Panther Cougars

[Tanis]

Originally Posted by Just Zach

I think Joe runs way more than about anyone on the board. I'm only replacing them every couple of month.

It also depends on the terrain, certain rock can eat up tires pretty fast....the rock I crawl on is a good example, like 60grit sand paper. And tire wear is a good thing IMO, means the tires are doing their job.

[crawlincircles]

Does the super sticky compound on the Cougars start to dry out over time? At first they showed no signs of ware at all, and then one day bam they really looked worn. What is bugging me is that they went from one extreme to the other and it was not more gradual over time. My kids cougars are the same way.

It does seem like they got less moist? and sticky and that is when the wear started. I have herd of peeps cleaning them with simple green, does that help?

I love the tires and just want to get the most life out of them that I can.

One more question. How long can you run a set of foams? Do you need new ones every set of tires or do they last longer? I have the F400's

Thanks

[fastlosi]

The simple green does make them more gummy feeling. Myself I like foams after they have some time on them and break in a bit. I run the same foams through 2 sets of tires, then change foams. It will depend on your rigs weight, type of rock, wheel speed, etc on how long your tires will be effective.

[wrightcs77]

Originally Posted by crawlincircles

Does the super sticky compound on the Cougars start to dry out over time? At first they showed no signs of ware at all, and then one day bam they really looked worn. What is bugging me is that they went from one extreme to the other and it was not more gradual over time. My kids cougars are the same way.

It does seem like they got less moist? and sticky and that is when the wear started. I have herd of peeps cleaning them with simple green, does that help?

I love the tires and just want to get the most life out of them that I can.

One more question. How long can you run a set of foams? Do you need new ones every set of tires or do they last longer? I have the F400's

Thanks

I have a set of Panthers that seem to have "dried up" and lost a ton of traction. I will try to Simple Green them back to life, but we will see. They are about a year old and did not get a lot of use last fall, no use over the winter and went to try them again just recently.

[ubbb69]

If they are old and dry simple green them then spray with wd40 and let sit over night.

[oldhippie]

Originally Posted by oldhippie

I got a set of panthers and 8 shooters. They don't hold the bead! Won't last a pack! Also the sidewalls roll over something awful with the stock foams. I just got a set of ace's foams I'm gonna try with stock axial wheels. The panthers are really soft and have really great traction but are so soft and floppy they don't hold a line or a sidehill. I hope the bigger foams fix it cause they are great climbers.

The ace foams stiffen up the panthers nice. They don't flop off line or ball up in holes as much and they now sidehill great. But they don't climb so good anymore so I guess they really need the super wrinklewall of smaller/softer foam (which causes the above problems) to climb. Maybe those 400s are a happy medium. And the stock wheels never lost a bead so it was the 8 shooters that were/are the problem.

[tomer]

ok i have a berg that is about 7lbs what foam setup would be the best?

[redbaron]

Originally Posted by tomer

ok i have a berg that is about 7lbs what foam setup would be the best?

The stock non memory f400's!

[joesbruiser]

Originally Posted by redbaron

The stock non memory f400's!

X2

[stubs179]

I run an LCC. Just got a set of cougars and i am wondering if they work better with a heavier or lighter weight rig. I ran them today to get a feel for them with no weight and they did way better than i expected! I normaly run Rovers but came across a set of stock wheels and the tires so i want to give them a try. My rig with the cougars and no weights is 4.5 lbs. I am running 5.5 Nova's in the front and f400's in the rear.

[Krakker]

Cougars run great with the stock foams. (non-memory) A 1" wheel works best with them IMO. I'm also running a pair with stock foams in fromt, and X-lock stock foams in the back. They are silly siped and sare great for courses that don't need a tall tire. AND I'm running them in a Bully rig that's well over 5lbs. (maybe 6-ish)

[wrightcs77]

Stubs,
I run my LCC with Cougars. My rig weighs in exactly at 6 lbs. All of it is wheel weight as the fronts are 15 3/4 oz each (rim, tire, foam) and rears are 8 oz each (rim, tire, foam). I am running UCW rims with the tall inserts in the front and no inserts in the rear. Foams are stock Rover foams channeled in the front and stock Losi grey foams in the back. Love them and will sipe them today.

