Crawler Innovations Pit Bull Rock Beast Tire review

[Nova's Ark]

Pit bull asked me to test and review there Rock Beast tires. I've had these tires for over a month now. I take writing a review seriously. As a vendor I know what it's like to send out product only to never get the review that was promised. So it was important to me to keep my word and thoroughly test the tire to the best of my abilities and write an honest and unbiased review.

To start with, the focus of my review and testing of the Rock Beast tire was for 2.2 competition only. The tires were never tested on a scale truck or for scale purposes. The tires were tested by myself and two other drivers (my son Gavin and Greg S.- 86jeep / 2G's who was a top five finisher at World's last year in 2.2 among many other wins in his resume). The tires were tested at tested at five different locations. The tires were tested on three different T1E Rockshow Moon Buggy Bergs. The weight of these trucks varied from 5 to 6 pounds depending on location. In all testing the tires were mounted on Vanquish Products custom narrowed Pro Comp Dirty Harry bead locks 1 inch wide in the front and Vanquish Products SLW V4's 1 inch wide in the rear. The Dirty Harry used either 460 or 585 hubs in the front depending on location and the SLW's used either 475 or 600 hubs depending on location. I normally only run the the 335 and 350 hubs but could not because the Rock Beast tire is so wide it was getting into my shocks terribly thanks to the great turning ability the SDS Customs 300m CVD's give. The foams used were Crawler Innovations 5.25 Double Deuce Nova Foams that had firm 5.5 inners narrowed to 1 7/8" wide in the front and 1 3/4" wide in the rear. The 5.0 outer foams were the soft compound and left full width.

When I first received my Pit Bull tires I was amazed at how wide they are. I had seen them at the East Coast Championship in Alabama, but to actually have a pair in my hand about to be mounted on my own crawler I was disturbed at their width. The next thing that came to mind was the similarity of the tire compound the Rock Beast shared with a Hot Bodies Rover EX Pink compound tire. The Rock Beast tire has the ooey gooey or gummy like feel similar to the ROVER EX Pink.

Obviously the next thing to consider was what foam to try first. Since other reviews had used a 5.5 tall Double Deuce Nova Foam, I started there. I stuffed a 5.5 foam into a tire and fought to mount it on my 1 inch wide rim. Once mounted it did not feel right at all. It was very springy or bouncy. The tire was clearly over stuffed with foam and the tire was also crowning. Just to be fair, I mounted the other three tires and tried a couple basic climbs in my back yard 50 x 18 rock garden. Just as I suspected, the tires lacked good forward bite because the foam was fighting the tire.

So I removed the 5.5 Double Deuces and installed a set of 5.25 tall Double Deuces. This foam combo came from some of the Team Crawler Innovations drivers that were looking for ways to make the Hot Bodies Rover EX Pink tire to work. It's a 5.5 inner foam with a 5.0 outer foam stretched over it. The foam ends up being 5.25 and the sizing works quite well in the correct applications. So I installed the foams, mounted the tires and ran another battery pack. Much better this time. The tire had better forward bite, the contact patch was now flat, the crowning of the tire was gone, but the tire was now shorter. The tire was also not completely full of foam. The tire is so wide that the outer foam was not filling the very corners of the tire. Another item of note is how wide these tires made my track width on my berg which in competition is something I do not like.

One of the first places these tires were really tested was in Llano Texas at the Texas State Finals. We had gone down a day early to have time to test tires on the natural granite stone. We played follow the leader with one Rockshow berg running Rovers, another Rockshow berg running Sedonas and my Rockshow berg running the Rock Beasts. My Rockshow with the Rock Beasts would go everywhere the other trucks would go, just not as easily. Certain climbs took wheel speed for the Rock Beasts where the Rovers slow crawled it easily. Other climbs that the Rovers or Sedonas made and stayed on the line, the Rock Beasts wandered and wouldn't hold the line. After three battery packs, it was clear the Rovers were going to be the better tire for that location and that is what we used the following day at the competition. Just to mention, the other drivers that were testing that day in Llano for the State Finals and saw the Rock Beasts were not impressed either.

Following our return home from State Finals we did a lot of testing on our back yard rock garden. Our rock garden is 50 x 18 or 900 square feet. We have a mix of rocks in it. Sand stone and iron ore, smooth rock, river rock, lime stone, etc. It has some small but very technical climbs, lots of off camber, and some great side hills. It's our everyday testing ground and we have had one local competition here as well. It always has courses set up on it and they change from day to day depending on who has come over to visit/play. Between my son and I, we easily have 10 battery packs on the Rock Beasts on our Rock Garden. They perform average at best on our rock garden.

