Boss Claw Foam Tuning

[Del Monte]

These tires should be showing up on the rocks very soon, so here are some notes on foam setup and tuning.

In general, the Boss Claw works best with a slightly stiffer foam then a standard lugged tire. A stiffer foam lets the Boss Claw pins grab and find traction instead of collapsing and using big lugs to pull through obstacles. The perfect setup for these is a foam that allows the tire to flex without completely collasping to the rim. The stock foam is a good starting point and will work great for some rigs, however there is always room for improvement. The team drivers have been testing several aftermarket memory and dual-stage foam inserts for these tires, we will have more information on them soon

Here's what I am using on my roughly 6.5lb rig

Stock Losi wheel setup (Silver or Red Compound)
1" wide w/weight channel

Front: Oversized Single stage memory foam w/2 wraps of weights

Rear: Stock Boss Claw foams narrowed 10mm w/1 wrap of weights(fills weight channel)

The Silver compound with this foam setup works best in hot weather on high traction rock (Granite, etc) The few times that I have noticed my red's slipping or sliding sideways, I've mounted up this set and they have worked awesome.



Vanquish SLW v2's (Red Compound)
.7" Wide w/weight channel

Front: Oversized single stage memory foam w/2 wraps of weights
Losi 600 offset hubs

Rear: Standard sized dual-stage foam (no weights added to the wheels)
Losi 475 offset hubs

This is my favorite all-around setup. I switch to standard foams if its 90*+ or below 60* outside. The oversized front memory foams really allow the tire to wrap on climbs without being sloppy. I don't run any added weight in my rear SLW's. Instead, I add 1.5oz of static weight to each rear straight axle carrier.


Vanquish SLW v1's (Red Compound)
1" Wide w/weight channel

Front: Stock Foam narrowed 5mm w/2 wraps of weightst
Losi 600 offset hubs

Rear: Standard Sized dual-stage foam (no weights added to the wheels)
Losi 475 offset hubs

This setup is killer when the temperature is 100+. The narrowed stock foams are still pretty stiff in the front, allowing for great steering and sidehilling control. The stock foams aren't as good as the memory foams at sticking big dropoffs though.


Vanquish DH Procomps (Red Compound)
1.2" wide w/no weight channel

Front: Oversized dual stage memory foam w/6 slugs added
460 offset hubs

Rear: Stock Foam
335 offset hubs

This is a great all-around setup. I like the wider wheel when I'm driving in an area with a lot of holes and gaps to cross. A dual stage memory foam is a good compromise in the front tires. They don't wrap and grab ledges as well as a single stage memory foam, but a dual-stage memory foam has better sidewall support in a DH style rim.



Foam setups will vary greatly with terrain, driving style, and rig weight. This should give you guys a good starting point though. Feel free to post up own your setups and pictures.

Jake

[Frankenwheely]

How are they with side hilling? In general, and I run the vanquish DH setup.
Thanks.

[losikid]

what is a good setup for slick rocks, like sandstone

[bcrofts]

Great info Jake!!!!!!!

[Del Monte]

Originally Posted by losikid

what is a good setup for slick rocks, like sandstone

I would try a setup similar to what's in my SLW v2's. I haven't had that combination on any "true" slickrock yet, but I think that setup will work very well. I will post back once I get some time on some good slickrock stuff. (note to self; plan trip to UTAH!)

Originally Posted by Frankenwheely

How are they with side hilling? In general, and I run the vanquish DH setup.
Thanks.

They are by far the best sidehilling tire I've ever ran. With the DH's you will have to experiment with a dual-stage foam to get back the support you normally would have with weights wrapped inside the wheel.

[Fattymojo]

What size do the stock foams measure?

[losikid]

Originally Posted by Del Monte

I would try a setup similar to what's in my SLW v2's. I haven't had that combination on any "true" slickrock yet, but I think that setup will work very well. I will post back once I get some time on some good slickrock stuff. (note to self; plan trip to UTAH!)

Ok well what would be something other than memory foams, temps here in colorado range from the negatives to 100's. Although the stock foams would probably do good from what i have read

[Del Monte]

Originally Posted by losikid

Ok well what would be something other than memory foams, temps here in colorado range from the negatives to 100's. Although the stock foams would probably do good from what i have read

Yeah, the memory foams aren't a do-it-all setup. However, in the right temperature, the memory foams I've been testing made climbs look easy that I never thought were possible before.

[winkscrawler]

Thanks for the info Jake. I may have to give these tires a try. I finished right behind you at AWCC. I might have taken you if I had these tires, well maybe.

[losikid]

Originally Posted by Del Monte

Yeah, the memory foams aren't a do-it-all setup. However, in the right temperature, the memory foams I've been testing made climbs look easy that I never thought were possible before.

Next question, i'm wondering what is this the better compound red or silver, it seems like red from you above setups

[Del Monte]

Originally Posted by losikid

Next question, i'm wondering what is this the better compound red or silver, it seems like red from you above setups

Red is much softer and has a ton of traction. Like I said, there have been a few places where red didn't feel right or had too much traction. When red didn't work, silver did

We've even played around with running red in the front and silver in the rear, and that combination could work excellent on high traction stuff with a lot of verticals.

[losikid]

Originally Posted by Del Monte

Red is much softer and has a ton of traction. Like I said, there have been a few places where red didn't feel right or had too much traction. When red didn't work, silver did

We've even played around with running red in the front and silver in the rear, and that combination could work excellent on high traction stuff with a lot of verticals.

Thanks alot for the info, my lhs said they'll have some next week and i think i'm gonna pick some up reds, i need all the traction i can get and i'm going to try the stock foams, hopefully they will leave my rovers on the shelf

[Del Monte]

Here's a quick shot of all the different foam setups/wheels



You can see how much more rounded and "overstuffed" the tire looks on a .7" rim. (bottom left)

[losikid]

I was reading through the boss claws thread and noticed ehills had some mounted on proline 2 stage foams, how well were those working,

[atekt]

Right on Jake, thanks for the info. I should have mine tomorrow(YES!!) Just wondering what are these over sized memory foams that you are running?

[Rich Trujillo]

Originally Posted by atekt

Right on Jake, thanks for the info. I should have mine tomorrow(YES!!) Just wondering what are these over sized memory foams that you are running?

We are in development with a new memory foam and we will have info very very soon

[fa1rch1ld]

Just put my Boss Claws on today

fa1rch1ld's Losi (PICS)

[atekt]

Originally Posted by Rich Trujillo

We are in development with a new memory foam and we will have info very very soon

Thank you sir!

[SkaldidDog]

Nice overview Jake. Thanks for the starting point. Off to LilJon's to get a set.

[rcjackson0926]

Originally Posted by Rich Trujillo

We are in development with a new memory foam and we will have info very very soon

The foam that came with the tires are basically scrap. They were not seated in the tires, and when I pulled the wadded piece of foam from the center of the tire, they were flat on one side with big jagged cuts on the ends of the flat spots. Completely unusable as a tire foam. I was planning to use the stock foam in the rear like Jake mentioned, but the ones that came with the tires can't be used. I am not really sure what happened or if that was a mistake, but I got 4 sets of tires, and all 8 tires had the same messed up foam in it.

This is what my foams look like: