Best Crwaler Tyres......?

[madbad jezza]

I'm currently running my clod buster crawler on the Tamiya CR-01 wheels and tyres but i think on some surfaces they struggle. How do these tyres compare to other types of 2.2 crawler tyres - like Proline Mashers etc etc.

Cheers,

James.

[adam1973]

I found that they struggles on my CR01 Land Cruiser, I fitted a set of Imex G-Hawg's to it and I now have much better traction. I don't use mine for rock crawling though... just trail use.

[terry.sc]

It depends on exactly what you want the tyres to perform on. Adam, if you are getting more grip from Imex tyres the Tamiya ones must really be rubbish.

Proline Hammers, Proline Mashers, Proline Badlands, Losi Rock Claws and Panther Cougars are all good crawling tyres, the newest tyre on the scene being the G-Made Bighorn. Each tyre works best on different surfaces so hard to say which one is best, but they all work a lot better than the Tamiya kit ones. Unless you are serious about just crawling rocks ignore the Panther tyres, they are way too soft for general use and haven't proven themselves in UK conditions. At the last UK nationals the first three places used Cougars, Hammers and Rock Claws, so not one tyre proven to be better than the rest.

Of the rest the more open tread of the Mashers helps keep mud out if the tread, and the Badlands are probably the best all round tyre, the small blocks also working very well on UK rocks. In the right conditions Losi Rock Claws can be so much better than the Prolines, being a different compound, but then again the Prolines easily beat the Losis on different surfaces. Hard to say which is better unless you test them where you run.

Most people go for the Losi Rock Claws or Proline Badlands, those are by far the most popular competition tyres here. Twinset runs Mashers and I run modified Hammers, but that's not much of an endorsement if you've seen our driving on the rocks Badlands seem to be the best at clearing mud from the treads, Rock Claws tend to fill up with mud, something they don't have to worry about stateside.

Unless you buy the crawler specific Proline tyres that come with memory foam, you will get better grip by star cutting standard foam inserts so the tyre can conform to the surface better. For twinsets guide to star cutting have a look here on rockrc.com

Proline Badlands review

http://www.rockrc.com/forum/showthread.php?t=5

Proline Hammers review

http://www.rockrc.com/forum/showthread.php?t=21

New Gmade Bighorns

http://www.rockrc.com/forum/showthread.php?t=167

For more crawling advice pop over to http://www.rockrc.com and join one or two familiar names in the forums.

[B.M.T.]

Not hearing good things about the BigHorns from an owner, but the bee's knee's, the fo'smizzle my jizzle', the best crawler tyres globally agreed are the Panther Cougars (red/soft, not the clay compound) and the Losi Rock Claws "blue".

As I have stated in my post in the below link, Cougars don't like grass, loam, etc, but rocks... super sticky.

The great crawling tyre debate is here: Not the great debate, but people from all over chiming in

[TWINSET]

Not hearing good things about the BigHorns from an owner, but the bee's knee's, the fo'smizzle my jizzle', the best crawler tyres globally agreed are the Panther Cougars (red/soft, not the clay compound) and the Losi Rock Claws "blue".

As I have stated in my post in the below link, Cougars don't like grass, loam, etc, but rocks... super sticky.

The great crawling tyre debate is here: Not the great debate, but people from all over chiming in

The bighorns are hard, not sure if they'll soften up, or if there's any treatments that will work yet, only played with them for the first time yesterday.

One big criticism of the Cougars though, is that the sidewall has very little strength, so if you're driving sideways across a slope, the tyres tend to collapse

I found the Badlands didn't clear very well once muddy, although none of my trucks generatre that much wheelspeed to clear'em anyway

[B.M.T.]

The Cougars do fold under, bit I have never had a problem with side hilling. They just fold, and that's it... Some guys around Sydney have been replacing the memory foam inserts with standard Proline inserts to stop it, but it does take away from the awesome footprint they generate. Sort of like have a large slug wrapped around your rims

[madbad jezza]

Cheers for the advice chaps, much appreciated. The main two types of tyre i had my eye on were the Pro-line Mashers or the Proline Moabs. I've since read that you can buy both types of these tyres in M2 or M3 compound. I've searched on line and although i can find a couple of UK model shops selling the Moabs in M3, i can't find anyone selling the Mashers in M3 compound. I've been building this crawler for over a year now and i'm building it more for the challenge and the fun of the build rather than a purpose built competition machine, so is the choice of M2 or M3 compound anything that really affects me?, or should i aim to get the softest tyre i can anyway?.

Cheers!,

james.

[BiggusDitchus]

I personally advise going for the M2 compound the wear rate on the M3 is quite poor and the differences in grip is negligible. If you want a Proline that grips on most surfaces then look at some of newer ones, Badlands or Hammers in M2. The Moabs or Mashers were tyre of choice for crawlers a year or so back as that was all that was available, Moabs particularly only tend to work on dry rock and not much else, Mashers may be a little better. We have run a fair few comps and meets now and the tyres that stand out for me are Proline Badlands (I run these and love them), Losi Rock Claws (again a very good tyre on par with Badlands, and the Panther Cougars (Amazingly grippy but side walls are too soft)

My choice would be between the Losi Rock Clawz and the Proline Badlands.

[minijosh]

Moabs or Hammers out here in the desert.