Here are a few reviews on various products we have added to our trucks. We will give it to you straight. No fluff. Maximum product rating equals 5 stars . We rate the products on performance, quality, fit, appearance and price/value.

Do you have something you would like us to review? Contact us and we'll see what we can do!

Pretty much everyone has already checked out the BYT Project Full Speed Ahead where we took a Factory Team Associated RC18T and tricked it out with a ton of sweet upgrades.

The one thing we were missing in our FFRC aluminum suspension upgrade was the rear hubs carriers. And as the rest of the suspension was all aluminum, you can imagine what liked to break anytime we gave Project FSA a cartwheel down a city street....you guessed it, the plastic rear hub carriers. Well, FFRC listened to our cries (thank you FFRC) and now offers the long awaited items! Let's take a peek shall we?

INITIAL LOOK SEE: These rear carriers have some serious bling going on! They look fabulous! Nice smooth edges and no sharp corners were found. The lack of sharp corners reduces stress risers (places where things tend to crack when stressed out). The workmanship is impressive. Notice the nice machine work on the taper going towards the wheel. There are very few machine marks on these hubs and the overall finish is superb. No need to grab the polishing cloth on these. They come out of the package looking great.

We noticed right away that the milled ports on the side of the carrier were much larger than the stock plastic units. Having this extra material removed keeps the weight to a minimum (they are feather light anyway) and the suspension will remain responsive.

INSTALLATION: Hooray! It is time to ditch the butt ugly plastic rear carriers for something that looks and performs as good as the rest of the truck.

If you have not already, this is a great time to upgrade your truck with some slick FFRC rubber sealed bearings. Got no bearings? Be sure to get some on order! If you already have bearings installed, be sure to give them a spin when you have them out to be sure they are smooth. If not, it is time to clean and re-lubricate or replace them.

Installation is a pretty straight-forward deal:

- Remove the rear tires.
- Remove the wheel pins and washers.
- Detach the upper turnbuckles from the carriers.
- Remove the hinge pin retaining screws on the lower suspension arms.
- Remove the hinge pins.
- Remove the carriers.

Note: Be careful that the spring in the differential output cup does not go flying! Remove the rear dog bones slowly and be sure to grab the spring. If you do lose it, you can use part of a spring from a "click pen" as a temporary fix.

Install the rear carriers and reassemble. It should take about 5-10 minutes a wheel to get these installed. That's it! This is an easy upgrade to perform and the end results are "ooh-la-la"!

The carriers moved freely on the hinge pins and our Lunsford Ti turnbuckle balls screwed into the carriers without any trouble. We also noticed an instant improvement in the rear wheel play. The stock plastic carriers were already getting a little sloppy. These new aluminum jobbers really tightened up the rear of the truck.


PERFORMANCE: We took our RC18T out for some dirt bashing and some street punishment. Being Mamba and LiPo powered, getting up to insane speeds are not a problem. At those crazy speeds, things seem to get in your way faster (e.g. mailbox post, trees, rocks, etc). These were the killers of our plastic hubs and we are happy to say that after several hours and battery packs of HARD bashing, a rear carrier failure was non-existent. Let's face it. It would take a serious hit to bust one of these, unlike the stock plastic junk.

SUMMARY: There is simply nothing not to like about these carriers. They are not just a typical duplication of the stock plastic piece. The time spent in the machining detail is appreciated and will certainly add to the longevity and performance of these pieces.

At only $25 for a set of rear carriers, the value is there without a doubt. To top that, FFRC has a KILLER package deal for the RC18! Be sure to check it out! We have not seen a better package at a better price anywhere. You can save some serious money and get your RC18T tricked out in a hurry.

We feel that our Project FSA now has the final piece of the puzzle installed. With FFRC aluminum suspension throughout, our RC18T is sure to deliver solid, reliable performance for many years and many battery packs to come.

Visit the FullForce RC web site today and get your RC18 tricked out!

OK, so we are not all Adam Drake, and some of us like to hit things just for fun with our RC's. I fall into both of these categories on some level. I suck at driving and some times I enjoy running into things (usually not something that will cause serious damage though). Well as we all know this can be really hard on our RC vehicles and a bumper becomes a necessity for folks like me. When you have a tiny little truck that is relatively new to the market like the 18T, your choices are somewhat limited.

A lot of you guys that have been following my slow build of my 18T know that I tried out a fancy little bumper from Integy and it proved to be nothing but good looks. There was no structural support and very little if any additional protection compared to the stock plastic unit. The only saving grace of this unit was it's aluminum block that locked the hinge pins in place.

Well after mashing that one, I started searching for a suitable replacement, which was not an easy task given my driving style (or lack there of). Enter T-Bone Racing, and their line of hand cut Derlin bumpers. There are several styles available, for all kinds of different RCs including the Mini-T and 18T. I picked up a nice set of bumperro tem off ebay.com. For less than $30 shipped its kind of hard to go wrong (I hope)

Now that I have them in hand, I’m pretty sure I made the right choice. These things are great! First the M2Pro front bumper, the main mounting portion is 6061 T6 aluminum and a very (very very) snug fit.

It took a little bit of wiggling and begging and pleading to get it to finally seat fully. That may be because my little rig has seen more than it’s fair share of front end collisions and landings on it’s nose. But in the end it fit perfectly and the suspension still fully cycles just like you would want. One very nice feature of the bumper mount is that unlike the stock unit and every other model on the market it uses 4 screws instead of only using the three screws normally used. The forth screw is the rear diff mount screw which means this bumper is less likely to bend and transmits the impact force down the full length of the chassis rather than concentrating it on those three front screws that hold the diff in place. The second piece of the Pro unit is a hand cut Derlin “T” bumper. Very nicely done and the quality shows. It is very stiff and about 1/8th inch thick with nice lightening holes cut throughout, including the company logo.

The rear M1 bumper is actually one of their other front bumpers. This unit is entirely Derlin and requires the use of a hinge pin retainer of some sort if used in the front. However in the rear it is a very nice little unit. Again it comes with all the necessary hardware and yet another sticker. (I like stickers, can you tell) This piece is smaller and lighter than the front unit, it also has a more pronounced kick up (55 degrees) to it making it perfect for use out back.

It did require a small modification to use it in the rear since the fourth screw is actually one of the ones used to hold on the spur gear cover and as such did not provide a flat mounting surface. Derlin is really easy to work with and a small amount was removed so that I could achieve a flat mounting angle. If you do this be sure to only trim off a small amount and test fit, repeat until you have a good flat tight mount without taking too much material off. Also keep in mind doing this voids your warranty, This unit only needed three screws for the rear because it is part of a set and meant to be used as a rear, but it is identical in all other respects to the M1 front bumper.

As you can see they mount up very nicely only taking a small amount of ground clearance, and if you run the 60 tooth spur that cover actually hangs down lower still. So all you street and carpet racers have nothing to fear from these bumpers.

How did they perform, absolutely flawless! Yeah I’m a glutton for punishment and as soon as they were installed I purposely went full throttle into a brick wall in my yard. The truck bounced off like it was nothing. I kept punishing them throughout the two packs I ran today and if you’ve seen me drive then you know I am very hard on bumpers and even good ones don’t usually last more than a couple bash sessions with me. These hardly show any signs of wear, even after tumbling across the concrete several times.
Hands down these are the best bumpers you can get for an 18T today!

There is a slight increase in weight but if you’re like most of us this isn’t that big of a deal as you plan on other aluminum upgrades as well.

Of all the parts I have found for my 18T so far this one earns the full 5 stars without even breaking a sweat.

The Verdict
The quality of these bumpers is evident from the moment you take them out of the bag. The look great fit great and perform above expectations. I've been trying to break these and so far I can't. That doesn't mean they can't be broken but it isn't something that I'm worried about since they have a lifetime warranty. They seem to help lock the front suspension in place and would seem to help prevent bent hinge pins because of the lock they have on the front of the truck.

I'm also happy with the way these look, some may not care for the wide front bumper, but given my driving, I am very happy with it. I'm more likely to hit the bumper than I am to slam a tire into an obstacle now. But just for you guys, they have the ProM1 bumper, it is the same style (aluminum block and replaceable Derlin bumper) but in the size and shape of the M1 rear bumper I am using. If you can equip your hundred plus dollar investment for only $30, why wouldn't you? Given the cost of these bumpers vs. the agony they will save later on and damage they can help prevent they are most certainly worth it!

If you want a killer bumper for your Mini or stadium rig, look no further than T-Bone Racing

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention the customer support from these guys is outstanding!
Very easy to contact, and they reply to questions/comments very quickly. Just the kind of thing that sets great RC companies apart from the crowd.



NOTE FROM THE EDITOR: Review written by "Skratch", BYT Forum Moderator and BYT Web Site Contributor. Skratch is a resident RC expert here at BYT and has been a long time member and supporter. Thanks for the great review Skratch!

Anyone who owns an LST (and even those who do not own one) knows that the biggest weak spot on the big 1/8 scale truck is the suspension arms. If you have an LST and have never snapped a suspension arm, you are simply not beating your truck! The stock arms may as well be made from balsa wood. They break often and easily! It is a crying shame that a $600 truck that has so much going for it can’t handle a 4 foot jump without snapping arms upon landing.

We LOVE our LST! We have just never been able to do any serious beating with it. Until now....

By now most of you have heard about FlexTek and their industry shaking titanium arms. Hopefully you have read our review on the T-Maxx arms? No? Well what in the world have you been doing with yourself?! Wake up! In a hobby where bigger and tougher is king, what could be better than titanium suspension arms? Absolutely nothing!

When FlexTek informed us several months ago that they would be producing arms for the weak limbed LST, we were as excited as 5 year olds on Christmas morning. Heck! Santa never brought us anything this cool! Finally the long awaited day arrived and our LST arms arrived. BYT was honored to receive one of the very first sets ever produced. After all, when you are making titanium parts and want them tested in front of the RC world, who better to turn to than Beat Your Truck!

FIRST IMPRESSION

Our first impression was WOW WOW WOW! These suckers are thick! The T-Maxx arms we reviewed were much thinner in design. FXT designed these arms from the ground up. They are not a company that just creates knock-offs of the plastic parts they replace. They start with a clean sheet, designing components based upon the vehicle as well as the material they are working with. The LST is completely different truck than any other on the market with very different needs. Something special was required to take care of the eggshell arm problem and it looks like FlexTek is right on target. Thick, meaty, heavy-duty titanium suspension arms. Ahhhhh….just what the doctor ordered!

The packaging is excellent and none of the parts are able to muck each other up on their journey to you.

INSTALLATION

FlexTek includes all the necessary goodies for installation however it should be noted that they are not including the Lunsford titanium hinge pins like they do with the T-Maxx arms. This is not a big deal to us as we already had the Lunsford hinge pins and turnbuckles on our LST. In our situation, it would have sucked to have to buy them again when we already paid for them once! Are they required for this kit? No. Are Lunsford hinge pins recommended for the serious basher? Duh! Of course they are. Again, they are not required.

Every component of the kit installed perfectly. No interference problems anywhere. The upper arms have a “funky” bend in them that does not look “right” until you install them. Once they are installed, you will notice how they curve beautifully around the massive LST shocks.

The lower shock mounts are very nice and feature a design that allows for a wrench to be used while tightening (your going to want to use some medium strength thread locker on the lower shock screws). We suggested this “mount with hex nut” feature on the lower mounts to FXT when we reviewed the T-Maxx arms and they definitely listened.

Each arm requires several high density plastic inserts wherever a hinge pin passes through them. FXT was kind enough to include some extra inserts so if you start to see some wear over time, you will be ready with some replacements. They fit very snug and will not come out of place. Use a set of pliers to gently squeeze them into position. These inserts are what the hinge pins pivot on. Using a high density plastic keeps everything moving smoothly, much smoother than running directly against the titanium arms themselves.

QUALITY

Every part of the kit looks excellent. The aluminum lower shock mounts and the very snug fitting arm inserts fit the arms perfectly. The casting looks great; in fact it seems to be a slight step up from the T-Maxx arms we tested a few months ago. This is the kind of kit that draws attention to a truck and sets it apart from the “other guys”. All the corners and bends are contoured very nicely, virtually eliminating stress risers which could result in a crack.

PERFORMANCE

We have been bashing with these arms for the past 4 weeks and it has been a complete blast! IT IS AN ABSOLUTE TREAT to finally drive our $600 LST without having to worry about arms busting at will. The sad thing is we had started to drive the LST with “kid gloves” to keep the arms from breaking. That is more than sad….it is disturbing! This is BEAT YOUR TRUCK after all!

Our field testing involved a variety of terrain ranging from road thrashing to all out launch pad jumping. During our numerous outings, the LST met with many immovable objects and it was not phased. Back up and away you go! We had the BYT LST in the air more than a commercial airliner. Despite its large size and bulging belly, the LST flies very well and likes it in the air. Repeated jumps of 6’ to 10’ dealt out no ill effects to any part of the LST, other than the rims which look like they are about to crack like eggshells! Most of the chrome is flaking around the hub area on all the wheels indicating they have been flexing big time.

Anyway…back to the arms! No problems at all with the arms. The truck drove beautifully and again, it was just awesome to be able to DRIVE this big sucker without having to worry about busted arms!!! It is important to note that with the stock arms, we experienced arm failures at jump heights of 4’ or less. When we were done testing the FlexTek arms, we removed the hinge pins to see if the arms were strong enough to have bent them. Nope! Straight as arrows. That tells us that these arms are soaking up a lot of the stress before it gets to the truck. That’s great news for the bulkheads, hinge pins and chassis.

Some of you are sold on the swaybar idea with the LST and it does have some merits, especially in a racing application. FXT has informed us that they are working on a swaybar upgrade and it should be available in the next month or so.

FIT / FINISH

Any RC newcomer checking out your LST will first see the huge shocks (that’s what everyone looks at first) and then BAM….they will see these arms and be in absolute awe. Needless to say, we really like the look of these arms in respect to the finish and the design. Kudos to the design engineers at FlexTek.

The LST arm finish looks slightly “smoother” than the T-Maxx arms we previously reviewed and according to FXT, it is due to a shot blasting process that is performed after the casting is done. The T-Maxx arms were "polished" in a tumbler.. Some people may prefer the "bling" of polished aluminum however there is no comparison when it comes to strength and durability.


COST / VALUE

The value of these arms is hard to measure. Especially if you are an LST owner that is super frustrated with busting arms left and right. You have a $600 monster truck that is so special in so many ways but has a terrible weakness. Don’t give up on it! The solution to the problem is here.

So what about the price? Well, we have just received some very exciting news from the FXT factory. With increased production and volume, they have been able to reduce their prices significantly. This entire titanium suspension arm package (this also goes for the T-Maxx kit) now sells for only $289.95! Up until this point, the only excuse anyone had for not buying titanium arms was “I can’t afford $400 for suspension arms”…..well, now they are less than $300!

SUMMARY

If you haven’t figured it out by now, we love these arms. What is not to like? They will not break, band or leave you stranded. And FlexTek guarantees that they will not break! How many manufacturers give you that kind of guarantee? Not many…..in fact none that we can think of. The only obstacle that FXT has had thus far is the price of their goods. Now with their new aggressive pricing, that is not a factor anymore.

So you’re an LST owner? What are you waiting for? It’s time to beat your truck and the only way to do it with an LST is with a set of these unbreakable titanium suspension arms. Check out the FlexTek RC web site and learn more about these killer arms and the other products that are coming soon! Tell them that the guys at Beat Your Truck sent you!

One last noteworthy item: Per the FlexTek RC web site: "FlexTek RC Cast components come with a full 30-day money back guarantee from date of the original purchase. Items may be returned for a full refund (less any associated freight charges) within this 30-day period. See warranty information for details." That is a good indication of a quality company and a quality product. This bumps us the Cost/Value part of our review. To this writer, it makes the parts more valuable when I know the company believes in their product enough to make a guarantee like that.

UPDATE: You can now buy these arms in the BYT Store! We love them so much, we decided to sell them!

RACER’S EDGE MINI-T HARD COATED ALUMINUM SHOCK SET

Even with the latest assault of 1/18 scale mini RC vehicles, the Mini-T is still a hot player in this category. And if you own one or have ever driven one, you understand why. One of the biggest weak points on the Mini-T is the cruddy friction shocks it comes with. Racer’s Edge to the rescue!

BYT has been running the Team Losi Shock upgrade for quite some time and they have worked pretty well, except for the frequent leaks. Racer’s Edge offers a Mini-T shock set that we just had to try out. We have been bashing them for the past month or so and here’s what we found!

The RE (Racer’s Edge) shocks are a top load design and the shock cap seals via an o-ring. This provides a better seal than the thin plastic washer the Losi’s use (the ones that leak all the time unless you double or triple stack them). This is a big bonus (anyone who has the Losi’s will agree).

Another sweet feature on the RE shocks is the top cap itself, it is blue anodized aluminum and really adds some extra “bling” to the package. Not only do they look good but aluminum shock caps are also less likely to flex and pop off during big landings (Losi shocks have a plastic cap). The top shock mount that protrudes from the cap is plastic. A note for those of you who are running Losi aluminum shocks right now and are going to make the switch like we did…you will need to dig through your spare parts box, locate and install the original gold colored ball pivots to mount the top of the shock. We found that with our aluminum tower, the threads were slightly different and we had to really ease the top pivots into place. None of this matters if you are still running the stock shock and tower setup…it is a direct fit.

The shocks come fully assembled for convenience however they are fully rebuildable. In fact they are built exactly like (or better than) most 1/10 and 1/8 scale shocks. The shock bodies are hard anodized for extra smooth shock action. The body has a double o-ring seal where the shock shaft exits with seal retainers and a metal retaining clip to hold everything in place. The caps have a bladder in them and the piston is held in place by an e-clip….just like 1/10 and 1/8 scale shocks. We experienced no leaks with the RE shocks during any of our testing.

Side note: Our kit came with oil already in the shocks however the www.racers-edge.com web site says you have to add oil? Just know that you may or may not need to put some oil in yours when you get them.

Here’s yet another killer option on this shock set – they come with lots of spring options, right out of the package! If you bought the Losi’s, you quickly found out that the only springs that come with the shocks SUCK and you had to go and drop another $16-$20 to get the spring sets. Racer’s Edge thought of everything and by including 4 (yes we said FOUR) springs for each shock. You get “softest”, “soft”, “medium” and “hard” spring options for each shock. We opted to run the “medium” springs on our setup (our Mini-T is fat with aluminum) and they feel significantly stiffer than the heavy springs from Losi! The “heavy” Racer’s Edge springs are SUPER stiff! Nice. RE really gives you a wide range of setups with the big handful of extra springs you get. Did we mention you have to pay extra for the Losi springs and RE includes them? Hmmm. That’s a no brainer isn’t it?! The RE shocks also come with a few spring spacers to further fine tune your ride height.

A small, but notable feature on the RE shocks is that the lower pivot ball (inside the lower shock end) is also anodized blue. Granted once everything is bolted together, it is hard to see but we still like it! It is a nice extra touch.

Once we had them installed, movement was smooth as silk. After a few weeks of banging around, the same was still true. Like we said before, no runs, no drips, no errors (that is from an old Krylon Paint TV commercial for those that are too young to know). We experienced ZERO problems with them and they performed very well at all times.

Also included with the shocks is a fill color parts list showing all the individual components of the shock in an exploded view along with parts numbers should they ever need a rebuild or repair. It is handy to keep around as it also shows the springs and what color equals what stiffness.

VERDICT: In our humble opinion, the RE shocks are superior to the Team Losi upgrades. We can’t really find anything wrong with the Racer's Edge shocks, especially when you consider the price (a mere $39.99 for ALL FOUR shocks). The Losi’s cost us $30+ and then we spent $18 on springs! This is an excellent value!

We wish we would have bought these instead of the Losi’s. The Losi's aren't bad by any means. We just think the Racer's Edge shocks are better!! If you are looking for oil-filled shocks for your Mini-T, save money and get better shocks. Buy the Racer’s Edge Mini-T shocks!

It was over a year ago when we first chatted with the guys at GorillaMaxx looking for some stuff to do a review on. At the time, they were specializing in E-Maxx hop-ups and we did not have one of those in our stable. About a month ago, they contacted us with some great news. They had a new G3 Race Suspension they wanted us to try out! We checked out their web site and could not stop staring at their sweet new setup.

As you know, we at BYT are not "racers" per say, we were born to bash. After testing this "race" suspension out for almost a month, it is apparent that the G3 is also born to bash. Read on my friends!

FIRST IMPRESSIONS: The arms come packaged in a manner that the pieces are kept separate, eliminating any chance of shipping scuffs. All the hardware required is included and is the nice quality, black finished type. It will look great with the aluminum. The hardware and shock spacers come in separate, Zip Lock baggies to make assembly easier. GM gets an A+ on the packaging.

Once we got everything laid out, the machine work on the shock towers and suspension arms really grabbed us. The arms and shock towers look very, very nice. What REALLY caught our eye was that the shock towers are super short! They are about 1" shorter than stock or most aftermarket towers.

The GM G3 allows you to adjust the length of your wheelbase. Yes, you read that right! You can add 1/2" to the length of your truck! This is a very appealing option as it should help increase stability and keep the truck lid facing upwards.

INSTALLATION / GENERAL NOTES: Here's a quick run down of what is included in the G3 Race Suspension Kit:

* 4 upper arms (CNC machined 6061 T6 aluminum)
* 4 lower arms (CNC machined 6061 T6 aluminum)
* 2 shock towers (CNC machined 6061 T6 aluminum)
* Lunsford titanium hinge pins and steel e-clips (BYT's favorite hinge pins)
* 8 shock levers / lower shock mounts (CNC machined 6061 T6 aluminum)
* shock stand-offs/spacers (aluminum)
* shock tower spacers (aluminum - used if you go for the extended wheelbase option)
* all required/necessary hardware
* decal sheet (sweet looking stickers)
* detailed instructions with good quality line art

As you can see it is a complete package with the Lunsford titanium hinge pins and G3 CNC machined aluminum shock towers. GorillaMaxx includes an excellent set of instructions with well drawn line drawings to use as a visual aid. We will not go through what has already been done very well by GM. You can click here to download the instructions and check them out. The decals are killer and you will have no problem finding a place for them.

Here are a few things we noted during the install:

* You will need to decide if you want to extend your wheelbase or not at the time of installation. This is explained in the instructions. We recommend trying it out.

* GorillaMaxx includes hardware and spacers for both single and dual shock setups. Whether you are running four (4) 1/8 scale shocks or the standard eight (8) shocks on your T-Maxx, you are covered.

* The lower arms are very beefy. Check out the amount of material that GM removed while still leaving a lot of metal to take a beating.

* If you go low with the body mounting posts, be sure to check the clearance with the upper a-arm. You may have to trim a bit off the bottom of the post.

* The suspension arms have a "sweep" to them and that is how the "extended wheelbase" thing works. After installing the arms in the "extended mode", you will need to simply add spacers between the shock towers and bulk heads (moving them towards the bumper end of the bulk head). This keeps the top shock mounting position inline with the arms. To get the extra wheelbase, you mount the arms with the "sweep" towards the bumper end of the bulkhead. Very simple and effective.

* The arms have setscrews for the pillow balls to keep them in place. We still used medium strength thread locker on everything but the extra holding power of the setscrews is a very nice touch. Be sure not to crank too hard on them and mess up your ball threads.

* There are numerous shock mounting positions on the top and bottom. If unsure where to place the shock mounting at, you can always start in the middle and fine tune from there. Here is a blurb from the GorillaMaxx web site that may help you decide where to start:

Leverage force tuning - The lower arms are designed with 'L' shaped levers for mounting the bottom ends of the shocks. These levers can be moved along the arm to control the resistance force of the shock. Moving then further from the hinge point will increase resistance, while moving closer will decrease resistance. For example: Firmly hold out one arm straight ahead of you. Push down on this arm with your opposite hand at a point above your elbow. It should be difficult to force down. Now, do the same but push down near your wrist (much easier). With force tuning, small shocks can act like "big" shocks with less weight and less cost.

