Time for an update of this thread

I am still lovin' the look of the BR50 trophy truck body but underneath it i'm now running the Mantis truggy chassis with truggy tires as my bash spot sort of "requires" more than buggy tires.

http://www.rc-monster.com/forum/atta...1&d=1262122880

Electric components (Neu 1515/1100kv motor, Jazz 55-20-32 ESC and 10s1p A123 cells) and chassis layout remained nearly unchanged. I'm finally using a proper custom aluminium motor mount which enables me to run without "backup" fans over the motor since it can now dissipate heat over a rear mounted aluminum "clamp" to the chassis which acts like a big heatsink. A second big plus of this type of motor mount is that gear mesh of the pinion and spur always remains perfect. I never have to retighten my pinion as i had to with the old motor mount.o

I tested a few tire sets.

Axial Terraizer: I started with the standard tires of the Mantis Chassis.
http://www.rc-monster.com/forum/atta...1&d=1262123746

I made a short video (using a locked center diff) with this tire set
. Due to the locked center diff the car wheeled too much and was hard to drive
. Thise tires are good for bashing but are too wide and bouncy to give precise control of the car which is needed when running on a track

HPI Phaltline
A friend of mine wanted to push his MBX6 buggy to speed so i took the opportunity and mounted HPI Phaltlines and added 2 A123 cells for a total of 12s1p A123 to get more RPM (i was too lazy to mount a bigger pinion)

Here is a video of this testrun
. First off don't take it too serious. I do not intend to make a speed demon out of my trophy truck. I did not make any adjustments to the suspension.
. Asphalt was partly wet and it was freezing cold ... Those tires did not provide good grip but were fun to powerslide until they became unglued (factory glued).

Proline Badlands: cut to fit Proline VTR wheels and using AKA truggy inserts
http://www.rc-monster.com/forum/atta...1&d=1262125715

Here is a video of this test run
. There is a big improvement when it comes to wheelies and ballooning compared too standard mounted badland tires.
. Handling is more precise especially while cornering at high speed. Forward bite remains unchanged and is "beastlyl" on grass.
. Definitively one of my favorite tire set

Proline Caliber VTR: Those are intended for track type of driving
http://www.rc-monster.com/forum/atta...1&d=1262126381

Here is a video of this test run
. I chose the M2 (medium) compound which truely is not suited for actual outside temperatures (2°C or 36°F). Eventhough the soil was partly wet the calibers did not grip well. Rear axle was way too loose and oversteer was hard to control.
. Nonetheless the car felt very nimble. I guess i have to wait until spring to get the most out of them.

And for completion: a few days ago after snow has fallen i improvised and made a basic chassis protection to be able to run on snow without worrying too much about the electric components.

Basic chassis protection (quick and dirty made out of duct tape)
http://www.rc-monster.com/forum/atta...1&d=1262127466

AKA City Block mounted on half offset rims
http://www.rc-monster.com/forum/atta...1&d=1262127555

. Sorry no time for videotaping this testrun.
. Off course you would't expect much grip from a rubber tire when running on hard packed snow. And there was no grip ;-) Nonetheless it was fun too watch the snow roosters behind the car when accelerating, making speed passes over the bumps and powersliding.
. Half offset makes the car definitively too wide.

I like the looks of this one the best by far:

http://www.rc-monster.com/forum/atta...1&d=1262125715

Looks mean. And the Robotronics body seems to complement those type of tires much better than Slash bodies or the like. I think the fender shape makes all the difference...

that does look awsome. i wish that style of body would fit on a revo... i just love how the fenders flare out

I love how you cut the badlands to fit 4inch VTRs!!! Can we have a step by step? Everybody hates how badlands have soo much sidewall collapse. Oops really old post! BTW great truck!

You will need:

. Proline Badland Tires
. Proline VTR Truggy Rims
. AKA truggy inserts

Cut of 15-16mm from each sidewall of your badland tires.

http://www.rc-monster.com/forum/atta...1&d=1269071187
picture from Ron2 (offroad-cult)

Place the aka inserts inside your tires. Fit them over the rim. It's a tight fit. And glue your tires on the rim. And your done.

Thanx I'll try this in the future! I'll post results.

CAN any help with converting my Mantis to electric to!?!?!?!?!?!

Look at the pictures on the first page of this thread^- you just need to make an L-shaped bracket for the motor to mount to & add a battery tray along the other side of the chassis, after removing all the nitro parts ( engine, fuel tank etc )...