A week later we took the Rock Beasts out for more testing. This time we hit a local spot we have at least two competitions every season at. We call it Hitech Hills and the spot is full of iron ore or sand stone. It has two rock piles and then a bunch of rock spread out decoratively over roughly two acres. It has some good climbs, lots of off camber stuff and plenty of ledge climbs and break overs. Again, we played follow the leader using a fellow local club members T1E Rockshow berg that was using Hot Bodies Rovers and I followed him using the Rock Beasts. The tires really struggled at this location. The shorter tire height was hurting me. Again the tires were struggling staying on line. At this location there were climbs the Rovers made that the Rock Beast never did. After running two battery packs (just over an hours worth of testing) I switched back to my Rovers and made all the climbs I couldn't with the Rock Beasts just to prove it wasn't the truck or set up. Convinced I had done a thorough test at that location we left and headed to another local spot.

This local spot is a city park and we have two competitions a season at it as well. It's called the Children's Park and it has two waterfalls, a nice rock stairway and plenty of great climbs, lots of off camber stuff and plenty of ledge climbs and break overs. I have been coming to this spot for nearly four years now and know it well. All the rock at this location is smooth. I don't know what type of rock it is because I'm not a geologist so I can't get technical LOL. This was the first time the Rock Beasts wowed me! Children's Park has some tough sidehills. Some that are straight sideways and others that are vertical climbs going sideways that transition to off camber going up onto another rock. The Rock Beasts held there line here! No problem. I'm not sure if it was tire compound, wide track width, or wide tire contact patch, but regardless I was impressed. The tires were also making ledge climbs I assumed they would never make because of there short height. It was impressive. I ran nearly two battery packs at this location and left with some hope for this little tire.

A week later we went to the Tyler State Park for a family day of swimming and hanging out. My son and I brought our Rockshow bergs knowing the State Park has lots of rock. We had one competition there two seasons ago. Again, I'm not a geologist, but the state park has a lot of iron ore / sand stone and also some other rock that seems similar to lava rock. I ran my berg a couple times that day using the Rock Beasts. At the end of the day before we left, my son got out his Rockshow Berg with Hot Bodies Sedonas and we played follow the leader. I had him drive the areas and lines I had already done earlier in the day with my berg and the Rock Beasts. His truck flat out owned all the areas I had crawled with the Rock Beasts. Climbs that took dual ESC's and twin sticks to make, his truck made easily with a single ESC and punk dig with the Sedonas. Again, the shorter tire height was hurting the Rock Beasts. The tire compound was also not working again. We played follow the leader for one battery pack and then I switched back to Rovers to do the same lines. The Rovers well out performed the Rock Beasts at this location.

I feel I have done a comprehensive review of the Pit Bull Rock Beast tire. I am not the expert, just someone with a little experience and an opinion. All testing was done in Texas so I understand that these tires might work better is other regions of the country. But since I was asked to do a review and I wanted to make sure I kept my word. The bottom line for me is that the Rock Beast is a tire that will be staying at home when I travel to National Competitions. For me the tire is too wide, too short and the compound not quite right. It's too bad it's not a 1.9 tire and narrower because the scale detail cast into the tire is second to none! Another note worth mentioning is that after about 25 battery packs, we have lugs beginning to tear away from the carcass of the Rock Beast tire. I've never had this happen to any Hot Bodies tires before but it has happened to a few Panther tires that were in the Super Soft Compound. So longevity of the tire might be a concern. This tire might also benefit from bead locks wider than 1 inch. I just don't own any so I can't test it. All my 2.2 wheels are Vanquish Products and all of them are 1 inch wide. I didn't take any pictures while testing because I don't really see the point. Photos can be staged and they don't really show you what's going on. Video would be perfect except I don't have a decent video camera or you tube account.

I am very grateful Pit Bull was kind enough to send me some tires and let me try them. I think it's wonderful that a new company is stepping into the RC crawling world and giving us more tire options. Thank you Pit Bull.
-Eddie

[jeeper_05]

Great honest review Eddie!!!

[2500hdon37s]

nice to see a really honest review!

kinda bad to hear that its not better on sand stone my home course has a lot of sand stone

[montana.matt]

Thanks for posting your review, Eddie. I, too, have shelved my PB's for the time being and went back to my Panther Leopards. The Leopards just work better (for me) on the type of rock we comp on. I'll most likely be using my PB's on the 2.2 scale truck I'm working on.

