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Those Renegades look great on there, nice work.

Nice color combo, looks great!

Looks great. Really liking that body on the LMT, you don't see that one used too much.

I like the sponsor plates, nice work. I remember looking at that chassis and wondering how you would add them with that odd shape, you came up with a great solution. I like that you made them out of metal, helps get some more weight down in the chassis.

This is a great idea, can't believe I never thought of it. I'm an idiot and broke my original Mad Bull body and have not gotten a replacement yet. I have a ton of 10-11" wheelbase Proline/JConcepts bodies in the garage, going to lay a few on top and see if anything is workable. Great idea!

I don't have much helpful input, but that Stampede looks awesome! Something about it just speaks to me. I race my Stampede in our 2wd monster truck class and have actually done pretty well with it. Mine is a stock truck with 12t 550 power and initially I too had major issues with wheelies all the time, especially on carpet. Ended up adding a bunch of wheel weights to the front as you did but didn't cure the problem. Ended up loosening the slipper and its a lot better as far as not lifting the front end all the time. As far as handling I just chalk it up to being a Stampede and haven't worried about it much, but it's definitely understeery at the limit, especially on power as you said. Trying to think about it and not sure longer arms would help, but it sounds like a worthwhile endeavor. I think being 2wd with big tires its always going to push like that but could be wrong. Now that I think about it...My truck runs stock front wheels on both front & rear with the fronts having spacers to make the width even. As far as I remember this did not change or improve the handling much. Definitely interested to see the results if you move forward with it, wouldn't mind adding some more stability to my truck if there's a solution.

-20 and snowing? I'm cold just thinking about it. It's dipping into the 30s here overnight and I'm already freezing. Good luck up there As far as the gearing, by all means go with what you already have lying around and go from there. I typically just throw the stock 14t Axial pinions in all of my trucks for the initial test (no matter what motor is in there) and then tune as necessary. Monster truck gearing is not nearly as critical as some think. I spent last night regearing all of my Sport Mod race trucks from stock 14/56 to 17/54 and if there's an increase in speed I can't tell...I'm sure there is, but hardly noticeable and that's a pretty big jump ratio-wise.

Agree 100% on buying an RTR LMT, I personally would never do it. All of mine were either Rollers or used basket cases. $650 is a lot for any RC, especially one that you'd want to dump more money into.

Definitely solid theories and all make sense, who knows the real reason. It most likely has something to do with the "cool factor" of buying a high end chassis and building it yourself. I totally get that and do the same, but if something works I'm going to use it and the LMT has been good to me so far. Even my SoCal Monsters Warpath (which is about as good as you can get) is just slightly behind a properly modded LMT in my book. If I had to choose one truck to win one race it would be my LMT. I like the analogy with the Camaro, but I dsiagree that the 4th gens are dated - I think they're actually becoming cool again But I like all of that late 80's, early 90's stuff since that's what was around and cheap when I was first getting into real cars. Probably not a bad idea to have skipped it though, the build quality on those was just awful...I've had a few Camaros/Formulas, both 3rd and 4th gen, and they are pretty bad cars all around. Other than being decently fast there's not much to like there.

Just picked up two more used LMTs for future projects...I keep saying no more and then more just leep finding me. Wondering when it will stop but I just enjoy building these so much I can't. Also picked up another cheap CPE Carbon chassis from a fellow racer. Was going to throw LMT axles under it but decided against it, going to give Ryft axles/transmission a shot. Have to say I'm still impressed with the LMT. I have been racing two of mine hard for the past year or so and not a single breakage or issue. I don't bash them like some of the morons I see breaking them constantly, but when used as intended these trucks are absolutely bulletproof. One of my race trucks is still running the V1 axles and no issues. It's also surprising that I don't see nearly as many as I thought I would at the various races I attend. Granted, most of the racers have custom-chassis trucks that cost 2-3X what an LMT costs, but I routinely win with my modded LMTs and sometimes its not even close. Not sure what the aversion to them is, but to each their own I guess. I say that to wonder who the real target audience for these trucks is? Obviously Horizon/Losi wants everyone to buy one, but it seems they are being accepted more by the casual monster community and basher community rather than the racing community. Yes, most clubs have stock LMT classes and I know a few guys in TK run them in Pro Mod, but most racers in my area still run their Freestyle, CPE, SCMT, SWMS chassis rather than giving the LMT a shot as a serious racer. I will admit that you can't just take a stock LMT and compete in Pro Mod so it does take some thought/experience to make a proper race truck out of it, but certainly no more than building a race truck from a bare chassis. Sorry for rambling on and don't expect any answers, just figured I'd put it out there. It's a very interesting truck in many ways to me and I've really grown to like it a lot. Hope it stays around in some form for a really long time.

Other than my typical buying (of which nothing I actually needed was on sale, go figure) I grabbed an Axial Ryft Kit from Tower for $250. Have a new monster truck race chassis to put together and rather than using AR60s I figured I'd give Ryft axles a shot, will part the rest of the kit. They're apparently a bit more heavy duty than the AR60s, come with sealed diffs and universals so figured why not try something different for a change.

Almost jumped on that myself. Have a JC 87 Grand National body that I bought a couple years back wanting to match my real car. In the end decided that I would just never use a drag car so didn't go for it. Although at that price its cheap enough to justify a static model...Looks like its on sale until 12/4, may have to pick one up.

Nice save, came out looking good.

It's a really good looking body, truck came out great. Hope its what you were looking to achieve.

I think it looks great! What body is that? Obviously a Toyota, but not sure on the manufacturer, RC4WD?