* The G3 kit also allows you to adjust the caster of the wheels. This is done via nylon spacers where the upper arms mount to the bulkheads. Caster adjustments should really only come into play if you are doing some fine tune work for racing. If you are in bashing mode, just use one spacer on each end of the arm to keep things at the stock setting.

QUALITY: As noted above, the arms and shock towers are CNC machined 6061 T6 aluminum. It is plain as day that a lot of time, thought and development went into this system. Every piece screams quality. This is by far some of, if not THE nicest machi8ne work we have seen on any kit like this. The arms, towers, spacers, lower arm mounts and hardware are all very high quality (duh...just look at the pictures). What more can we say?!

PERFORMANCE: It is common knowledge that we at BYT are bashers, not racers (after all it's "Beat", not "Race" Your Truck). To be very honest, we were a little skeptical about using a system that clearly has "race" in its name. Would it work for a basher? The answer is a clear and outstanding "yes".

We should make note of the other suspension components on the truck:

* Traxxas Big Bores
* 4 Lunsford Titanium Springs
* 4 Trinity Blue Springs
* 50wt Trinity shock oil in all the shocks

We chose a local construction site for our testing ground as it provided a wide variety of terrain to play on. High speed runs on the flats displayed the trucks lower center of gravity and increased stability. It was tough to get it to flip over; instead it would slide like a hockey puck on ice. Bombing it over rough terrain at speed was great. The truck stayed in control and soaked up the bumps like a ocean sponge.

So you may ask "What about jumping...can it jump?". Oh yeah! In most cases the truck flew straight as an arrow and it seemed to be easier to keep it "flat" and get all four tires on the ground for the landing. It felt much better than the stock setup. More responsive, more agile and it gave us extra confidence when hitting the bigger stuff. With the wide variety of shock settings, it was easy to tune the truck to handle what we were throwing at it. While throwing the bad boy over some bigger jumps, we set the shock angle up for more resistance and that kept us from bottoming out on all but the really big stuff. We could have changed up the shock oil to get rid of that. The truck saw a number of cart wheels, bad landings and crashes. Other than a few dings here and there, the arms are still straight! They took a healthy beating with no troubles.

One of our common dislikes of aluminum is the added weight. GorillaMaxx took weight out of the equation as their arms are ultra-lightweight and they claim they are as light as the stockers! Overall, the suspension worked very well. We have no complaints and were able to find no room for improvement.

Another nice feature of this system is that you get many more shock mounting positions when compared to the stock setup (for low riders and high riders). The guys at GorillaMaxx also said that you can connect the shock directly to the lower arm (skipping the included mount) for even more adjustability.

One thing we should note about the lower shock tower location: they expose your engine to more impacts (now your engine is the highest part of the truck). You might want to think about a roll bar (you should have one anyway)?

EXTENDED WHEELBASE SETUP: We were very excited about being able to stretch out the truck and extra 1/2" for added stability. While we were unable to notice a shocking improvement when going from the extended setup to the stock arrangement, logic tells us that it is there and working. A racer will most likely be able to benefit from this more so than the average backyard basher. Either way, we like it and in theory, it is a great feature.

G2 RACE SKIDS: GM included a set of their trick G2 race skids for us to try as well. the G2 kit includes: (1) front skid, (1) rear skid, fasteners, and decals (man we really like these decals). As you can see by the pictures, the skids are trimmed for maximum weight reduction while still protecting the vitals.

Many skids on the market try to act as skids AND bumpers. We have never been hip to this school of thought as bumpers are there for a reason! If you use your skid as a impact bumper, it puts incredible force upon the mounting screws and bulk heads. Not cool. We like how GM designed their G2's....they are skids and nothing more. The quality, fit, finish and value is loaded in. They feature countersunk mounting holes, beveled edges, CNC machining, 2.5mm thickness, 6061 T6 natural finish aluminum and they are 30% lighter than stock skids! Excellent setup. Per a recommendation on the GorillaMaxx web site, we also bolted an RPM wear plate (sold separately...does not come with this kit) to the front. This setup worked very well and again, we really dig these skids.

FIT / FINISH / APPEARANCE: Everything fit together very well. No rubbing, everything in its place. Top notch fit on all items.

The finish is a natural aluminum and has a nice, medium shine to it. A couple of minutes with the Dremel and a polishing wheel and they would shine like chrome. The finish is uniform, we found no burrs and the threads were all tapped perfectly.

Well, what about appearance? What do you think?! Have you been looking at any of the pictures?!! The low profile shock towers are an eye catcher and add to the visual experience. Take a close look at the arms and shock towers. They are not your run of the mill design. GorillaMaxx has machined away material anywhere they could to save weight while not causing weak points. Lighter weight suspension arms let the shocks do their job and increase your trucks handling. The milling work adds to the performance and really adds to the look of the setup.

While the "BLING" factor is not a necessary item for bashing performance, we certainly have nothing against it! Even though we beat our trucks, we still want them to look good. When you show up to bash or race with your buddies, it would be hard to find someone with a better looking suspension system on their truck. All of the components work together to deliver an awesome appearance.

COST / VALUE: The G3 Race Suspension retails for $279. When you factor in everything that comes with it, the quality, fit, finish, appearance and performance, this kit is worth every penny of the $279.

The G2 Race Skids retail for $34. That is inexpensive and they are worth it, big time. Loads of quality for less than $40!

THE VERDICT: Get them. Or better yet, revise your letter to Santa and add these to your list. They look great and work great. What more could you ask for?

We like these parts so much that we have decided to build an E-Maxx over the winter JUST so we can try out some of their renowned performance parts for the electric MT.

Check out the GorillaMaxx web site and learn more about this sweet suspension system and other sharp products they offer. Tell them that the guys at Beat Your Truck sent you!

Ahhh. I can still remember it like it was yesterday. Back when we got our first T-Maxx’s, we were busting stock arms like they were a dime a dozen. I remember wishing that someone would make an “indestructible” set of arms. With plastic arms, either the material is too soft and you get too much arm flex (less responsive) or it is too hard (becomes brittle). Aluminum is a good material but can reduce responsiveness because of extra weight, depending on the design, and can be bent fairly easily. Either way, plastic and aluminum have been our only choices for monster truck suspension arms......until now. FlexTek RC is on the scene with new cast TITANIUM suspension arms that look tough as nails (ummm…tough as titanium nails) and are an industry first.

FIRST IMPRESSIONS: The arms came beautifully packaged. Each and every piece kept separate from the others to prevent any shipping damage. We could barely force ourselves to take the picture in the upper left! We could not wait to rip the package open! The first thing that really grabbed us was the overall design and shape of the arms. They are truly unique, especially the lower arms. We also noticed that there is no cross brace on the lower arms, like there normally are on aluminum and plastic arms. We also liked the beefy ends where the pillow balls thread into the arms (picture to the right).

Here’s what FlexTek had to say, “The design of the FlexTek arms is to absorb energy through deflection without transmitting energy back into the frame work or the vehicle including the hinge pins. One of the biggest questions we have is how can you make flexible suspension arms out of titanium? Answer, it is through design and having a good understanding of the unique characteristics that titanium has to offer.”

I must say that through the entire product review process, the guys at FlexTek have really shown us that they are serious about what they do. As you can see by looking at the arms, they are not a copy of anything else on the market. It is truly a ground up design. The geometry of their designs make the most of the unique properties of the titanium. Here’s a quote from the FlexTek RC web site, “Our titanium suspension arms are designed to absorb impact but remain very rigid in the direction of suspension travel. Our arms have been designed using optimized geometries that utilize the unique properties of the titanium. This relationship allows us to design parts that will withstand much greater impacts as well as a dramatic reduction of these forces being transferred back into the vehicles related framework.

In addition to the abuse aspect, our engineers have paid close attention to the details that will make the parts perform at their optimum. All unnecessary material has been removed from the design to make the parts as light as possible while maintaining an overall balance of the part. Optimization of this nature translates to increased suspension speed assuring better wheel to ground contact resulting in enhanced handling.”

INSTALLATION: Before we get started, we should also tell you a little bit about our test trucks suspension setup: the truck is a T-Maxx (duh) with Great Assembly RC Aluminum bulk heads, RPM axle carriers, RC Raven aluminum shock towers, Traxxas Aluminum Big Bore shocks and XTM CVD's. It has other hop-ups but these are the ones that directly relate to the suspension arms.

Installing the arms is a breeze and is basically the same as installing a set of stock arms. A couple of things to note about the arms themselves and installing them:

1. The arms feature threaded metal inserts where the pillow balls screw in. These inserts look great and really work well. Our pillow balls threaded very nicely into place. We recommend applying some blue, medium strength thread locker (Loctite) to keep them from spinning and coming out of adjustment.

2. The arms have plastic bushings where the hinge pins pass through them. This is a very nice feature as it will add life to the arms by not having the pins directly contact the arms. These bushings simply press in with a pair of pliers. Be gentle so you won't mangle the plastic. Get them lined up and press them in slow and straight. It's a simple job. These bushings are going to be wear items, so keep an eye on them especially if you are prone to running your truck in abrasive environments (sand, etc). FlexTek informed us that they spent a significant amount of time to find a material that would provide the best wear characteristics possible (a "high-wear factor material" as the designers at Flextek put it).

We mentioned to the FlexTek guys that we would have liked to see some extra bushings included with the package and they said "ok, no problem". Gotta like that! So expect a few spares in your package of arms (you can thank us later). You can also purchase them separately via their web site.

3. The threaded lower shock mounting bushings are aluminum and look great. Nice and shiny with well tapped, clean threads. They exist to give the shock mounting screw a place to thread into and attach to the arm. They work as a bushing and a nut. The bushings we received were round on the back side and that made it hard to grab onto to tighten things down. We thought it would have been better to have "flats" where you could use a wrench to hold them from spinning while tightening the shock screws. Not a big deal but a minor annoyance. Again we tossed our idea at FlexTek and they jumped right on it! As I am typing this review, they have new, hex sided bushings they are working on for final production. Talk about listening to you customers! Very impressive.You are going to want to use thread locker here also to keep everything in place.

4. The arms feel very light and quite similar to plastic versions. FlexTek tells us they are slightly heavier than stock but are the same approximate weight as RPM arms. That's pretty impressive boys and girls especially as we are talking about TITANIUM here!

You have already seen how flexible these arms are right out of the package. I must make it known that once they are installed, they feel very strong and "in control". We were worried about them making the suspension sloppy and that is not the case by any means. We also noticed that much of the weight/thickness of the lower arm is centered by the shock mounting point. This should provide the arm with improved balance and keep things from flexing at the shock mounting point, in turn letting the shocks do their job.

QUALITY: The arms design alone tells you that some serious thought went into them. Look around the RC industry....how many aftermarket T-maxx arms are there? A LOT! With very few exceptions and regardless of material, they are all based on the original stock, plastic design. These arms have certainly broken that mold. Speaking of molds, that's how these arms are made. They are made from titanium which is cast into a mold. Yes they are cast, not machined (as should be evident by the matte finish on the arms). FlexTek tells us that it is what gives the arms their elasticity.

Even though they are cast, there are very few casting marks on the arms. Overall they come across as a very high quality component, especially when you understand the background of the product.

Another important item to talk about; the arm design features all curved edges, no sharp corners (otherwise known as stress risers). A stress riser is an area where stress will tend to be concentrated as a result of a particular shape. When stressed, sharp edges (90 degree corners etc) are more likely to crack versus a curved edge (curves dissipate the energy throughout the design and do not allow it to concentrate in one particular area). Take a close look at the arms...no sharp corners, less chances of things breaking.

PERFORMANCE: We had a great time putting these arms through a variety of terrains. One of the first things we noticed is that truck seemed more "nimble". Meaning that it seemed like the shocks and suspension were able to do their job better without the mushy flex of plastic. The truck was noticeably more stable and in control when blasting across uneven terrain at speed. Overall, the truck handled and responded better with these arms installed.

