Are you skeptical of the uses of titanium, whether it be the price and benefits or its durability and longevity? These are all fair questions. Titanium has hit the karting market hard in the last year or two, with more products being offered than ever before. The price of titanium is definitely a factor to be considered. The beauty of more products being offered is that you do not have to buy them all, all at once. Many that I have sold these products to bought a little at a time and before you know it your kart is outfitted with quite a bit of it. I have always said, keep racing fun. If it is not fun anymore, people quit. We all have to stay within our own personal budgets. As soon as we get out of our budgets, the sport becomes more than just a hobby. As that happens, some would say it becomes business and at the very least gets way more serious. It is at that point that moment that the sport becomes easy to lose sight of what got you started and what keeps you going, especially with kids. So, as I say, keep the fun!
A lot of what is out there is hardware items. Nuts and bolts that can be used to reduce rotating mass. Reducing rotating mass is where most are really looking as far as benefits and are making the biggest gains. Anywhere you can reduce the rotating mass is going to give you benefits. This reduces your overall weight so you can focus more on weight placement, meaning you can put the weight on where you need it most but also reduce your rotating weight. This essentially gives you two benefits in one, which in this sport does not happen at every turn or rather very rarely. Reducing your rotating weight gives you better acceleration on your starts and also on turn exit. Your kart will accelerate faster any time your momentum gets slowed, giving you better recovery or just plain exit the turn faster, equating to more straightaway speed and faster lap times.
Titanium has been in the karting industry for over twenty years. I ran titanium in the early 2000’s on my karts with great success that I sourced from various places like McMaster Carr and other places. Back then I ran titanium rotors, wheel studs and lug nuts and even ran a titanium axle that I still have to this day. I never had a rotor blow up or catch fire. I never had a wheel stud break. We did, however, torque our wheels on back then. People would ask why we were torquing our wheels on and we would just say we did not want them to fall off, which was true, but little did they know, we had a grade 2 equivalent titanium wheel stud and nut holding the tire on. Titanium is a different metal. It has a stronger strength to weight ratio than steel but is still soft compared to a steel wheel stud for example. You still want to be careful tightening stuff up. I advise to set proper torque still. Each hardware product on my website has torque specs in the description. Titanium hardware will have great longevity if the proper care to clean and torque is observed.
Titanium is a highly corrosion resistant metal that is best known for its strength, durability, and lightweight properties. Titanium excels in extreme temperature environments due to its high melting point and impressive fatigue strength. In addition to its superior corrosion resistance, titanium maintains its strength and stability at high temperatures. Titanium has a low coefficient rate of linear expansion, compared to other metals, meaning it has low distortion values in accordance to temperature changes. Titanium is around 45% lighter than steel. All these properties make titanium an excellent choice for demanding applications. It is not just about surviving the heat, titanium thrives in harsh environments! That is why titanium is the ideal and premium choice for extreme environments in racing applications!
Therefore, your lug nuts and studs or other hardware will not corrode like steel will, nor will your clutch components. Your rotors and clutch plates will not warp or rust as easy, making the durability and longevity of your components last longer. All these benefits are why aerospace companies, the military and Nasa have been using titanium for a multitude of components for decades. In short, get you some, be safe, have fun and enjoy.
If you have any further questions or concerns, you can always reach out to me through the various channels on this site or social media. Thank you for taking the time to read this and explore our website.
Randy Tredway