As for the weight of the rig, the tires worked well when I had the rig at 4 lbs 13 oz, but the rig seemed a little "tippy." The wheel weight really settles the rig down. All the weight added was in the wheels.

[Nova's Ark]

I run my Cougars on a .7 wheel (to make them a bit taller), un cut 5.0 tall Double Deuce Nova Foams, and the tire siped and grooved. They work amazing in my opinion.

A couple of my local club members run them as well. One club member has them on his Axial with DNA 1" wheels, un cut 5.0 tall Double Deuce Nova Foams and they work well also. His fronts are weighted but the rears are not.

I am now selling the Super Soft compound Cougars and they are just crazy soft. You definitely need a good foam set up to get the most out of them.

Keep in mind, that with lighter weight trucks, memory foam does respond fast enough. With older truck that were 6.5 pounds and heavier, the memory foam was good. But as the trucks start going lighter and lighter weight, you need a softer foam, softer springs, a softer tire and quicker re-action from those combos.

[dirk379]

Nova, glad to know you sell the super softs, its my favorite tire to date.

[stubs179]

Thanks for the help guys!

I tried to run it light and did some testing but my rig just didn't like the weight. I was at about 5.25 lb. I upped the weight in the wheels and i will do more testing tomorrow. The wheels combo (wheels, tires, foams, weights) are at are at 15oz front and 8 oz rear. Same as my Rovers with the same foam combo, Nova's front and f400 rear. I am loving the foam combo!

I am running Nova's 5.5's, 2" inners, and they are great. I am thinking of getting another set for the rear. They are on stock LCC wheels. I am not sure how wide they are. They look some what narrow?

[Nova's Ark]

I figured it was time to revisit the past:

A video compilation from footage taken on Saturday May 11th, 2013. The crawler filmed is the Crawler Innovations XR-10. It uses a Y-Town Crawlers Secret Agent Carbon Fiber Chassis with custom titanium links. The truck as filmed weighed exactly 5 pounds 0 ounces; RTR. It has Holmes Hobbies Hand Wound 35T motors. The wheels are 1" VP SLW V4 Bead Locks. The tires are 4 7/8" Tall 2.2 Panther Cougars & Prototype Double Deuce Foams. For years now the Panther Cougar has been considered too short of a tire to be used in USRCCA competitions. I'm testing a new foam design using the shortest tire and completing obstacles that should really use a taller tire to complete.

[Harvo]

Cool. I bet they sidehill like a mug The supersoft compound isn't too easy to come by though. I'm assuming the new foam would do just as well in the typical compound?

[Nova's Ark]

Originally Posted by Harvo

Cool. I bet they sidehill like a mug The supersoft compound isn't too easy to come by though. I'm assuming the new foam would do just as well in the typical compound?

It's hard to test side hill ability in East Texas. We don't have any giant rock. Everything here is sandstone or iron ore and it's generally small boulders like what you see in the video. The closest location with large mono rock is roughly a 4 hour drive west for me.

You are correct that the super soft compound isn't the easiest compound to come by and there is a reason for that. The rubber compound has a problem with holding the lugs to the tire carcass. The tires often come out of the mold with lugs already loose. That is why Panther doesn't sell the super soft tire to the general public. The super soft compound has it's draw backs to, one of the biggest problems is how quickly dust & dirt stick to the tire thereby reducing traction.

So to be fair, I mounted up a set of standard Soft compound cougars. The same compound I sell in my store and the same compound Panther sells on there web site. I will collect some footage and put together a video using the Soft compound, 1" SLW, & proto foams on the Secret Agent XR10.

[Nova's Ark]

Clapped, siped and grooved Panther cougars. I never thought the day would come that a panther cougar in the soft compound would need to be soften.


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[JeremyH]

Originally Posted by Nova's Ark

I never thought the day would come that a panther cougar in the soft compound would need to be soften.