We went to a local construction site for the majority of our testing as it offered many types of ground (and lots of air), all in one place. One of the best things we found was a 12-15 foot high cliff (you already know where this is going don't you). We launched the poor truck off the cliff at least a dozen times and never stopped giggling the whole time. What a blast! In fact, it was not until a rear CVD cross pin broke (nothing to do with the arms...just cruddy CVD's) that we realized we should have been getting some of it on film. Sorry we didn't think about it before the truck made itself into a front wheel drive wuss bag. Anyway, with the cliff jumping, rock bashing (there was one encounter in particular that both Pat and I agreed that if the arms were plastic, they would have broke and if they were aluminum, they would have bent severely...it was one of those "OOOOHH OUCH #$%#$" impacts...), and variety of other smash 'em up brutality we put them through, they never even thought about giving us any problems. In fact I am pretty sure we could have snapped the chassis, bent the bulks and messed up everything else before we would have wrecked these arms. Very, very tough stuff. Very, very impressive.

We were also quite impressed when we found out that FlexTek was working with Lunsford on the hinge pins and on the shock bushings. Lunsford is the RC authority when it comes to turnbuckles and hinge pins. When you talking titanium arms, nothing short of Lunsford will do. Why reinvent the wheel right?

Side note: Check the pictures and look at the upper arm setup. it leaves a lot of room for alternate, larger shocks to be used with the truck (1/8 scale shocks, ProLine PowerStrokes, or ????)

FIT / FINISH / APPEARANCE: As expected, the arms fit very well. We noticed a small amount of contact between one of the upper arm mounts and our aluminum bulkheads. We tried this arm out on another truck with the stock bulks and there was no interference. Then we tried another upper arm in the same spot on the test truck and as far as we can tell, the bulk must have a very slight bend in it? This is no fault of the arms...our test truck just needs a little work. The pillow balls, axle carriers and hinge pins all fit very well. No problems at all with the fitment.

The matte (semi-dull) finish is pretty unique. It is not the polished, machined look you normally see with "aftermarket" arms. They do not have a ton of the "bling" factor going on but the design gives them such a cool look, the flat finish is not really noticed. In fact the simple fact that they are not super shsiny seems to set them apart. We were impressed by the smooth surface of the arms even though they are cast. There are very few casting marks (lines or ridges). FlexTek told us they are evaluating some different finishing procedures however they are sensitive to adding more cost to the product. If we had to choose between a higher priced polished arms or the arms "as is", we'll take them "as is". Form or function? Count us in for an extra helping of function. The matte finish of these arms really did a nice job in hiding the bruises we delivered to them in our testing. That was a surprising bonus feature we had not planned on. For giggles, we may fire up the Dremel and try polishing one of them just to see how it turns out. If we do, we will update this review with a picture so you can see how it turns out.

COST / VALUE: The complete upper and lower arm set with bushings and a shiny new set of Lunsford titanium turnbuckles retails for $379.95. While this may seem a bit pricey to some, remember that is is a mere $90 more than a set of aluminum HardCore Racing arms. Would you pay an extra $90 to go with titanium rather than aluminum? We would. It goes without saying that these arms will be out of some peoples RC budget however, it is important to remember that FlexTek is not stamping out "Chinese widgets" here (no offense to our fellow Chinese bashers). They are offering a unique product that delivers a very high level of performance. You are also getting a full set of Lunsford Racing Titanium hinge pins in the kit. Another thing that is important to us at BYT, FlexTek RC parts are designed, tested, and made in the USA.

THE VERDICT: We are excited to have companies like FlexTek joining the world of RC. It is great to have new ideas and new designs come into our industry. We are also excited that FlexTek will be releasing arm sets for the Revo and the Losi LST during the Winter of 2005 (the BYT LST will be getting a set of these arms...we are sick of snapping plastics like twigs).

These arms are truly unique (patent pending) and they worked very well. They took some heavy abuse, in at least one situation an impact that would have almost certainly damaged or broken plastic or standard aluminum arms. The fit is excellent and they give the truck a "get out of my way...I am a serious basher" stance and appearance. The truck felt more responsive and in turn, it was easier to control in the high speed bumpy stuff. To use a technical term, the truck felt less "wishy-washy". In regards to the price, if you have the jingle and you are a serious basher, throw it down for a set of these arms and maybe, just maybe, you will never buy another set of arms again (don't hold us to that...we have seen how some of you drive)?!

One last noteworthy item: Per the FlexTek RC web site: "FlexTek RC Cast components come with a full 30-day money back guarantee from date of the original purchase. Items may be returned for a full refund (less any associated freight charges) within this 30-day period. See warranty information for details." That is a good indication of a quality company and a quality product. This bumps us the Cost/Value part of our review. To this writer, it makes the parts more valuable when I know the company believes in their product enough to make a guarantee like that.

UPDATE: FlexTek is now calling their arms INDESTRUCTIBLE! And they are slapping a guarantee on it!

Check out the FlexTek RC web site and learn more about these killer arms and the other products that are coming soon! Tell them that the guys at Beat Your Truck sent you!

UPDATE: You can now buy these arms in the BYT Store! We loved them so much, we decided to sell them!

We have been bashing with the Lunsford LST Monster Titanium Kit (Lunsford part number 4821) for the Losi LST. It includes titanium hinge pins (16 of them), e-clips, titanium turnbuckles (4 of them) and a handy adjustment wrench.

What better way to lighten the LST up a little and give it more strength in areas that are weak.

PACKAGING - As always, Lunsford packaging is great. Everything comes in its own sealed compartment. That makes the assembly process much easier. The kit includes titanium hinge pins (16 of them), e-clips, titanium turnbuckles (4 of them) and a handy adjustment wrench. The bonus is the included wrench so you can fine tune your turnbuckles for optimum performance. No messy plier marks munging up your beautiful new turnbuckles! Lunsford is always generous with their decals as well. Nothing says "my truck is tough as nails" as some Lunsford decals gracing your beaten Lexan body.

QUALITY - Everything from Lunsford is nothing short of top notch. The parts are beautifully made with very clean threads (no burrs to be found) and the polish on the titanium is excellent. The kits comes with new hinge pin clips in case you launch your stockers across your shop when disassembling. I love it when you get extra clips! They are always a welcome item in the toolbox in case one goes MIA during a bashing or racing session.

PERFORMANCE - Without a doubt, this is a must have kit for the LST. The stock turnbuckles are weak and bend quite easily. We had a LOW speed encounter with a tree and the turnbuckle bent AND snapped like it was made from thin balsa wood. Seriously, the impact was minor but the damage dealt to the stockers was major.

Since the installation of the Lunsford LST kit, we have hammed many more immovable objects at much greater speeds without a whimper from the turnbuckles. In fact we have snapped off some suspension arms and the only thing still holding the wheel assembly on were the Lunsford Ti goodies.

The kit uses the stock rod ends and that is ok. The stock rod ends seem to be pretty beefy and have held up well so far. The hinge pins have worked well also. As previously mentioned, we have snapped arms off with no ill effects to any of the hinge pins (now if only RPM would make some arms for the LST).

FIT / APPEARANCE - No problems here at all. The pins fit snuggly into the LST carriers and the turnbuckles were a perfect fit.

How do they look? Unfortunately, hinge pins and turnbuckles do not get the glamour "ooohs and aaahs" of shiny shock towers and skid plates. Just remember this, although they are not overly visible on the truck, their beauty shines through every time you go out and bash and they do not fail. No bends, breaks or snaps.

COST / VALUE - Unfortunately, turnbuckles and hinge pins seem to be overlooked by the average "Joe" out looking for truck hop-ups. Even though the average "Joe" has broken/bent his share of them. The performance and reliability delivered by this kit gives them high marks in the value scale. When you hit the track or the local dirt pile, knowing that you have the strongest tb's and hinge pins is a great feeling. It is one less thing to go wrong and ruin a good day of racing/bashing.

The kit cost $100 and is worth every penny. Especially when you figure you are getting 16 titanium hinge pins, e-clips, 4 titanium turnbuckles and a handy adjustment wrench. Reliability is a hard thing to put a price on. After all, you have spent hundreds and hundreds of dollars on your truck. Don't want to waste your time replacing inferior/stock parts.

SUMMARY - Lunsford parts are featured on EVERY BeatYourTruck vehicle, from our Mini-T's to our monster trucks. Not just some, but every truck. If that does not tell you something, it really should. This is a great kit and like we mentioned before, if you have an LST, you are doomed to do some damage to the turnbuckles at the very least. Make a preventative move and upgrade to this kit.

Check out this kit and other very cool stuff at the Lunsford Racing web site and tell them the guys at Beat Your Truck sent you!

UPDATE / SETUP TIP: Since we have installed FlexTek RC titanium suspension arms, we have had a few crashes where the outside turnbuckle ball stud will actually pull out of the C-hub. Add a small elastic nut to the ball studs where they mount to the C-hubs (see picture below - add nut to mount circled in the picture) and this will strengthen this mount significantly. Losi should have had elastic nuts on here from the beginning. Sadly until we install Lunsford and FlexTek to our LST, the arms would always bust or the turnbuckles would bend/snap before the ends even had a chance to pull out!

Everything about the Mini-T is small, except for the reading on the Fun Meter and the list of hop-ups available for them. We have had a blast hopping up our Mini-T’s and Lunsford Racing has a number of offerings to make the little shaver a much tougher ride.

Let’s take a look at their titanium ball studs. They come in packs of four and you will need three packs to get the turnbuckles taken care of. Four ball studs on the rear and eight on the front end. Man, these are super small! It is amazing how small they are but even more amazing is how great they look. They are perfectly made and this is a marvel in itself when you consider the size. The quality of Lunsford’s machining equipment is evident when you look at parts this perfect and this small in size. They are very impressive to say the least.

Installation is a breeze, at least on 11 of the 12 balls. You will have to do a little extra work to replace the rear ball stud near the spur gear. We had to remove the motor plate almost entirely to get access to that one (note: if you are thinking about installing a new motor or motor plate, this is a great time to do it). See photo to the right for a sneaky way to get your wrench at that ball stud by the gear without totally removing the motor and motor plate. All in all, the entire job is a quick one.

The fit is great and they tighten up very nicely. The stock rod ends snap on with authority (that is if your rod ends are still in good shape). The ball ends are an excellent idea if you are planning on, or have already upgraded to titanium turnbuckles.

The ball studs are great and there is nothing not to love about them. For the nice price of $12.50 retail for a set of four ball studs (less than $40 for all twelve ball studs), you really can’t go wrong and it is almost certain you will never, ever break a ball! The price may seem a little bit steep until you actually see and feel the quality of these components.

Check these ball studs and all the other cool goodies out at the Lunsford web site.

Team Losi has done a great job shaking up the RC world with their Mini-T. A SLEW of "mini" RC vehicles have popped onto the market but dare we say none have had the success thus far as the Losi Mini-T. With that success, comes one of our favorite things.....hop-ups! It's what every true RC fanatic thinks about 24 hours a day "I can't wait to get some shiny this or super strong that for my truck."


FullForce RC was on the ball with the release of the Mini-T offering a number of components to make your Mini-T tougher and cooler looking to boot. Let's take a look at some of the items they have for our favorite little guy.

Here's what we will be installing and testing:

• Aluminum front pivot block
• Aluminum front C-hubs
• Titanium front hinge pin brace
• Titanium front skid plate
• Aluminum rear pivot block
• Titanium rear hinge pin brace
• Rubber sealed ball bearing kit

INSTALLATION & REVIEW - FRONT END: Let's start with the front end and the first thing to do is remove the front tires. With the tires off, it's time to remove the plastic bushings and install the ultra-sweet rubber sealed bearings in the front wheels. Give them a firm push into place. We heard ours "click" when they hit the right spot. You want to make sure they are firmly seated in the rims. Getting the bushings out may take a little coaxing but it is not a problem. We actually used a coarse-threaded wood screw and turned it by hand into the bushings and gave them a tug. This popped them out quickly and easily. Otherwise a small screwdriver will do the trick. Once you have both front wheels done, open the closest window and throw the plastic bushings as far as you possibly can. They are speed robbing items and installing bearings is one of the best hop-ups anyone can do to any RC vehicle that uses bushings. We have seen statistics that say bearings in the Mini-T will give you an extra 4/10 of a MPH. That's a serious speed gain just by installing quality bearings like these. They should also give you a little more run time as well.

