For the last two years my local club, KCRC, has hosted a small rock racing event. One of our memebers builds constructs a simple course consisting of rocks, logs, jumps, and whatever else is laying around. Last year I modified my comp rig for the competition. I added lighter wheels, a faster motor and taller gearing. The approach worked fairly well, it jumped great but still had a few down falls such as an axle mounted battery and electronics which raised my unsprung weight.

 

This year I went with a different approach then I did last year. I had Jerry Justice (Zorlac from RCC), owner of The DMG, build me a simple tube top that would bolt onto my stock Axial SCX-10 kit. The DMG specializes in aluminum tubers, perfect for my application since that would make it very light. The tube top was designed around the Proline C-10 Crawler body, a small body that has optimized approach and departure angles. The frame would have to be cut shorter in the front and rear to make it look visually correct when finished. The finished product was outstanding.

The truck was delivered to me at the rock race so I had not driven it yet. I had previously installed a Tekin FXR, a Holmes Hobbies Handwound 35 turn motor and was using MaxAmps 2100 3s LiPos. The wheelspeed was good before but I knew I would need more for the race. I had brought along a 23t pinion gear and ran the stock 87t spur gear. With the 11.1v LiPo pack this was a great setup. The SCX-10 comes stock with the 1.9 wheels and Proline Flatiron tires but I decided to switch to the stock wheels and tires that come on the Axial ARTR kit. These are a 2.2 wheel with Proline Hammers mounted on them. The extra height increased the top speed and also gave me much better ground clearance. For the pictures you see here though I have installed a set of new DNA R/C Thrasher 2.2 Beadlocks that have been annodized orange and the rings have been changed out for a black annodized set. A set of 2.2. Pro-line Flatiron tires were installed on the DNA wheels using the Pro-line factory memory foam. The aluminum wheels add some weight which does effect the top speed but it improves the rigs ability to crawl as well, and as you can see it still has plenty of "GO". 

The rig performed amazing at the Rock Race. After really weak qualifing times putting me in 2nd to last place I fought my way up and beat every competitor all the way to the final race. In the final race I couldn't hold off any longer and was beat, but 2nd place was enough to make me happy that day.

Watch for more on this rig as it goes through the transformation into a durable Rock Racer built for the first KCRC King of the Hammers.