Which Monster Truck Tyres for What Terrain?

[Rabiedmushroom]

There are so many amazing tyre tread patterns available for Monster Trucks. What tread tends to cope well with different terrain? E.g. grass, rock, gravel, loose uphill slopes, muddy or sand? Or to put it another way, woodland or beach or rocky areas?

Standard Tamiya tyres are good all rounders that cope with most things hopelessly, bless them!! []

Here's some general piccies I've borrowed off some Ebay auctions to demonstrate:

  These a bit like standard, but tread looks a bit more interesting.

 

  Are these crawly rock tyres, or for mushy conditions?

How do these type grip and handle compared to something like above?

What surface does this cope with?

What on earth are these handy for?!

 

COME ON LADS - SHOW ME YOUR RUBBER!!! [][][] 

[TWINSET]

Ok, chassis, now tyres - when's motors? []

This one's gonna run!

Your first hurdle is how much you gonna spend? The reason for asking is that not all of those tyres will fit Clod rims, in fact I think only the Pullers (one from bottom) will.

As far as I'm aware, only Imex still make Clod-fit rubber. Imex's Clod selection

 

So then you got wheel options; Maxx size (standard and wide), 40 series, 17mm hex, 23mm hex

Then, you'll need an adaptor for any of the above to fit a Clod, as well as any necessary wideners to compensate for each respective wheel's offset.

 

For general 'all-round' Clod tires are ok, I would bash with them for a while, see where they don't cut it, then get something more suitable.

 

 

[terry.sc]

Ok, chassis, now tyres - when's motors? []

Then ESCs and bodies?[]

It might be worth scaring yourself by looking at http://www.rccrawler.com/ and www.clodtalk.com and you'll find there are loads of tyre options. I personally just browse through Andys showroom for ideas.[]

Best way is to see where the standard ones don't work then ask what tyres are suitable for the terrain.  

It gets expensive when you change tyres with all the 'extras' you need. You can also cut sections from the tread on the standard Clod tyres to give them more bite, see an extreme example below. 

[Rabiedmushroom]

Between ALex and I, we now have a Bullhead, SuperClod, Juggernaut2, TXT plus this new one. We do a fair bit of bashing offroad, and it'd nice to consider some more competant rubber sometime. RCCrawler forum looks pretty good for info, but I can't find anything comparing the tread types; what suits which terrain. Hence the Q.

E.g. I'm pretty sure 'Swamp' tyres never actually go near a swamp!

 

No No No - I'm not going mad with my purse buying EVERYTHING all at once! [] But I've collected some bits & peices.

As for my new truck, I've got a pair of superstock TZ (23 turns), Futaba 4 channel radio gear with fabulous instructions in Japanese, the new axles, servo savers, MG995 servos, standard wheels & tyres, 3300Niamh batteries, a spare lexan Landrover bodyshell. Plus a Novak super duty XR ESC on its way. I've contacted Junfac for a shipping quote for Spider/Dragoon with a rear bumper for the extra servo, and a couple of diff lockers.

So pretty much everything apart from the chassis, ready to build & wire up. []

 

[TWINSET]

As Terry said, there's some expense involved in going 'non-Clod'

You'll almost definitely need some wheel adaptors, not only to convert the hex size from 12mm (Clod) to 14mm+  but you'll need wideners too to compensate for the different wheel designs.

Some companies make all in one hex adaptors/wideners, like Thundertech - their solution is $45 for a set of 4.

Also have a trawl around the vendor section on RCCrawler, there's a few companies make adaptors now.

[Rabiedmushroom]

Good cheap idea to cut tread off a standard set of tyres. I've got an old used set to try on.

What's the best tools to butcher with? Stanley knife? Craft knife?

[TWINSET]

Side cutters and lexan body scissors.

Knives are ok, but it's a long boring job and easier with scissors etc.

 

You can also dremel the bits off, but wear eye protection and a face mask - Hot liquid rubber's no fun in the eye, nor is breathing it in

[Mad Ax]

You

can also dremel the bits off, but wear eye protection and a face mask -

Hot liquid rubber's no fun in the eye, nor is breathing it in

Seconded

- I make things from old car tyres and often use an angle grinder (or

Dremel for small bits) to make quick work of cutting rubber - but be

warned that:

a) rubber smoke is toxic (and it also gives you black snot for a week)

2)

rubber takes a long time to cool and if you touch it while still hot,

it will stick to your finger and burn (like hot treacle)

iii)

little bits of rubber will stick to the dremel wheel and fly off in all

directions, including but not limited to: on your skin (stings), up

your nose (stings more), in your eyes (really stings), in your hair

(doesn't come out), up the walls (really stains), across the workbench,

in your cup of tea, and generally into, onto or around any other

unprotected surface or item that you may have in the vicinity at the

time.

[] 

[TWINSET]

Your best bet if you're going to use a Dremel is to rough-cut the lumps off first, then tidy up if need be.

 The tyres below were cut with body scissors.

I've found the best type of knife, if you do use one, is one of those knives with the snap off blade sections - They're thin enough not to make life hard, but thick enough not to snap like scalpel blades tend to.