Leave the tires off for now and let's install the front C-hubs. Man are these ever sweet! The detail is great, all the way down to the nice smooth edges and threaded holes for the turnbuckle balls to screw into. DIsassemble the front spindle area as shown in the picture to the right. Note that you do not have to remove the steering turnbuckle ball end from the plastic spindle. If you can avoid popping these on and off, it is a good thing. Once you take them off, they seem to come off easier in impacts etc. We used the tip of a hobby knife to pry off the SUPER small e-clips. Take your time and try hard not to loose them. In fact it might be a good idea to have a couple of extra on hand just in case. Swap the threaded ball end from the old plastic c-hub onto the new aluminum piece. Also note that there is not a "right" or "left" c-hub. It just depends on how you mount it. Put everything back into place being sure that everything moves freely with no binding. When reinstalling the itsy bitsy e-clips, it is best to take your time and just use your fingernail to pop them back into place. Anything more than that is not necessary and you will stand a good chance of bending them (but that's ok...you have extras right?). If you are having trouble installing the vertical pin, check the axle. It has a hole in it that the pin must go through. The FFRC C-hubs fit beautifully and are WAY stronger than the stock plastic setup. All the corners have nice radiuses which eliminates stress points (weak spots). You would have a difficult time dealing out any hurt to these hubs. Very, very nice stuff.

OK...onto the titanium front skid plate, front hinge pin brace and aluminum front pivot block. The skid is an easy one. Remove the four screws and just set them aside for now. Do whatever you want with the plastic skid....it's probably not worth the trouble to put it on E-bay :) With the front skid plate off, the plastic front pivot block will also be loose. Remove the hinge pins, install the pivot block and titanium hinge pin brace. The FFRC stuff fits really well. No problems at all getting anything to line up or screw into place. This is always a welcome feature as it saves mass amounts of aggravation trying to make something "new and improved" fit into your truck.

With the new block and brace in place, grab the titanium skid plate and put everything back together again, using the original screws. We noticed that the arms felt a little more solid (less front to back slop) with the new pivot block in place. The new skid plate is considerably longer than the plastic unit. It also has a larger upward bend in the front. Both of these subtle features should add some extra protection to the front of your Mini-T. The screw holes are countersunk so you won't be snagging the carpet or dirt with screw heads. Excellent feature. The hinge braces are also hollowed in the center rather than being a solid piece. This is a nice touch as it removes a little weight and looks cool too. They also seem much more stiff than the steel plates...which they should be....gotta love titanium!

Install the front tires, taking care not to overtighten them (be sure to spin them as you tighten the wheel nut), and you are done with the front end. Did you notice how easily the front wheel spin? VERY nice. Silky smooth. If you have the wheel nuts installed correctly (not too tight), they should spin for LONG time. And I must say the Mini-T is looking killer so far!


INSTALLATION & REVIEW - REAR END: Alright! On to the rear of the truck. Start by removing the four screws on the underside of the truck that hold the transmission assembly in (see picture to the right - red circles). There is one more trans bolt near the rear shock tower. It is a long bolt and has a nut on the end. Remove that one also. Unhook the motor wires and remove the transmission and motor assembly. Set it off to the side, out of the way, along with the drive axles. (FYI - The green circles in the picture to the right indicate the bottom mounting screws for the rear motor protector and the yellow circle shows a lower rear shock tower mounting screw location).

We recommend removing the lower rear shock mounting screws so you are not fighting the shocks during disassembly and reassembly. The rear pivot block is now accessible and can be removed. Install the shiny new FFRC unit in its place and don't forget about the titanium pivot brace. Once again, everything fits into place nicely and with no assembly problems whatsoever....just as we would expect. The pivot blocks are massive and offer huge amounts of strength. This is evident just by looking at them.

Reinstall the transmission, dog bones and remount the shocks. Remove the rear tires and install your new bearings.....ohhh baby they spin SO smooth! Same deal as the front end. Make sure not to overtighten the wheel nuts and give them a few spins to make sure there is no drag.

Give it a once over to make sure you don't have any extra screws and you are good to go!


SUMMARY: We have been hitting the carpet, pavement and dirt hard for the past few weeks. So far we have gone through about 8 battery packs with no ill effects...except for broken servo mounts, broken shock towers, etc. Not a whimper from any of the FFRC parts though. Let's face it people....it is going to take a lot to break any of these parts on a truck like the Mini-T! We do not expect to replace any of these parts ever.....granted anything is possible but HIGHLY UNLIKELY! FFRC has put together some very well made, great priced items for your Mini-T that you should not overlook.

Of course it makes sense to buy more than one item at a time for shipping costs and for installation time but if we had to choose the order of "importance" (what to buy first from these parts):

#1 - Bearings
#2 - Front skid plate
#3 - Pivot blocks
#4 - C-hubs
#5 - Hinge pin braces

All in all, FFRC has done it again. They are offering great parts at great prices. Even though the parts are for a "mini" RC, they still took the development and design of these parts very seriously. What else can we say other than we love em!

Visit the FullForce RC web site to see the latest on pricing for these and other great RC parts.

As you may have noticed, we have been busy reviewing springs lately! FullForce RC has recently introduced dual rate springs for the Traxxas Maxx trucks. We wasted no time in getting our hands on these new “boingers”!

The springs come in a package of eight. We opted for the "blue" springs to match the scheme of our truck. FFRC offers them in a variety of colors to best match your ride (blue, red, purple, green, yellow and silver). The springs are a dual rate design and have two separate spring rates. Total length of the springs is 3.1035 Inches. The first 1.7435 inch of the spring has six coils rated at 2.8 pounds per inch. This softer rate helps soak up the smaller bumps and keep the bounce to a minimum when traveling at high speeds. The second half (1.36 Inches) has 3 coils rated at a much stiffer 7 pounds per inch. This helps keep the truck from bottoming out the shocks when landing on big jumps. FYI - stock Traxxas springs are spec'ed out at about 2 pounds. Reference the picture to the left: Note the FFRC spring on the bottom, the stock Traxxas spring in the middle and the Traxxas Big Bore spring on the top.

Installation is simple. Remove the bottom mounting screws, lower spring cups and slide the old spring off. Install the new spring, then the spring cup and finally fasten the lower shock mount securely. Granted you do not have to remove the entire shock for this procedure however if you have not performed maintenance on them lately, it may be a good time to pull them off and change the oil. The stock T-Maxx comes with 30wt oil. Heavier trucks and high jumpers work better with slightly heavier oils and sometimes a piston change....but that's another article. We were running 50wt Trinity oil in our Traxxas Big Bore shocks for this test.

The springs look great on our truck. The dual rate coil design looks sweet and the paint on the shocks looks good also. We noticed that the diameter of the springs seems to be slightly smaller that the stockers and other springs we have tested. This shouldn’t really affect the performance or longevity of the springs as long as the tensile strength is up to par.

Ok…time to bash! We ran the springs through a number of different terrains. At higher speeds, the springs seemed to do a real nice job soaking up some of the little stuff while retaining a decent ride height and not getting overly bouncy. In this scenario, they performed very similar to the stock shocks. We then proceeded to give them some bigger jumps, tossing the truck 3-6 feet in the air at some pretty fast rates of speed. The springs did a great job, only bottoming out occasionally on the 6+ foot jumps. This is partially due to the weight of our truck. It is packed with aluminum goodies and is a fatty.

These are great springs and worked very well. The price is right at a mere $15 for a full set of eight. FFRC didn’t forget about you Savage owners either. They offer a TRIPLE rate spring for the Savage! If you are looking for great springs without having to spring big with the pocketbook, these are your springs.

Check out the FullForce RC web site to grab a set of these while you can.

If you haven't considered upgrading the springs on your Maxx or AE Monster GT yet, it's time to seriously consider it. A spring upgrade is one of the best ways to improve the handling and jumping ability of your truck.

There are a ton of different spring rates out there. Remember this: the softer the spring, the softer the ride. Softer springs will keep the truck from bouncing around like a pogo stick but can also make it feel "mushy" in turns and can affect handling. Stiffer springs will reduce "nose dive" when slamming on the brakes, will reduce body roll and will keep heavier trucks at the proper ride height. "Stiffys" will also help your truck handle bigger jumps.

Stock Traxxas springs are rated at 2.2 lbs. The titanium springs from Lunsford are almost double the spring force of the stockers weighing in at 4.25 lbs of force to compress. We installed these on a mostly aluminum T-Maxx that due to it's construction is considerably heavier than the stock setup. Reference the picture to the left: Note the Lunsford spring on the bottom and its much larger, coarser coil design than the stock Traxxas spring in the middle and the Traxxas Big Bore spring on the top. A stronger/stiffer spring is a welcome and required upgrade on a truck of this heft. The truck is also equipped with Traxxas Big Bore aluminum shocks, 50 weight Trinity oil and two hole shock pistons.

Installation is pretty simple. Shock removal is not required for a spring upgrade. You can just remove the lower shock mount, remove the lower spring cup and slide the spring off. On a heavier truck like ours, we decided to install all 8 springs. On lighter trucks (stock or slightly modified), you might want to start with 4 and go from there. Special note: As noted above, we installed these on Big Bore shocks. For some reason, Traxxas uses a slightly smaller outside diameter upper spring retainer and lower spring cup on Big Bores than they do on the stock plastic shock units (reference picture to the right)? These springs do not fit the Big Bore upper spring retainers and lower spring cups very well? In fact it is a bad enough fit, you need to go and steal the cups and retainers off of your old plastic shocks if you are planning on running these springs on the Big Bores. Weird! Once we swapped the retainers and cups from our original stock set and everything fit together well. This should not be an issue if you are still using stock shocks...we just want to forewarn Big Bore users.

We took the truck out and put it through a number of different driving conditions. First we gave it some high speed runs up and down the street and noticed the truck was less wishy washy and felt that the springs gave the truck better overall control. When trying to turn the truck at higher speeds, body roll was significantly reduced and made the truck feel more stable. (Note that on a lighter truck, running all 8 springs may make it feel more "tipsy".) Strange as it sounds, the truck almost seemed faster as it did not squat to the ground under hard acceleration, but it stayed taught and upright (we know speed did not increase but we liked the hole shot feel much better than the stock springs). Next we took it out to our track and tossed it off a some big dirt jumps....over and over again. The springs seemed to make the truck "pop" off the jump faster. Landings were not a problem and bottoming out was at a minimum. The springs seem to have a very fast response rate, meaning they move back to their original length very quickly, without allowing the truck to bounce excessively.

The springs are a HUGE improvement over the stock units. These are great springs. Titanium offers a nice finish (although the silver titanium finish is the only color available) and obvious strength and longevity. We felt the force rating provided a nice blend of not too stiff and not too soft. Something to remember: not only do they fit the Traxxas T-Maxx (and E-Maxx and SportMaxx), but they also fit the AE Monster GT. With a truck like the MGT, we would guess that all 8 springs would be needed even on a stock truck.

The cost on the spring sets is a little high ($39.95 for the 4-pack) when compared to other springs on the market. It should be noted though that these are titanium springs, not steel. And for many trucks, one set will be all that is needed. Lunsford may be the only (or one of the few) companies offering titanium springs. And let's face it people, when you buy Lunsford anything, you may pay a little more BUT you get what you pay for. There are a ton of less expensive companies out there but Lunsford has really done a nice job sticking to their guns and providing high-quality components. Again, we like these springs and look forward to giving them a serious butt kicking this season.

Check these springs and other cool goodies out at the Lunsford web site.

