goodyear slicks it was a big advantage to have the tires at operating pressure at the first turn. True they weren't at the operating temp yet but they came up a lot faster then if we started at 6-10 lbs below the 19-21lbs that we ran when hot. I've sold a lot of them. One of the sanctioning bodies (can't remember which one, maybe a dirt track group) stated that you could only have 1 hole in the rim so they came out with some that would accept a schrader valve to fill the tire and then you removed it and installed the bleeders. Some times at the end of a race they would continue bleeding off pressure even after the car was back at the trailer. Not over bleeding as the pressure was still correct but picking up heat from the engine/brakes/exhaust. Just my 2 cents worth of experience.

Bill Love

bgiere

Janni, ditto on the info from Lonagacre...glad you were able to speak with Hoerr...I am going to try these...I will be at the NASA Nationals at Mid-Ohio and won't have time to get these installed, but after that I will drill a set of rims and see how they work for the rest of the season...OGRacing, do you sell these?

mooty

i dont know if i trust anything made by longacre. i have 6 of their very top of the line and expensive tire pressure gauges, all six show different readings and some quite off then the others. furthermore, each develop weird problems after few months of use (yes, i am very careful with them, wrapped in towels, not exposed to sun, water and never dropped).

daigo

There are many companies making these, but they are fairly basic. BTW, most tire pressure gauges vary.
Bryan at Hoerr racing (www.hrpworld.com) is a great help with this or anything you need regarding road racing. I have no ties to them other than a long time extremely satisfied customer. Although we've never met in person. Bryan has helped me out time and time again over the years with their long time road racing experience.

OGRacing

We have them in stock. They are 57.96.

Bill

daigo

Sorry about that Bill. Of course I would recommend buying from a Rennlist supporter first, especially one with racing experience such as yourself.


Cheers