[dickwart]

Bummer to hear but kinda what I expected... I agree, a smaller 1.9 would dominate scaler comps... Glad I didnt buy a set... Hard to compete w/ the good ol Rovers...

Thanks fer yer honest write up Nova

[Tklan Crawler]

Thats what we like a very honest review!Nice job.

[Mini]

So do you like them or not?

[86jeep]

Originally Posted by Mini

So do you like them or not?

Not on my 2.2 comp rig but on a scaler yes.

[THEPITBULL]

Originally Posted by Nova's Ark

Pit bull asked me to test and review there Rock Beast tires. I've had these tires for over a month now. I take writing a review seriously. As a vendor I know what it's like to send out product only to never get the review that was promised. So it was important to me to keep my word and thoroughly test the tire to the best of my abilities and write an honest and unbiased review.

To start with, the focus of my review and testing of the Rock Beast tire was for 2.2 competition only. The tires were never tested on a scale truck or for scale purposes. The tires were tested by myself and two other drivers (my son Gavin and Greg S.- 86jeep / 2G's who was a top five finisher at World's last year in 2.2 among many other wins in his resume). The tires were tested at tested at five different locations. The tires were tested on three different T1E Rockshow Moon Buggy Bergs. The weight of these trucks varied from 5 to 6 pounds depending on location. In all testing the tires were mounted on Vanquish Products custom narrowed Pro Comp Dirty Harry bead locks 1 inch wide in the front and Vanquish Products SLW V4's 1 inch wide in the rear. The Dirty Harry used either 460 or 585 hubs in the front depending on location and the SLW's used either 475 or 600 hubs depending on location. I normally only run the the 335 and 350 hubs but could not because the Rock Beast tire is so wide it was getting into my shocks terribly thanks to the great turning ability the SDS Customs 300m CVD's give. The foams used were Crawler Innovations 5.25 Double Deuce Nova Foams that had firm 5.5 inners narrowed to 1 7/8" wide in the front and 1 3/4" wide in the rear. The 5.0 outer foams were the soft compound and left full width.

When I first received my Pit Bull tires I was amazed at how wide they are. I had seen them at the East Coast Championship in Alabama, but to actually have a pair in my hand about to be mounted on my own crawler I was disturbed at their width. The next thing that came to mind was the similarity of the tire compound the Rock Beast shared with a Hot Bodies Rover EX Pink compound tire. The Rock Beast tire has the ooey gooey or gummy like feel similar to the ROVER EX Pink.

Obviously the next thing to consider was what foam to try first. Since other reviews had used a 5.5 tall Double Deuce Nova Foam, I started there. I stuffed a 5.5 foam into a tire and fought to mount it on my 1 inch wide rim. Once mounted it did not feel right at all. It was very springy or bouncy. The tire was clearly over stuffed with foam and the tire was also crowning. Just to be fair, I mounted the other three tires and tried a couple basic climbs in my back yard 50 x 18 rock garden. Just as I suspected, the tires lacked good forward bite because the foam was fighting the tire.

So I removed the 5.5 Double Deuces and installed a set of 5.25 tall Double Deuces. This foam combo came from some of the Team Crawler Innovations drivers that were looking for ways to make the Hot Bodies Rover EX Pink tire to work. It's a 5.5 inner foam with a 5.0 outer foam stretched over it. The foam ends up being 5.25 and the sizing works quite well in the correct applications. So I installed the foams, mounted the tires and ran another battery pack. Much better this time. The tire had better forward bite, the contact patch was now flat, the crowning of the tire was gone, but the tire was now shorter. The tire was also not completely full of foam. The tire is so wide that the outer foam was not filling the very corners of the tire. Another item of note is how wide these tires made my track width on my berg which in competition is something I do not like.

One of the first places these tires were really tested was in Llano Texas at the Texas State Finals. We had gone down a day early to have time to test tires on the natural granite stone. We played follow the leader with one Rockshow berg running Rovers, another Rockshow berg running Sedonas and my Rockshow berg running the Rock Beasts. My Rockshow with the Rock Beasts would go everywhere the other trucks would go, just not as easily. Certain climbs took wheel speed for the Rock Beasts where the Rovers slow crawled it easily. Other climbs that the Rovers or Sedonas made and stayed on the line, the Rock Beasts wandered and wouldn't hold the line. After three battery packs, it was clear the Rovers were going to be the better tire for that location and that is what we used the following day at the competition. Just to mention, the other drivers that were testing that day in Llano for the State Finals and saw the Rock Beasts were not impressed either.

