Charlie's Crawler Phase 2

[CharliesTheMan]

Yeah the pro-line's work pretty good. I have a set of MSD aluminum beadlocks, and they hold a bead like no other. The way that the lip is designed in the wheels works REALLY good.

The rock rings pictured were machined by a guy at RCC and they work great.

 

[slowngreen]

what tires are those on the silver rims/locks?

 

[WoodiE]

Good looking truck Charlie!



-Michael

 

[CharliesTheMan]

The tires in all the pics in this thread are the Losi Rock Claws. I have a set of Pro-Line Hammer's that I use for practicing and just relaxing, and the Claws for the competitions. I'm about to order a set of the Panther crawling tires (cougar I think) to try them out.

 

[slowngreen]

i assume the claws and the hammers probably both do better than the lizards?

 

[CharliesTheMan]

Yeap, A LOT better. On a scale of 1 to 10, I would give the stock lizards a 3, the hammers an 8, and the Rock Claws a 9. When you replace the tires, it will seem like you've just spent 300 on suspension, because it will crawl and handle the terrain so much better. If you get the hammers, be sure to get the M2 compound. I wouldn't think there would be that much difference, but apparently there is. When the Hammers came out in M3 compound, a lot of guys ran out and bought them just to do some testing, and they were very dissapointed. Then when they released the M2, a lot of the people that didn't like the M3 changed their minds about the hammers. I would have thought that most of the big comp guys would like the softer tire, but I guess it was just too soft.

 

[slowngreen]

I'm gonna have to check into some of those then, the claws are better but prolly alot more money huh? but if u give the lizards a 3 and the hammers an 8, i'll probably just go hammers.

 

[CharliesTheMan]

No, the rock claws are very inexpensive, cheaper than the hammers, but they don't have the memory foam with them, unless you buy a set on ebay that has the claws and memory foam. If not though, you can just trim your foam or buy the memory foam for around $15.

 

[griemar]

memory foam

I've seen you mention the use of memory foam a few times now. What is the difference with regular tire foam vs. the memory foam? I'm also curious if it makes a difference with all rigs or just the crawlers? Thanks

 

[CharliesTheMan]

With crawlers, you basically want to have a very low tire pressure. It's like the hummer technique. The hummers have a Central Tire Inflation System, so when you go off road you can deflate the air pressure in the tires for traction. WIth a crawler, you're not running at high speeds so you don't need higer tire presure. The memory foams are lightyears ahead of regular foam. WIth regular foam, you have to trim it so that it will support the tire some, yet still compress over obstacles. The regular foam is stiffer and pushes back against the obstacles. The mempry foam countours to the obstacles and kind of absorbs the impact and slowly forms back. WIth the memory foam, you don't even really have to trim it.

 

[griemar]

Ahh, so in a sense the memory foam will allow the tire to "wrap around" the object and grab onto of it, thus giving added traction. Where as a racing tire I want a firm foam that will push against the track, reducing drag and keeping the traction "patch" where it belongs and reducing roll. To put it in Lehman's terms anyhow, lol.

 

[CharliesTheMan]

Yeap that's right, at high speeds, you want the tire to be perfectly round and balanced, yet just soft enough to leave a good contact patch. Kind of like running 30 psi in a road race tire. For crawling, you want the tire to conform to the terrain, like running 10 psi in an off road tire.

 

[griemar]

Makes perfect sense actually. I have limited race experience (ran micro sprint for a few months) so I'm somewhat familiar with the jargon/logistics.

 

[slowngreen]

yeah it does make sense and is really cool when u think about it...is it the same stuff used in the memery foam beds?

 

[CharliesTheMan]

yeap, same stuff, but the mattress that I've been in were very firm and uncomfortable, when I took the foam out of my tires last night, I couldn't believe how soft it still was after all this time, it was like a cuddly teddy bear and still in mint condition.

 

[slowngreen]

so does the big body rub at all on the front of the fenders?

 

[CharliesTheMan]

I just got my new axial body and MIP driveshafts. Man these MIP's are absolutely beautiful. I'll have some pics of the body up later, and maybe the shafts as well. Anyone want to see my body and my shaft?

 

[slowngreen]

ha ha, i'll pass on your body and shaft visual.

 

[Rolex]

lmfao!!!