Impact Performance Products has truly created a performance upgrade for the T-Maxx that nobody else is offering (not that we know of anyway). The TTRS (True Track Rear Suspension) kit from IPP includes everything you need to make your T-Maxx lighter, easier to work on and to have a perfect rear toe-in adjustment of 1°. Sound good? We thought so too. IPP offers the kit in high-strength plastic or 6061 aluminum. We opted for the plastic kit for our test. It has been installed on one of our T-Maxx’s for over a month and here’s the skinny…
The kit is for use with the newer style, wide T-Maxx or any T-Maxx that has been converted over to the longer arms (Pro-Line WIDEMAXX kit etc).

The TTRS kit includes:
• (2) Lower rear a-arms
• (2) New axle/hub carriers
• (2) Lower shock mounts (four shock positions)
• All the required hardware (hinge pins, e-clips, screws) to make it work
• Allen wrench

Essentially you are replacing the lower rear suspension arms with the ones supplied in the kit. The new system doesn’t use the lower pillow balls or caps on the rear axle carriers (reducing weight). It utilizes hinge pins for the lower arm mounts. Check this….this allows you to eliminate the rear turnbuckles (further reducing weight) and forever forgetting about setting the toe on the rear of your truck. With the TTRS, it is a perfect 1 degree all the time. Without the rear turnbuckles, you will also have easier access to the lower rear shock screws. Also make note that there are four mounting positions for the lower shock mounts. This is a nice bit of added adjustability.

When we assembled our rear arms prior to installing them on the truck, we did notice that the supplied hub carrier was a bit “sticky” and did not move smoothly on the lower hinge pin. Powered by our fingertips, we twisted a drill bit (the same size as the hole) through the hinge pin hole and found some “slag” / scrap material in there. Ahhhhh….much better! We did this on both sides for good measure. After this cleanup step, movement was smooth and the arms were ready to be installed. The arms are symmetrical so no worries about left or right. We like the fact that minimal amounts of brain power are required to install this kit. Mounting the arms is pretty straightforward and actually easier than the stock system as you are not messing with the rear turnbuckles. We mounted the arms and proceeded to use the upper pillow ball to set the camber on the rears. Everything is in place and ready to go.

Here at BYT, we are strictly bashers, like most of you (nothing against racing – if there was a track nearby we would be on it). We initially thought this kit was more for the Maxx that sees track time and would not be of any benefit to the average backyard basher. We realized that we were wrong after having a chance to run our normal backyard and woodland areas with the kit installed. The truck seemed to “hook-up” more consistently coming out of turns and when landing from air-time. It also felt better with standing starts and seemed to get up and moving a little quicker, this may be in our head but it truly seemed to get a little more traction in a variety of situations. The truck took more than a few tumbles without a whimper from any kit components. The material the arms, shock mounts and axle carriers are constructed from a fairly stiff plastic (see PRODUCT UPDATE below).

Lighter truck = eliminates upper pillow balls & caps on rear suspension / eliminates rear turnbuckles (not a ton of weight removed but everything counts)

Easier to work on = easier access to the lower rear shock screws and rear toe-in adjustments are eliminated

Perfect rear toe-in adjustment of 1 degree = It’s designed into the kit. No rear toe adjustments!

If you are a racer, you really need to check this out. If you are a basher, you should check it out also. It is unique and it works. At $50 retail for the plastic kit, you are getting more than a set of arms, axles carriers etc. You are getting a real performance enhancement kit. While it may not guarantee you a place in the A-Main, it is certainly not going to hurt. It may not offer a HUGE increase in traction or drivability for the average basher but the theory is sound and the kit is solid. Think of it as an important step to improving the overall drivability of the Maxx. We liked it!

Visit the Impact Performance Products web site to learn more about this kit!

Special note: If you are running RPM oversize axle carriers, you will need to get some stock axle bearings to use the TTRS kit.


PRODUCT UPDATE = They busted during a cartwheel roll that MAY have busted even the stock arms. However we have taken worse spills with the stock setup without this kind of damage? Both arms shattered. Anyway, we have gone back to the stock setup......

BYT has been using Lunsford turnbuckles for a long time and when we saw the 1/8 scale T-Maxx package, we knew that we had to give this a hard look-over.

What's included in this 1/8 scale Lunsford kit?

(4) 4mm titanium turnbuckles
(8) Extra large rod ends
(8) Titanium ball ends
(8) Titanium hinge pins
(numerous) Hinge pin e-clips
(1) Aluminum turnbuckle adjustment tool
(numerous) Lunsford decals :)

It’s a complete upgrade for the entire turnbuckle setup….rod ends, ball ends and the turnbuckles themselves. When the upgrade kit arrived, we were pleased to see that everything is nicely segregated in the package to prevent shipping scratches and the like (see picture to the left). All parts were present and accounted for so we got our work area ready and commenced to installing!

This is the type of kit that really does not require instructions however Lunsford does give you a little piece of paper with a hint on it. It makes you aware that one side of the ball ends is lightly chamfered. This is the side to install the ball into as it will snap into place easier. We used standard jaw pliers to snap the balls into the plastic rod ends. It worked well and we only had to chase one titanium ball around the shop. Just be ready to apply some moderate force to get them to snap into place.

Once the balls were installed into the ends, we threaded the rod ends onto the 4mm titanium turnbuckle shafts. You could put the rod ends on the shafts before you installed the balls….it really doesn’t matter. Whatever trips your trigger! These shafts are MASSIVE! We have been using the 3mm titanium shafts that are included with the Pro-Line WideMaxx kit and have never bent a turnbuckle. It is going to take small arms fire to damage one of these hulking shafts! Using the supplied turnbuckle wrench along with lock jaw pliers makes installation of the rod ends a breeze. We used a rag between the lock jaw pliers and the rod ends to keep them from getting chewed up. Having the old turnbuckle assemblies laid out on the bench will help you to determine the proper length of the new ones. Take care in threading the new rod ends onto the shafts straight. Remember you are making new threads while you are cranking these on.

After the ends were installed and set to the proper length, we screwed the new assemblies into place. Wow. These shafts look killer!!! They are really thick and give the truck an even tougher appearance (at least for those of us who notice details such as this). (Picture to the right shows 4mm TB on right)

Next, it was time to install the new hinge pins. Depending on your skid plate configuration, it is sometimes easiest to remove the plates. We had been using stainless steel pins from Traxxas and they work pretty well for $12 a set. They do however bend and we are excited to see what the titanium pins will be able to take. We also had a few questions about using titanium. Will we start breaking arms? Will these pins start wearing out our aluminum bulkheads? Will this truck ever be indestructible? ?

Ok….all eight hinge pins are slid into place and sixteen new e-clips are snug in their grooves. We are ready to rock. Mother Nature has been cooperating lately here in frigid Wisconsin and we are faced with a 50 degree day (heat wave) for February. We put the truck through its paces and toss it at a variety of jumps, whoops and general slams into the occasional tree (I swear they move into my way). The truck was scooting along very quickly during several impacts and landings gone bad (otherwise known as cartwheels). Not a whimper was heard from the hinge pins or the turnbuckles. Exactly what we expected. Again, we have never had any trouble from our other sets of smaller diameter Lunsford turnbuckles. The smaller TB’s used the stock rod ends and they were the weak point, twisting and breaking over time.

This is the kit to buy when you are sick of replacing those weak, easy-to-bend stock turnbuckles and/or when you are looking for some detail to set your T apart from the rest of the pack. The worst thing we can say is the cost is a little bit high at $86.95 retail however when you factor in that they will probably be the last set you buy, and when you factor in everything that is included with the kit, they are truly worth every dollar. Ok....we are just nitpicking. It is a great deal.

Time will be the ultimate judge of this kit and we will be sure to let you know if we have any troubles or comments as we pile the miles on this season. We doubt that we will. In fact we will probably wear out the rest of the truck and install these on the next ride. Nice job Lunsford. You have once again proved that you are the king of the titanium turnbuckle world.


Visit the Lunsford web site to learn more about this kit and the other awesome items they offer!

Is the steering in your T-Maxx getting a little soft and not quite as responsive as it used to be? Chances are your servo is getting tired or the saver spring is getting weak....or both. You can upgrade your servo saver with another stock piece or throw down an extra $30 and get a system made to handle a truck of this size, power and weight.

The PL Maxx Steering kit is a solid upgrade for any T-Maxx, whether you are running a high torque servo or not. After an upgrade to a high torque servo, we found that it was so powerful it was overpowering the stock servo saver...enter the Pro-Line Maxx Steering kit.

The PL design utilizes a spring but it is not used in the same way as the stock unit. The spring applies pressure to "pivot-away", angled plastic columns. The columns are held together with the spring force and if the resistance is strong enough, the pieces will pivot away from each other, protecting that force from being transmitted to your servo. The spring pushes the pieces back together once the outside force has gone away or diminished. More spring tension will give you sharper steering but may take away from the protection factor to the steering servo. Less force is more protection to the servo but the steering may be softer. We recommend only tightening this nut to the point where you are happy with the feel of the steering. Going too tight would reduce the effectiveness of the saver function.

The first REALLY nice feature of this kit is that you can adjust the force in which the spring holds the two "pivot-away" pieces together. A nice anodized aluminum nut on a threaded aluminum shaft (see picture left top) allows you to decrease or increase the saver force.

The second REALLY nice feature we found with this system is the included bearings (that's right...we said bearings) that the new linkage pivots on. (See picture left center) A very nice feature that will add to responsiveness and will reduce any chances of binding in the steering system. The steering posts are made from aluminum as well.

The construction is good with a mix of high-strength plastic and aluminum. As you would expect from a part offered by Pro-Line, everything fit perfectly into place without any elbow grease required. All necessary parts are included for the install and it should only take you about 20-30 minutes to do the job right. Note: We found that the recommended settings for the spring nut were a little "light" for our liking so we tightened the nut down slightly for a more solid steering feel.

As some of you have noticed, this review has been pending for some time. We have been able to put some serious time on this steering upgrade and it has served us very well. Our steering servo is still nice and tight and the entire system has held up well with little to no visible wear.

This is one of those upgrades that once installed, you can't really see. Out of sight, out of mind? Not really. You will appreciate the improved steering response, the adjustability and the extra level of protection it provides to your steering servo...especially if you just spent some bucks on a high-torque unit. It is well worth the $35 and is a FAR superior system to the stock setup.

Visit the Pro-Line web site to learn more about this kit!

Ahhh. It's winter time again here in the frigid state of Wisconsin and often times that means limited monster truck time. Either it's too cold or the snow is too deep or BOTH! The new snow skis from FullForce RC have no trouble with deep snow however they won't warm it up outside. However they may help you forget how cold it really is. We have to admit, we never imagined these skis would work so well. They make a frosty, snowy day the perfect day for RC trucking...or should we say, RC skiing.

Yet again FullForce RC has proven that they are not sitting around on their bumps. They are out developing and locating some of the sweetest goodies for your RC truck. Their latest work...snow skis for the T-Maxx and Savage.

The snow skis arrived in a nice package that kept everything in it's place and undamaged. Upon opening the package, we found the necessary hardware residing nicely in it's own zip-lock bag, a set of simple instructions, axle carrier adaptors, triangle braces and of course, the skis.

The first thing we started playing with was the skis themselves. They are made from plastic and are strong yet quite flexible. It looks like they will take some pretty solid impacts with no ill effects. The quality of the components was as we expected from FFRC. nothing less than very good. Nice machine work on the axle carrier adaptors (machined 6061 aluminum)!

Ok - time to check out the instructions and get busy. We opted to use our 2WD T-Maxx for this job as you obviously do not need a 4wd truck for this hop-up. In fact, if you are going to install these on your 4wd truck, you will have to unhook the front drive shafts as the axle carrier adaptors integrate into the axle nuts. One of the first things stated in the instructions is "waterproof your truck before you run your truck in the snow you idiot!"... actually, FFRC stated it a bit nicer than that. But that's what they should have said! Do not for any reason think you can run your truck in the snow without performing waterproofing procedures on it first. We are not going to get into the whole procedure of waterproofing because there are a ton of other articles all over the RC web that already tell you how to do this. Let's just say for a small investment of $2 in balloons, some RTV silicone and a couple of zip ties, you are pretty much ready to go.