Another good topic that obviously rings true with a lot of us, and I'd say most hobbyists in general. I usually spend so much time planning out how the finished product will look that as long as I get close I'm happy. To be completely honest there are only a few I've built that I disliked enough from the start to either part them out or rebuild them right away. One was an SCX10 chassis 4-linked to Clod axles to make an "old school" looking monster truck. I loved the body I did for it (Axial 67 Chevy), but the truck itself just looked off. Before I even ran it I used the body chassis to make a mud truck and stashed the Clod axles away for another day. More often I'll build something and like it initially, then a few months (or years) later realize its ugly or just doesn't work and at that point either part it for other projects or sell it. Then there's the race trucks. I still have old, non-competitive trucks lying around that I just don' t have the hear to sell or tear apart. Not really the point of this thread, but bothers me that they just sit there unused.

Great, thread, thanks for posting. Love both trucks, they look great! Also encouraging that your daughter is (somewhat) involved with the hobby. Mine just turned 2 and of course loves to watch them go and squeeze the tires when they're sitting on shelves etc. but I really hope she can get into it a bit when she's older. Would love to have a racing partner that can travel with me to races. Probably wishful thinking, but you never know. Interested to see how the SMT runs with the new motor/pinion setup, should go pretty good on 2s. I run 15-16t pinions with 5700 3650 motors for racing so you may want a bit more pinion on there. For bashers I always recommend 3660 long can motors, the extra torque/less heat is much welcome when running full packs through them. 3800-4700 is ideal on 2s.

Yea, its unbelievable...CEO of our company hired a younger assistant a few years back that basically emailed in text speak. I was so put-off by it I told him I would not respond to her inquiries unless it was presented in proper fashion. She's since learned how to write in English which is nice, haha. Unreal how some people communicate these days. Forgot to look for those LMT parts last night, I should be out in the garage tonight so I'll take a look.

There are some decent groups, but there are a lot of annoying things about it. I was forced to create my own account after my wife got sick of me using her Marketplace. Glad I did as its been useful but I dont spend a ton of time on there. I much prefer forums as well, much better organization and people actually write in complete sentences. Which brings me to another point...after being on FB for a few months I am worried about the general education level of the public. Complete sentences, proper spelling, and punctuation are completely missing for the most part. Not that everyone needs to be a scholar, but sometimes I can barely even understand what these people are posting. Thanks goodness there are pictures. For basher bodies I will sometimes not paint as well, but even then I'll give the plastic a nice polish to get some shine out of it. Either way, if you want it to be perfect there's no way around painting it. Complaining that its not "finished" out of the box is absurd in my opinion.

Exactly. I've had to fill at least the hood on every Clod body I've ever painted. I think people on FB like to whine about anything they can. They're disappointed that the body "must be painted" and are claiming what's the point of a gray edition if you need to paint the body gray anyway. These are models and should be treated as such. Sure, you can put any model kit together that's molded in color but it will look like crap unless its properly painted/coated. FB is really annoying at times, I just keep exiting groups that annoy me and it looks like the Clod group is next on the list.

I use SSD rod ends, cheap and hold up to monster truck abuse so they should be fine for a crawler. Nice and cheap too, not sure if you can get them in the UK? I also use RC4WD rod ends a lot, nice and cheap as well. They have all different lengths, threads, and even bent ends if you need them - https://www.amainhobbies.com/ssd-rc-m3-short-plastic-rod-end-10-ssd00020/p498706

Wow, its nearly 15" wheelbase stock? That's a long truck. If you go down to around 13" as you said I believe the Carisma 76 Ford body would fit and look pretty nice. It's lexan but has molded grille, bumpers, mirrors, etc. There are plenty of pickup lexan bodies at 13" wheelbase, but I'd assume you want more detail for a crawler. The 1967 Chevy from Axial is also lexan but has molded grille, bumpers etc. and that's a nice body. I have one on a mud truck and it looks great. I think it's 12.3" but you can probably cheat the wheel wells a bit if you need to. As far as actually shortening it - Yup, just cut the links and you'll be good to go. Make sure they're hollow all the way thorugh and then just tap with whatever thread you need for the rod ends. If they're solid not a big deal, you'll just need to drill and tap.

Just curious for those that have these - How was the molding on the body? There's been a guy complaining on the FB group that the body quality is no good. I imagine its the same mold from 1987 and nothing has changed, just curious. He sounds like a whiner that just doesn't want to prep & paint it like you should do with any model but wondering if the mold is deteriorating. Won't be getting one of these as stock Clods don't interest me much (and its cheaper to buy a regular kit for axles and part the rest out), but it looks pretty cool from the pictures in this thread.

Can only speak to what I own/have owned: Best > Blackfoot, I love this thing and has a great look to it. Worst > CC01, Garbage little thing that is, what a terrible platform. I bought one a few years back and sold it before I even put electronics in it.

Yes, its a really great read. I leanred a lot that I had no idea about from the early days. They go into great detail on every aspect of the trucks and the ways they came about/evolved; frames, axles, wheel, tires, planetaries, shocks, drivetrain, etc. There is one independent suspension monster truck, its called T-Maxxx and its covered in the book - http://monsterphoto.iwarp.com/tmaxxx213.htm As you said, racing is never coming back but at least there's a ton of old footage to see on YouTube. I would be interested to see what a modern day all out race truck would look and perform like. Iits like any motorsport, if there were still money in it we'd have it. Unfortunately there's not many like us that would be interested so of cours that means no money...