Following our return home from State Finals we did a lot of testing on our back yard rock garden. Our rock garden is 50 x 18 or 900 square feet. We have a mix of rocks in it. Sand stone and iron ore, smooth rock, river rock, lime stone, etc. It has some small but very technical climbs, lots of off camber, and some great side hills. It's our everyday testing ground and we have had one local competition here as well. It always has courses set up on it and they change from day to day depending on who has come over to visit/play. Between my son and I, we easily have 10 battery packs on the Rock Beasts on our Rock Garden. They perform average at best on our rock garden.

A week later we took the Rock Beasts out for more testing. This time we hit a local spot we have at least two competitions every season at. We call it Hitech Hills and the spot is full of iron ore or sand stone. It has two rock piles and then a bunch of rock spread out decoratively over roughly two acres. It has some good climbs, lots of off camber stuff and plenty of ledge climbs and break overs. Again, we played follow the leader using a fellow local club members T1E Rockshow berg that was using Hot Bodies Rovers and I followed him using the Rock Beasts. The tires really struggled at this location. The shorter tire height was hurting me. Again the tires were struggling staying on line. At this location there were climbs the Rovers made that the Rock Beast never did. After running two battery packs (just over an hours worth of testing) I switched back to my Rovers and made all the climbs I couldn't with the Rock Beasts just to prove it wasn't the truck or set up. Convinced I had done a thorough test at that location we left and headed to another local spot.

This local spot is a city park and we have two competitions a season at it as well. It's called the Children's Park and it has two waterfalls, a nice rock stairway and plenty of great climbs, lots of off camber stuff and plenty of ledge climbs and break overs. I have been coming to this spot for nearly four years now and know it well. All the rock at this location is smooth. I don't know what type of rock it is because I'm not a geologist so I can't get technical LOL. This was the first time the Rock Beasts wowed me! Children's Park has some tough sidehills. Some that are straight sideways and others that are vertical climbs going sideways that transition to off camber going up onto another rock. The Rock Beasts held there line here! No problem. I'm not sure if it was tire compound, wide track width, or wide tire contact patch, but regardless I was impressed. The tires were also making ledge climbs I assumed they would never make because of there short height. It was impressive. I ran nearly two battery packs at this location and left with some hope for this little tire.

A week later we went to the Tyler State Park for a family day of swimming and hanging out. My son and I brought our Rockshow bergs knowing the State Park has lots of rock. We had one competition there two seasons ago. Again, I'm not a geologist, but the state park has a lot of iron ore / sand stone and also some other rock that seems similar to lava rock. I ran my berg a couple times that day using the Rock Beasts. At the end of the day before we left, my son got out his Rockshow Berg with Hot Bodies Sedonas and we played follow the leader. I had him drive the areas and lines I had already done earlier in the day with my berg and the Rock Beasts. His truck flat out owned all the areas I had crawled with the Rock Beasts. Climbs that took dual ESC's and twin sticks to make, his truck made easily with a single ESC and punk dig with the Sedonas. Again, the shorter tire height was hurting the Rock Beasts. The tire compound was also not working again. We played follow the leader for one battery pack and then I switched back to Rovers to do the same lines. The Rovers well out performed the Rock Beasts at this location.

I feel I have done a comprehensive review of the Pit Bull Rock Beast tire. I am not the expert, just someone with a little experience and an opinion. All testing was done in Texas so I understand that these tires might work better is other regions of the country. But since I was asked to do a review and I wanted to make sure I kept my word. The bottom line for me is that the Rock Beast is a tire that will be staying at home when I travel to National Competitions. For me the tire is too wide, too short and the compound not quite right. It's too bad it's not a 1.9 tire and narrower because the scale detail cast into the tire is second to none! Another note worth mentioning is that after about 25 battery packs, we have lugs beginning to tear away from the carcass of the Rock Beast tire. I've never had this happen to any Hot Bodies tires before but it has happened to a few Panther tires that were in the Super Soft Compound. So longevity of the tire might be a concern. This tire might also benefit from bead locks wider than 1 inch. I just don't own any so I can't test it. All my 2.2 wheels are Vanquish Products and all of them are 1 inch wide. I didn't take any pictures while testing because I don't really see the point. Photos can be staged and they don't really show you what's going on. Video would be perfect except I don't have a decent video camera or you tube account.

