BWD Wheel Weight System Review
 

One of the first modifications everyone wants to make to the new Losi Micro rock Crawler is to add weight to the wheels.
This helps keep the wheels planted to the surface, lowers the COG (Center Of Gravity), and heavier wheels give more traction.

There are two schools of thought when it comes to wheel weight.
* The first is to dismount the tires and add weight internally by twisting solder or lead strip to the inside of the wheel the putting the foam and tire back on over it. This works great and you can add a considerable amount of weight this way....but it is time consuming and very hard to change once it is done.
*The second way is to use plates bolted to the outside of the wheel in place of the plastic beadlock rings. Adding weight this way is fast and changable within minutes without dismounting the tire.

The Billet Works Design wheel weight system for the micro crawler is a plate system. The system comes in different configurations based on the users needs.
The BWD system weights comes in a natural steel finish, ready to polish or paint....or you can run them au-natural. The fit and finish on them are first class, no rough edges and the holes are spot on.
For this review I ordered up the basic system which includes 4 heavy, 4 medium, and 4 light discs as shown below

http://img30.imageshack.us/img30/4061/1000421b.jpg

These plates will install in place of the plastic beadlock rings. Using one plate you can install using the stock screws in the wheels....however if you wish to stack the plates for extra weight then you should order up the extended hardware kit, this includes a set of extra long screws designed for stacking the plates.

In my installation I used one light plate (big hole) on the inside of each wheel using the stock screws. I then installed two stacked heavy plates (solid) to the outside of each front wheel and two stacked medium plates (small hole) to the outside of each rear wheel using the extended screws.

This combination yields a weight of 22g per rear wheel and 24g per front wheel, the stock wheel is 11g

So the weight increase is significant, and the weights look good too, they give the crawler a real Macho look. Now this truck is ready for business!

http://img710.imageshack.us/img710/3060/1000425l.jpg

I tested these weights on two different courses.
*The first course was trap rock, jagged pieces ranging from 4 inches to 8 inches. The extra weight allowed the tires to grab the sharp edges much easier than the stock weight tires did. The truck also had more traction on the smooth sides as well allowing it to climb flat pieces at a steeper vertical angle than before.
The only down side I found was that in these sharp rocks the exposed screw heads would sometimes snag the edges of the rocks causing the wheel to jam. A simple twist of the steering was usually enough to clear the rock....but it did prevent a smooth even crawl that would have been possible with recessed screw heads.
*The second course was expanded foam, another popular Micro Crawler course surface. The results were the same, increased traction in all areas though the snagging problem was minimal on the foam.

Conclusions:
PROS
Priced at $10 a set these weights are a good deal.
They allow the user to adjust the amount of weight at each wheel without dismounting the tire or wheel (except to apply weights to the backside of the wheel).
The fit and finish on these are excellent.
They look great!
CONS
The plates are a bit on the thin side, personally I would have liked to have seen more weight included in the set, either in extra plates or in one thicker outter plate with recessed screw holes to prevent the snagging problem

Is there any rubbing on the inside front tire where the steering link is located?
After doing the pvc-mod, I noticed a hair's clearance between the rubber and the plastic...it could be that the weight-ring doesn't extend far enough to contact the link but it's gotta be close.

Thanks for the review. "thumbsup"

Bwd
 

I agree these wheel weights/rings are great! "thumbsup" I had already weighted our wheels, so I bought these just for the awesome look. I have three sets with hardware and another set on its way.

Furthermore, Don is great with customer service and fast shipping. Very professional.

http://i601.photobucket.com/albums/t...lerwheels2.jpg

I have not experienced the snagging yet, but I live in Florida, so I crawl urban jungle and tree roots, but I can certainly see where on a more jagged terrain that would be a minor issue, short of that I love the look and added weight and they help immensely with grip and stability.

I have been able to get up 60 degree extended hills that before would have sent it toppling, side hilling is greatly improved, or should say that it can actually do it now, off camber climbs are significantly easier and some that I could not do prior I can get over now.

all in all a great product, I look forward to getting the wedge chassis hopefully to go with it.

I will have pics of mine hopefully by end of January, I am with out camera right now as my last one met a violent end via a 1/8 brushless buggy on 6s lipo at 80+ mph.:mrgreen:

With the stainless steel hardware kit you can actually still use the stock rings on the outside of the plates and it looks really good. You just have to sand or use a file to the back and get rid of the little tabs and sand it flush. My son (9yrs old) loved the blue rings and wouldn't let me ditch them. So on the front i have the medium plates with the stock rings and in the rear i have the light plates with the stock rings on top. You can't even really see the rear plates but they are on there.

By the way i got these in like three days from ordering them. And they are a PERFECT fit and the finish is awsome. Thanks

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a3.../Photo0074.jpg

putting the stock rings back on over the top is a great idea!

does that fix your snagging problem then?

yeah that would probably cure that problem

Just another "thumbsup" for these rings. They look better in real life than you can see in the pics, the holes are very well finished and aligned. I was delighted to find a LARGE increase in performance with these installed. They also shipped very quickly. Top notch product and service!

ordered my set a few days ago, should be here soon, I got the large holed ones, and think I will put the stock rings back on.

Awesome modification!

Im going to pick up a set for my Micro!

Any links for these? Ebay?

Currently the only place to get them. http://billet-works.com/losi_micro_rock_crawler_parts

Hopefully some dealers will be set up soon.

Don
BWD

Yup Don makes great stuff....two thumbs up:)

Thank you for the link!

I greatly appreciate it! Going to order me some up right now!

"thumbsup"

Yes very nice weight plates!
I will order some!:mrgreen:
But how does the shipping take to The Netherlands?

I do not have any rubbing on the inside front wheels with one ring installed, but tried to install two on the inside of the front wheels and they would not work. Maybe with some button head screws they would clear. Anyone else tried this?

Thanks for the review. Just ordered up a set(extra hardware and wheel nuts as well). Now I need to get this dang cast off and I can start all my mods and build.

For a limited time Don has the wheel weights in BLACK powder coat