RC Solutions Nitro Rustler Roll Cage

October 13, 2004

RCS Package

When you purchase your Nitro Rustler roll cage you will need these things handy. Some Hex Drivers or Allen Wrenches, Loctite, and a little patience to read through all of the directions supplied with your purchase to assemble your roll cage. The supplied directions are in full color, great detail and will seem like installing the cage a breeze. If you choose not to use Loctite the screws will rattle loose and fall out. I experienced this myself.

Assembly:

The assembly of the roll cage went pretty smooth; I ran into a couple speed bumps that I will explain later. The instructions list how many screws come with and what screw goes where. I separated every screw and every part and started to remove the upper chassis that was previously installed. When installing the new aluminum upper chassis I ran into my first and second speed bump, since my truck is not completely stock I have an aftermarket front shock tower which is not as wide as the stock one so the tabs on the new upper chassis would not fit through this shock tower.

I tried all different angles to fit the chassis through but it just wouldn't go, then I grabbed some pliers and bend one of the tabs in slid it through the shock tower and bent it back. When I went to place the rear cage mount to my bulkhead I ran into my second problem, I don't have a stock bulkhead I have an aluminum bulkhead and the specific company I was using didn't have the screws on top of the bulkhead to screw the mount on so I had to swap my aluminum bulkhead with the stock one.

The aluminum top plate was now nicely assembled and already looks gorgeous. Next was assembly of the cage before placing it on the truck, this stage also went smooth the only complications I went through was putting the cage into their desired slots, it took a little pressure but it worked. Then the cage went on the truck, had no problems there. After installing the cage I grabbed an old Atomik R/C pre painted body and dremeled out the back of the body so the cage would fit, didn't take much time and looks great with the body on.

RCS Rollcage

Disassembly:

Need to take off your cage for some reason? Well to disassemble the cage will only cost you about 10 minutes and 10 minutes to re-assemble the cage. If you do want to drive with your cage off of your truck you can still run with the aluminum upper chassis.

Performance:

After everything was screwed on tight, all the electronics where wired it was time for the test. If you don't use the Easy Start system from Traxxas you have nothing to worry about, A glow plug igniter can work just fine. The first thing I can say is that there was no loss in torque or power with the weight. It held up very strong with the many rollovers I went through while jumping and bashing my new found Nitro Rustler. This cage will now protects the valuable cooling head connected to the engine, and the electronics. After some hardcore bashing I brought the truck in for a refuel and check up on the cage and noticed that I had lost some screws on the truck. The directions say to use loctite on the 1st page but I was to anxious and wanted to test it ASAP.

RCS rollcage installed

Conclusion:

The R/C Solutions roll cage not only makes your ride look flashy and stylish but it protects the most valuable parts on your truck. If you bash your Nitro Rustler you should be the person purchasing this cage. Before this cage I went through cracked cooling heads, cracked motor mounts, and a busted crankcase. Those damages almost total up to this roll cage. It is worth the money spent. It will end up saving you money while making your ride look awesome!

Scores:

StrengthRating: 10/10 – Damage within the cage is almost impossible

Assembly Rating: 10/10 – Only took about 45 minutes to an hour to build.

Tooling Around: 9.5/10 – You can get to most of everything with the cage on besides some engine screws