I am very grateful Pit Bull was kind enough to send me some tires and let me try them. I think it's wonderful that a new company is stepping into the RC crawling world and giving us more tire options. Thank you Pit Bull.
-Eddie

Eddie -

I appreciate your honest review. That being said, I'm hoping some guys who love the tires will step up and offer some advice on what they are doing to make them work for them in various conditions because I know how much you liked them and wanted them to work for you. Hopefully it's as simple as tweaking the setup or breaking them in.

[2500hdon37s]

Originally Posted by THEPITBULL

Eddie -

I appreciate your honest review. That being said, I'm hoping some guys who love the tires will step up and offer some advice on what they are doing to make them work for them in various conditions because I know how much you liked them and wanted them to work for you. Hopefully it's as simple as tweaking the setup or breaking them in.

i think it may just be that they are so wide, a skinner tire will put more of the preasure on one spot that might get it to "bite" on the sand stone

[team3six]

Thanks for the review. To be honest, they seem to be as designed. Replicating the original tire and built for scale trail and rock crawling.

[EvilTwin v2]

I'd be willing to bet that the 1" wheel is negatively affecting the performance of this tire. I've not tried a set of 1" front wheels to compare, but it seems like the wider wheel allows the tire a more natural shape. I'm running the regular width VP DH's in the front and 1" SLW's in the rear. The tread is flatter on my front tires and seems to hook a bit better...though that could also be due to the increase weight... not sure.

I wish I had a set of Sedonas on identical wheels so I could to a back to back comparison on my crawler.

[Krakker]

I'm going to try a pair on some stock Berg wheels for the fronts and my super skinny's out back. I think the wider stock wheel will be good for the front tread and the skinny wheel will let it slip a bit on steep up hills letting the fronts grab more.
As soft as they are, I'm going to wrap a PL over size mem foam with a 3/8" dense mem foam. They've work really good with the EX Rovers so far.

[Just Zach]

I really think that narrow wheels throw them off. I tried narrow wheels but didn't get as good of results as with wider wheels.

The best result I have had with foams is a Panther 310 foam on the inside with a very soft outer foam.

[jeepsohigh]

Thanks Eddie for the detailed and honest review.

[kineteks]

Eddie, great, well done review but I agree with others who say the narrow wheels may be a problem for this tire. I haven't tried them yet so I'm blowing smoke but I don't like Sedonas so much on 1" wheels... on the 1.35" with your foams they are my best tire hands down over Rovers and Leopards (sipped, worn-down/well broken in what-ever!). So it might be worth giving them a shot on wider wheels. Rover EX don't work for me and it seems that most agree, so it is at best a tire for very special conditions. The width of the Sedona, a pretty wide tire, requires a wider hub/front track than I'd like but they work so damn well! Rovers are a close second in my experience and Leopards when clean and on the right rock are awesome but at the moment, in my case, Sedonas rule. Your test has me interested in the Pit Bulls though and I'm going to give them a try on some wider wheels.... as always, thanks for the great work.

[JeremyH]

Originally Posted by Nova's Ark

Certain climbs took wheel speed for the Rock Beasts where the Rovers slow crawled it easily.

I completely agree with this statement. I put some time on mine yesterday and they do require a bit of speed to keep up....so if that fits your driving style or the rig (mine were on a rock racer w/5.5" Novas mounted on DNA Assassins), then these tires would be perfect!

[chino925]

maybe a slightly harder compound.

[Nova's Ark]

First, Thank you for your kind comments and support guys. It's tough trying to write an objective and honest review. The fallacy of communicating is assuming that you actually are.

Second;
Although my 1" wide bead locks might have negatively affected the results of my testing, what is the average width of all 2.2 bead locks being sold?

Answer: 1"

So although a 1" wheel may not be the best size bead lock for this tire, it is the wheel that the average person is going to have. RC4WD, Mayhem Engineering, MSD, Pro-Line and other after market wheel manufacturers make their 2.2 comp wheels 1 inch wide. Even the Losi Comp Crawler and Night Crawler bead lock is 1" wide. So if you are truly going after the 2.2 Competition market, why make a tire that does not perform best on the average bead lock? That is why all my testing was done on a 1" wide bead lock. Remember, my testing was aimed solely for 2.2 competition, not scale.

[kineteks]

RE: 1" wheels, good point Eddie and something the Pit Bull guys might want to think about. The width to height ratio on the Beasts might be less than ideal as well. That said VP, a very popular wheel mfg, does offer some wider wheels that might work better for these tires in their existing form... I'm gonna shut up now until I've tried 'em....