Installation is simple and the instructions keep it simple. No diagrams or anything like that but hey, if you can't figure this out on your own, it's time for a new hobby. The wheel nuts hold the carrier adaptors to the axle carriers. There is a recess for the axle nut as well as two protrusions that rest against the pillow ball caps (see picture to the right). We found our adaptors were a little too loose for our liking after tightening things down so we disassembled and added some thin washers to the inside of the axle shaft, in turn allowing us to tighten the adaptors farther into the axle carriers. They were never fully tight against the axle carriers however after an hour of snow bashing, everything was still in place and working properly. The overall design is smart as it utilizes the trucks suspension up front. So you could play around with different camber, toe-in, springs, shock placement and shock oil (just like when the wheels are bolted to it) to change how the truck drives in the snow. I think I see RC snow races in my future!

Everything assembled well and with a 2wd truck, it is about a 10 minute install. Gotta love that! And even better, when you are done playing with the skis, just remove the wheel nuts and remove the ski assemblies. Easy on. Easy off. We like it!

Time to hit the slopes! We grabbed our Atomik Snow Camo body (thought it was appropriate), our winter coat and into the snow we went. Just a reminder: If you are running in cold temperatures, you will need to richen your needles up a bit. Cold air is more dense, that means your engine is getting lots of air. So you have to give it a little more fuel to keep it from running lean. This can be easily forgotten if you "live" by your temp gauge. Engine temps may be cooler in the winter but that does not necessarily mean that the engine is getting the proper amount lubrication.

And as we quickly learned, deep snow is not a problem for these skis. They do an excellent job of keeping the front of the truck on top and sliding along. Just make sure you have some paddle, or other aggressive tires on your truck to keep things moving along. The skis do an excellent job of steering the truck in the snow partly due to the "skegs" on the bottom of the skis. They are like little fins that help give the skis traction while turning. The snow we were running in was anywhere from 2" to 12" deep. It was a "dry" snow, nice and fluffy. Not the soggy wet stuff that is good for making snowballs. The truck has a super plush feel when bombing through the white stuff. The skis also made the truck feel super stable in the snow. It is difficult to get the truck to flip over! Part of that is the reduced speeds you typically run when in the fluffy powder. It is difficult to get enough traction to get huge speeds. If the snow was "wet" and heavier, we would have experienced much faster ground speeds. We have no doubt that the skis would perform in heavy wet snow, as well as they do in the fluffy stuff.

Here are a couple of quick video clips showing the skis in action (sorry for the boring video...my camera man was out of town so I just set the camera up and let it roll. I will get some better video clips soon. They do however give you a good idea of how well they turn the truck in the snow. It is pretty impressive):

T-Maxx with skis (906kb)
T-Maxx with skis - part 2 (2.5MB)
T-Maxx with skis - part 3 (847kb)

So what's the verdict? We never imagined that skis on a nitro monster truck could be so much fun! WOW! These skis are a BLAST and HIGHLY recommended for anyone who has to live with the white stuff. Heck...if you within an hour of some snow, it would be worth the drive if these skids were bolted on your sled. The work great, look cool, appear to be quite durable and did we already mention they are a ton of fun? They are well worth the $45 - $50.

Visit the FullForce RC web site... and hit the slopes!

Everyone and their brother seems to be selling skid plates. And most of them we run across are pretty much the same. Not bad but nothing special. When we spotted these titanium skids from Great Assembly, we hoped for something out of the ordinary. Thankfully, we were not disappointed.

The very first thing we noticed was the shear heft and weight of the skids. They are HEAVY. We opted for the 3mm skids as GARC recommended them as the ultimate bashing skids. They also offer a slightly thinner set (2mm) that would be lighter in weight and more suitable for racing or in any situation where weight would be a concern. We were after the "ultimate bashing skids" so the thicker the better!

GARC did something with these skids that we have not seen anyone else do with Titanium skids. They polished them! According to GARC, the polishing process is standard equipment on all of their titanium skids. This is a really nice extra feature as most Ti skids we have seen are nothing great to look at. While not as "bright" as polished aluminum, they have their own deep metallic color and are simply beautiful. So, they have beauty...now let's find out about function!

As many of us have found out the hard way, some skid manufacturers forget all about the ever important access holes. Not GARC. They did an excellent job with a-arm pin access holes in the front and rear plates (note the slots in the skids in the pictures). This may not seem like a big deal until you have to pull plates to change a simple hinge pin. Thanks GARC!

The bends and angles are all in the perfect spots. The skids are nicely notched for full a-arm movement and the screw holes are countersunk to the perfect depth. We opted for a set of stainless screws from RC Screws to hold these bad boys on. All the holes lined up perfectly. Skids this thick and strong will not tolerate any wimpy hardware. In fact they will eat soft screws for breakfast. Dave at Great Assembly suggested when installing these skids to skip the Loctite. "Skip the Loctite?"...hmmmm. Then it dawned on us. These skids are so tough that if anything is going to break, it is going to be the hardware or the bulkheads (if you are using plastic bulks). So by skipping the Loctite, if your screws break they will be easy to get out. Makes sense to us! Although in our moderate to heavy slam sessions with these skids, no hardware or other damage occurred. We'll get to that in a minute.

The skids are designed with a upward bend that serves as a bumper. In fact the bend/lip is a bit farther out than the stock bumper configuration. We felt that the angle of the skids looked good and would promote "glancing". That is, allowing the skids to glance over an object rather than slam into it. We opted to leave the bumpers off during our testing. We put these plates through a number of severe beatings. In fact we even broke an engine mount during a cartwheel (there were a number of cartwheels and endos going on - something was bound to break). Simply put, these plates do NOT give. No flex. We can't imagine how hard you would have to hit something to get these to bend.

The only thing we wish we could change on these skids would be the weight (minus one star). They are pretty heavy when compared to aluminum skids of the same thickness (obviously as they are made from 3mm thick titanium). Keep in mind that this is not an issue for the heavy basher and if weight is a real concern, go for the 2mm skids.

They normally go for about $100 a set which is a little bit steep but when you factor in that they will probably be the last skids you will ever buy, that's not too bad. Especially when you think about this: The 3mm GARC skids are about $45 each and in comparison Hardcore Racing sells their 2mm skids for $42 each! (Nothing against HRC products of course) Extra bonus: GARC has them on sale for about $90. A solid deal just got better. We asked Dave at GARC about the cost and he tells us that the material cost alone doubles when going from 2mm to 3mm! So, even though the cost is a bit high (minus one star), the value is very high. Everyone knows, you get what you pay for. Buy cheap and you will buy again.

If you are looking for a set of skids that could possibly last longer than the rest of your truck, these are what you are looking for. Buy them and stop buying replacement skids....period. We hate buying a "hop-up" only to have it break just like the stock part and once again, you have to spend your jing-a-ling on the same part. Not cool. Get your grubby mitts on these skids and you can spend your money on other hop-ups.

Visit the Great Assembly RC web site and get yourself some rock crushers...I mean skid plates...I mean rock crushers...I mean....!

FIRST IMPRESSION: The RC Solutions shock towers, roll cage and skid plates come nicely packaged and include all the necessary hardware for installation. The hardware included is a good quality stainless steel. The shock spacers and roll cage spacers are polished very nicely and add a detailed look to the components. We have seen other kits similar to this that have lower quality hardware and "ugly" unpolished aluminum spacers included. Nice work RC Solutions!

These parts are made to work together, not necessarily by themselves. For instance, the shock towers can not be used alone as they do not have body post mounts. The post mounts are built into the roll cage. We will however rate each part separately as they each perform unique functions on the truck.

INSTRUCTIONS: The included instructions are some of the best we have seen in any RC upgrade kit. Full color instructions with digital pictures ensure everything goes smoothly. You will want to pay special attention to the instructions for the roll bar to ensure everything gets put together properly (interlinking bars etc). A note on the shock tower installation: RC Solutions supplies two different lengths of upper shock spacers. The longer spacers go towards the closest bumper. If you miss this step in their well written instructions, you will find yourself with bolts that are either too long or too short. The different length spacers are appreciated as they keep the shocks in a nice, straight operating position.

QUALITY & FEATURES - SHOCK TOWERS: The towers are constructed of 6061-T6 aluminum. There are three (3) adjustments for the top shock mounting position. A very interesting and exciting feature is the integrated bump stop for the upper a-arm (see picture to the right). This keeps the shock from fully compressing (we all know that's when things like blown shock caps start happening). This is a feature that we have not seen before in an aftermarket shock tower (they may be out there but we haven't seen them). It essentially helps reduce shock load and that's a welcome addition for any monster truck. The upper shock mount features one 45mm screw that holds both shock caps to the tower. Remove one screw and you have two loose shocks. It is a time saver when it comes to changing shock positions and simplifies the entire process.

QUALITY & FEATURES - ROLL CAGE: The roll cage is constructed of 6061-T6 aluminum. It eliminates the need for standard body posts as they are built into the cage. Note that if you plan to use a body with this cage, you will have to do some serious lexan cutting to make it work (the instructions show you an example) due to the shape of the cage. The cage also provides alternate body clip mounting locations so you will have to drill a few new holes. Our thought is - this cage looks so awesome, why would you want to cover it up?!

The quality of the cage is very good and it provides an excellent level of protection to the truck vitals. It does this without limiting access to your trucks goodies. Meaning you can still make adjustments, perform maintenance etc without having to remove the cage. This is a huge advantage over other full roll cages on the market today. The hardware and spacers are very good quality. The cage features nice cut-outs for the edge of a standard chassis however it also worked well in conjunction with our Spider chassis. Note: the lower roll cage mounting plate acts as a center skid plate and due to the design, it may interfere with certain truck stands. It wraps around the chassis braces and widens that area slightly. (Not a big deal I just wanted to mention that for those of you who recently bought an AJS stand - it doesn't fit very well on the stand).

QUALITY & FEATURES - SKID PLATES: The skid plates are constructed of tempered spring steel (.042" carbon steel). This is something that we have yet to experience in an RC world that uses plastic, aluminum and titanium to make their skids. "Spring steel" is just that, springy! Upon impact the plate will flex and absorb some of the force before it gets transferred into your truck. Great idea and it appears to work pretty well. The skids are lightweight (same weight as 1/8" aluminum) and quite thin (.042"). In fact they are significantly thinner than the stock plastic skids. Holes are countersunk and there are the traditional access holes for drive shaft yokes etc.

PERFORMANCE - SHOCK TOWERS: While they may look thin (and they are compared to some of the big thick towers that are out there), they feel incredibly strong. Apply force to the towers in a vertical direction and no flex at all will be felt. Applying force horizontally will show flex but nothing too concerning. Of course anything can be bent but we think it would take some solid effort to bend these. There would little to no chance of any bending taking place when used with the roll cage system. The "thin" construction helps keep the weight down and this is a plus.

PERFORMANCE - ROLL CAGE: This thing is TOUGH! We pounded this cage on grass, dirt and pavement with no ill effects (other than some serious scrapes). It protected the engine very well. We did notice that it is a little tight to get your glow plug igniter onto the glow plug. Ours fit but barely. For those of you running EZ-Start, this is not an issue and there is a handy wiring adaptor bracket (a must have as the stock rear body post is gone). We really liked the curved design to the roll cage. It seemed to allow the truck to roll completely over (on front to rear endo's) and land on it's wheels more often than normal. Rock solid, interlinking, chassis reinforcing construction and all for only 8 ounces of weight! It looks like it weighs more but it doesn't. In fact, when it is in your hands, it feels super light. Note: The only bad thing about running without a body is that on certain undesirable landings (aka roof landings), the cage would dig into the turf like a shovel and leave a good sized divot. We BEAT this roll cage and it held up very well.

