How to read go kart tire sizes

Ever thought to yourself, "I wonder what size go kart tire I have". Well ponder no more! Here we will teach you how to read any go kart tire or tube size. From racing to concession.

Below is an info graph to help explain the process visually.

Link to the product pictured above If the info graph wasn't enough, don't worry. We'll talk you through it. Figuring out what size go kart tire you need is really important because most go kart tire companies don't offer returns or refunds. The good news though is it's not hard once you get hang of it.

With that said, lets get started.

First thing you have to do is find the numbers

Once you've got a tire in hand, start looking for the largest set of numbers located on the side. They will look something like this "12x4.00-5". See image below for more detail.

Understanding the numbers

When it comes to reading the size of your tire, all the numbers listed are in inches (yes, even in Europe and Asia). Note that the "x" "-" and "/" are just other ways of saying "by". So a 12x4.00-5 tire will often be referred to as a 12 by 4 by 5 (verbally). The same concept would apply to a 4.10/3.50-4 inner tube.

- First and typically the largest number is going to be how tall the tire is from top to bottom. For example a 12x4.00-5 tire is 12 inches tall.

- The second number is the tire and rim width. Which would make our example tire and rim 4.00 inches wide.

- Our last number represents how tall the rim is. Making the rim 5 inches tall in our example.

Summary

A 12x4.00-5 go kart tire would be 12 inches tall, 4.00 inches wide, and fit to a 5 inch tall rim. The rims width is typically the same as the tires. 4.00 in this case.

That's it!

You should have everything you need to understand your go kart tire or inner tube size. Hope this guide helped.

Thanks for reading!