Upgrade your tires:


The most cost effective upgrade for and AX-10, or any crawler, is tires.  Well, tires and wheel weights.  As of this update, 01-15-10, the HotBodies Rovers are the tires to have.  These tires will enhance the performance of your crawler on all surfaces, will increase your axle clearance, and are one of the most important upgrades you can make.

The stock tires are just too stiff to crawl in Comp situations.  The truck will not have enough grip to maintain some lines and clear some obstacles.  They do work ok for bashing around, but you will notice a huge difference switching to new high-performance tires.

Along with the tires, adding weights to the wheels will make a big difference in the way your rig will stick to the rocks and climb vertical obstacles.  Opinions vary on how much to add to each wheel.  It really depends on if you are running aluminum or plastic riums, and how you like the rig to feel on the rocks.  You might try between 6 and 11 ounces in each front and half of that in each rear.  Weights are added on the tire side of the rim, underneath the foam inserts. 

Speaking of foam inserts .....  With the Rovers, everyone has a different foam combo.  Most have decided that the stock foam allow too much dead band between the foam insert and the tire.  Try adding a buggy foam underneath the stock foam.  Or, try Pro-Lines Two Stage foams.  Either way, you might try a little stiffer foam in the rear.  The idea is to have the fronts deform and grab the rocks for better traction.  But, the rears need to be a little stiffer, so they do not deform when crawling vertical.  This will cause the rig to wheelie and flip over. 

Another good trick is memory foams.  You can try them in the front only, or front and rear.  Opinions vary on how effective the idea is behind them, but many crawler guys use them with success.  Pro-Line and Team Losi offer memory foam options.

Ok, make that tire change and get crawling!

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Jake's Performance Hobbies
6650 Commerce Blvd. #21
Rohnert Park, CA 94928
Telephone: (707) 586-3375