PERFORMANCE - SKID PLATES: We had our doubts about the skids as soon as we took them out of the package. They seemed too thin, lightweight and flexible to protect the truck and act as bumpers. For the most part, we were wrong. They did a good job of acting as bumper replacements and may actually work better than bumpers. When the truck would climb up to a wheelie, the rear skid (remember...spring steel...springy) would hit the ground and sometimes push the front end back down. Pretty cool! We gave the skids a heavy duty workout and after impacting a few rock piles at high speed, we were able to dent the front skid and put a slight bend in the rear skid. No harm done other than they are a little crooked. The thin design of the plates created an anomaly that we did not care for. The chassis braces stick out (see picture) and catch debris, rocks, dirt or whatever. The edges of the chassis braces would have to be filed down to prevent this from happening or you could add some washers/spacers between the skids and the chassis brace mounts to even things up. We also noticed that although the plates have countersunk holes, the screw heads still stuck out a little (see picture). We talked to RC Solutions about the screw heads and they recommended countersinking the surface below the plates. This would allow the screw heads to drive in farther and thus eliminate the "sticking out" problem.

FIT / FINISH / APPEARANCE - SHOCK TOWERS: The towers fit perfectly to stock bulkheads and to a set of aluminum bulks. Nice stainless steel hardware is included for mounting these to aluminum bulks (thanks RC Solutions). The towers we tested were anodized red. The anodizing was even and gave the towers a nice look. We really liked the look of these towers when they were bolted in. They have a unique look due to the bump stop design and will give your truck a slightly different attitude than the other trucks at the track or your favorite bashing spot (unless they are outfitted with RC Solutions too). No complaints in this department. Everything fits well and looks good.

FIT / FINISH / APPEARANCE - ROLL CAGE: Duh! The roll cage looks killer! The anodizing looks good and we thought the red complimented our blue and silver truck. Everything fit well with one exception. We had to do employ some strong arm tactics to get the rear mounting holes to line up with our bulkheads. To be fair, it may have been something with the aluminum bulkheads we have on the truck. Never fear, we got everything on and ON IT IS! Once it is installed, you can really appreciate the strength of this cage. We were worried that the cage might not work with our aftermarket chassis however it did without a problem. Lining it up to a stock T-Maxx chassis proved to have the same results. Did we mention this thing looks like something out of Terminator 2? It is probably the best looking roll cage we have ever seen. Bonus, it works great too!

FIT / FINISH / APPEARANCE - SKID PLATES: The skids posed no problems with fit (other than the chassis brace overhang). The finish on the skids is nothing like the other parts. Being that they are made from steel, they are not anodized rather they are "clear zinc" plated, which gives them a silvery color. The zinc plating was a bit uneven and really didn't look quite right. We spoke with RC Solutions regarding this and it sounds like it may just be a variation in the coating. After an hour of beating, it really didn't matter as they were full of bash rash anyway!

COST / VALUE - SHOCK TOWERS: The shock towers run $20 a set (you will need two sets per truck) and we feel this is a good value. You are getting good towers and quality hardware and spacers to mount them. There are cheaper towers and towers that are more expensive. For the money, you would be hard pressed to find a better set of shock towers for $40. (Remember that you have to use these with the RC Solutions roll cage as they do not have a place to mount body posts.)

COST / VALUE - ROLL CAGE: The roll cage sells for $105 retail. Although there are a number of less expensive alternatives out there, not many can offer you the accessibility to the components and strength this cage can. We feel this is a good value despite it's price. This is not some welded up piece of brass tubing from some guys garage. It is a solid, smart system that adds strength to your entire truck while protecting it at the same time.

COST / VALUE - SKID PLATES: The skids are $20 each ($40 for front and rear). They serve their purpose and allow you to get rid of the bumpers on the truck (the plates are light and losing the weight of the bumpers is also good). They are not the best looking skids but again, after a short time bashing, they all look pretty rough. The value is "average" to "slightly above average" on the skids.

THE OVERALL VERDICT: (Rating of all items above as a whole) There are a lot of shock towers, skids and roll cages on the market. Features like the "bump stops" on the shock towers and a roll cage that still lets you work on your truck set RC Solutions apart from the crowd. We like this stuff. We like it a lot! Something different?! Now that's a good idea. That's what RC Solutions is all about. Not following everyone else but blazing their own trail with unique ideas and designs for RC.

Check out RC Solutions web site for more info on these and other cool parts.

PRODUCT UPDATE (September 2004): After a TON of bashing with this cage, it is still strong like it did when it was new. It has saved our truck more times than we can remember. It has numerous scratches and gouges that tell the tale of many pavement / rock mishaps. Only one dent lives on our cage and it is from a barrel roll into a rock pile that would have certainly snapped off our engine head or worse had the cage not been there. This is an awesome roll cage!

FIRST IMPRESSION: RPM has done it again. They seem to be experts at taking a good design and/or product and making it much better. Their new axle carriers for the T-Maxx are no exception. Rather than just copy what was already in place, RPM decided to take them a step further and make them stronger, better looking and also increased the performance level.

QUALITY: The word "quality" and RPM seem to go hand in hand. Chances are if you are into RC, you already own some piece (if not multiple pieces) of RPM product. The thread work for the caps, the oversize bearings with removable seals (yours may not have these, they are brand new) and the material all scream quality. Nothing short of what we have come to expect from RPM. They also come with a nice instruction sheet that helps you get your truck re-assembled correctly.

NOTE: Anytime you are working on a component such as this, you will need to reset your camber and toe-in when you are done. Do you have your RPM gauges handy? If you haven't already, be sure to check out our review on the RPM toe-in and camber gauges.

PERFORMANCE: These carriers are an excellent upgrade for performance and durability. Larger carriers, double rib reinforcement on the steering arms, oversize bearings (15mm versus 13mm and they are 1mm wider too) place these carriers in a league above stock and above aluminum. If these carriers bend, they come back to their original shape. Not true with aluminum (well, after you get out the hammer they come back to their shape, kind of).

Let's talk a bit more about the bearings (see comparison picture to the left - whimpy versus TOUGH). The actual RPM bearing ball diameters are a full 33% larger than stock, the bearings are 3mm larger in diameter and 1mm wider than stock and they feature friction-free blue nylon seals for superior dirt protection (and easy cleaning with the RPM Bearing Blaster. There bearings have over twice the load rating as the stock bearings and three times the fatigue life!

The RPM material is of course much better than the stock Traxxas stuff so that alone makes this a worthwhile upgrade. The walls are thicker and much stronger than the stockers. The outer surface is stepped outward to protect the carriers from getting hit by the wheels in a big jump landing etc. Yet another nice touch RPM! This is a solid performance upgrade.

We took the truck out and beat the life out of it and even purposely slammed into some stationary objects. No ill effects. Nothing damaged at all. Exactly what we expected!

FIT / FINISH: Everything fit perfectly. This is a "stock" upgrade in that no other modifications are necessary to make the RPM carriers work. Thankfully, they are anything but stock! We installed new pillow balls, bushings and caps during the install. Note that there is a good note/warning in the RPM instructions about getting the caps threaded on properly. Heed this warning or you will have a cross-threaded cap on your hands. not a good deal. And no, stupidity is not covered by the RPM warranty...nor should it be.

APPEARANCE: RPM offers several color options (black, blue, & purple, as well as a dyeable white). The blue looks awesome with the rest of our truck. It adds a splash of color in an otherwise "blah" looking area. They look great and better yet, they work great!

COST / VALUE: Suggested retail is $34.95 per pair. So $70 to do all four wheels. Does that seem like a lot of money? It shouldn't. The bearings alone are worth $6 each...now figure in the fact you receive 8 bearings and the much improved carriers...it's a bargain! And if you take care of your bearings like you should, they will last a long, long time.

THE VERDICT: Buy them. Just go to the hobby store and buy them. After they are on your truck, you will be the cat's pajamas (that means really cool). Remember, better bearings means less resistance means faster truck. Stronger parts means less breakdowns means more fun with your truck. Need we say more?

Visit the RPM web site to learn more these and other great products they offer.

Are you looking to add some strength to your truck and only want to spend $5? You have come to the right place!

For a measly $5, you can get a full set of rod ends for the suspension on your XXX. No more rod ends popping off on those big crash landings! Installation takes just a few minutes. We recommend marking the length of each turnbuckle assembly before removing the old rod ends. We simply laid each one out on a piece of paper and marked the length. This makes it easy to install the new rod ends to the same length and not mess up your suspension setup too badly. When you are done installing, be sure to use the RPM Toe-In and Camber Gauges to get your truck fine tuned.

They come in all the standard RPM colors and we must say, they look absolutely great! There is no reason NOT to have these on your truck!

Visit the RPM web site to learn more about this and other great products.

Oh baby...talk about bulletproof! We have been beating the heck out of this cage for the past two months and it just keeps coming back for more! Roof top landings, over and over again. It just laughs at us!

This thing is a ROCK SOLID piece of work!!!!! Much thought was given to the placement of every piece of this cage. The welds are great and the paint is also very nice.The paint has held up quite well considering the major league thrashing it has been through.

It fits perfectly to the truck chassis and provides a level of protection that no other roll bar we have seen can provide. Serviceability of the truck is good (it does hinder servicing certain areas). We simply tie strapped the cage on (no drilling), so it is easy to take on and off. We opted for the SUV cage to go with our new H2 body (pictures are coming). It fits beautifully! :)

The only negative we could find is that it restricts the access to certain components on the truck.

If you are a hardcore truck thrasher (you know who you are), you need to visit the RC Raven web site and get one of these roll cages....quit screwing around and just do it! We are confident that you won't regret it!

The RC Raven Chrome Chassis is 4.7 mm thick and made from T6-6061
aircraft aluminum. The chrome powder coat finish is beautiful (the pictures on our site and the RC Raven site do not do it justice) and it almost made us feel bad to take it out and bash with it.....almost.

It is slotted and cut out around the muffler to make it light weight and to assist engine cooling. There is also a hole under the engine to increase cooling. They fit both the "old style" 15 and "new style" 2.5 T-Maxx. The chassis is a direct replacement for the stock T-Maxx chassis...everything fits nicely with countersunk holes where they are needed.

We installed this chassis along with the RC Raven Full SUV Roll Cage (review above). Needless to say, we beat the ^#%$ out of it!!!! Nothing broke and the truck seemed more rigid in heavy bumps and jumps. Extra bonus, the chassis is very easy to clean and in case we didn't mention it before, it is gorgeous...even when it's dirty!

For less than $43, you too can have a chrome chassis like this one. Yes, that's right we said $43. If you are looking to add some serious beef to your truck and want it to look good too, you better check out RC Raven.

UPDATE: The finish is still looking good but not perfect after a couple fp gallons of fuel/

Here's an inexpensive way to add some color to your T-Maxx or E-Maxx. The RC Raven body posts are made of fiber reinforced plastic. So they are super strong but still have some flex to absorb energy and protect your truck vitals.

We think they look great with the RC Raven Aluminum Shock Towers!

Note: The posts for the rear of the truck do not feature the same body clip insertion points...meaning, after you install them your body clips will go in from the side (opposite from stock - same insertion direction as the front posts). Make sure this will not cause any problems with your body shell!

They are simple, strong and anyone can afford them at just $5.95 for a set of 4 (black) $4.95 for a set of four in color (red, green, yellow, blue, silver gray). A great compliment to the battery and rx boxes listed above!

Visit the RC Raven web site to check them out!

The protector is very lightweight and mounting it up was easy. RC Raven included new allen head screws for the job. Nice touch! After securing it to the chassis, we took the truck out and gave it a huge pounding in dirt, gravel and rock piles. It held up extremely well and did its job without any trouble. The price is right (about $20) and if it saves your servo once (especially a upgraded high dollar servo), it paid for itself. If you beat your truck, this is an excellent item to own.

Visit RC Ravens web site to learn more about this and other great products.

Need some aluminum braces and looking for a great deal? Look no further. A set of aluminum chassis braces can be had from RC Rocket for about $20. They are not "super highly" polished however after about 10 minutes of rubbing them with medium grit rubbing compound, they look as good or better than the $40 sets. The machining is very good and they fit perfectly.

UPDATE: We have been beating the snot out of these braces for months and months. They still look as good as the day we bought them. They add a level of strength to the entire truck!

We give these a big BYT thumbs up.

Visit the RC Rocket web site to learn more about these chassis braces and other great products.