Proline hammers G8

[GreMonte]

Just got a set of these Proline G8 hammers. Anyone running these? I'm replacing the stock tires on my RS-10 so I am sure I will be impressed but I'm wondering what you guys thing of them. I have read about M2 and M3 but not G8.

[jcboof]

The Hammers are not a bad tire and the G8 compound is definitely better than the M2 or M3 Compounds. But honestly there are A LOT better tires out there. The one downside to the Hammers is the size. They are a smaller diameter than most comp tires available now, and it does really make a bit of a difference.

Overall the tires grip pretty darn well and they will do just fine for you if you are just bashing around and not planning on comping with them. But if you get into competition, you'll quickly see that you'll want to upgrade to a better tire.

[jcboof]

I also just noticed in your pic that it looks like you have the tires installed incorrectly. If you look at the FAR left tire in the pic, you'll see that the tread block is not in the same orientation as the other two tires in the foreground. That will make for inconsistent crawling.

It does not matter which way you run the Hammers, but at least run all of them pointing in the same direction.

[GreMonte]

I'm running them all with the little pink dot to the inside. If it turns one direction while climbing I'll correct it, if I don't notice anything I would prefer the keep the pink on my truck to a minimum.

[GreMonte]

Ok after trying these new tires out on my hillside rock course at home I did notice some improvement over the stock RS-10 tires, Duh. The first few minutes I was starting to doubt that the preformance was that great but after rubbing some dirt into them and running on the rocks they seemed to get better and better. I did notice a lot more thumps from the diffs hitting rocks so I can see where having a taller tire would help but since these were what the local hobby shop had and I was in a buying mood I grabbed them. When climbing dirt they don't seem to be that much better than the harder stock rs-10 tires but they definately grab more on the rocks. Next stop for my test run will be the rock pile at the park with the big rocks. I'm sure the more I run them the better they will get. So far I like these tires and I'm happy to review them instead of just buying what everyone says. I'm sure I will end up with a set of HB's soon enough but why not talk a little about the other tires out there. So I did

[Simon.O.]

This could be an interesting review.
You run them and then get back here and tell us how they go after a week or at least a few hours on the rocks.
I am keen to read your impressions, opinions or findings.

btw I assume that the stack of tires your rig is sat on is the original tires? Don't flick them in the bin, a much more environmentally sound idea is to send them to a serial tire experimenter.................me !!

[GreMonte]

Ok I have run these tires for a while and I still like them. They stick to the rock very well and since I crawl where there is dirt and rocks these tires do great in the dirt. I put about 4 oz of lead in the fronts and 2 in the rear. Right now I am trying the HB Rovers. The rovers come with foams that are too small so I ordered some from Nova. I don't need to write a review about Rovers. Proline includes some pretty nice foams with there tires and they are the right size. The Hammers are soft enough to conform to rocks but they still have enough stiffness to claw in the dirt. I currently have these tires on my top secret project and the Rovers on my RS-10. So would I buy another set of Hammers? Yes I would, I thought there smaller size would be a problem but I never rubbed my links or shock mounts, like my rovers do. Here are some pictures of the tires in action. If my Crawler can't drive to a spot to get its picture taken it doesn't get its picture taken, no posed shots here. These are pictures on my course at home.