I think it’s safe to say that most people love full-size monster trucks; they are larger than life and are full of destruction and who doesn’t like destruction. For me it’s all about the look of the truck and how it works; watching the suspension links moving, the shocks compressing, hearing that engine roar and looking at that intricate roll cage is just awesome to me. We have the Tamiya Clod Buster to thank for bringing the world of full-size monster trucks to RC and for making solid axle monster trucks somewhat popular. Sure, there were others out there when the Clod arrived on the scene in 1987 but they didn’t have the awesome scale look that the Clod had or the power. With that and the tons of aftermarket support over the years, the Tamiya Clod Buster (now called the Super Clod Buster) is still here today. Over that time there hasn’t been much competition for Tamiya in that category; the only real contender has been Kyosho. The Double Dare and USA-1 and more recent Madforce have the only trucks to really step up to the plate but they still haven’t come close in popularity.
Seriously, how cool is that truck.
The Tamiya Clod Buster was the truck that brought me and may others into the solid axle monster truck scene.
Let’s face it, if it wasn’t for aftermarket support and home built parts the Clod wouldn’t be around today. The truck in stock form is cool but it’s far from a performer; it’s slow, has stiff suspension and it tips over easily. That’s why just about everyone who owns one has modified it to have a 4-link suspension, longer wheelbase, lightweight chassis and a lot more power. There are a lot of guys who are racing their modified trucks in groups like the NR/CTPA , No Limit RC and RC Monster Truck Challenge, so this to me means that people are in love with solid axle RC monster trucks. They wouldn’t go through the trouble or spend the money on highly modded Clod if they weren’t. Now, we even have guys who are building custom solid axle monster truck using Axial Wraith parts.
Highly modified RC monster truck are being raced and bashed everywhere.
So why don’t we have more solid axle monster trucks available to us? There are lots of mod Clods racing and bashing across the country, Kyosho is still selling the Madforce platform (the newest is called the FO-XX) and people are building monster trucks using axles from other trucks such as the Wraith. I believe that if a company puts some time and development in, we can have a truck that will perform as good or better than the custom trucks that are being built using old technology. Today we have better shocks, improved tire compounds and better manufacturing so there’s no doubt that an awesome truck that outperforms the rest can be made. This in turn will bring more people to the solid axle monster truck side of RC and therefore we will have more trucks to choose from. Remember what happened when Traxxas built a nitro powered monster truck the “right” way? When the T-Maxx was introduced the nitro powered monster truck scene blew up. So come on Axial, Kyosho, RC4WD, Tamiya and Vaterra give us the solid axle monster truck that we all deserve. Who’s with me? Solid axle monster truck forever!
How cool would it be to pull a truck like this out of a box and go play with it? A lot of time and effort went into making this truck what it is. It’s more work and time than most people want to put in.
What do you think? Send an email to kevinh@airage.com and let me know.
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