Crawler Innovations Foam break in

[Hotrodvw]

I bought me some CI Wild Deuce foams for my XL Swampers to go on my G6. First impressions were they are quite firm compared to traditional foams. Fine, ok, this is supposed to be the hot set up. I haven't weighed my rig yet, and I know they say these foams are best for a 7+lb rig. So, tires are now vented, foams are box stock from CI. Is there a break in period where these things will finally come around and WOW me? I've only run them for about 1.5 hrs, and I wasn't overly impressed. I'm hoping for a glimmer of hope here. Any suggestions?

[wilbywise]

I would recommend to do some compare and contrast to your previous setup. Go to your local crawling spot or somewhere familiar and find the trickiest line possible. Hit it a few times until you can either do it or not. Swap over to you last setup and test it out. Hopefully for your sake you have them on another set of rims or something. Try it on a hill climb, rock faces, and different weather conditions to really get a feel for them. But i was the same way, compared them to my stock ripsaws and I would say it was a definite upgrade for me!

[Hotrodvw]

I did run the Swampers in the same place I ran my rip saws. Swampers are skatey in comparison.Any thoughts on the break in period?

[gdb85]

If you got them for strictly for rock crawling, you probably will not come around on liking them. Should've gotten the "lil novas" two stage.

Dueces Wild are for heavy rigs and more open trail running like a G-6 type event.

I have them on a couple of Class 2 rigs, both Truggy's, both around 8lbs, the Dueces Wild and RockBeasts work great in the one rig. I have yet to try the rig with Dueces Wild & the TSL's.

[Hotrodvw]

Ok, good to know. We do some rock, no trail yet but I certainly intend to. I guess I was looking for a do it all set up. Do you think siping the rubs in the foams will help soften them up?

[Crank]

I have the same set up on one and removed the 2 center ribs in the fronts, it made a big difference.

[Hotrodvw]

Awesome....so now I decide if I buy different foams or modify these.

[gdb85]

Well that depends on how much coin you want to drop.

Since you already have these DW's, I'd just modify.

[Hotrodvw]

Yup, I'm thinking I will modify these, if they still aren't working, I'll get new ones.

[dna4engr]

I had these on my 1.9 class 2 truggy and couldn't get it to perform. Then I switched just the fronts to lil nova 2 stage ad it was a whole new day for rock crawling. Left the dw in back with 1 rib cut out. Love the setup now.

[gottorque]

On my 1.9 wraith I run the DWs in 1.9 pits. Now, this truck is a meager 6lbs rtr, with most of the weight up front. When I bought the foams, I didn't expect them to work and only got them to bring the height back. Yes, CI reccomends 7+ lb trucks, but the strange thing is...they work really well. The majority of the crawling I do is on the rocks...gnarly lines and super chunky diff catchers. Foams are un modded, yet they just walk up stuff. Granite (lol) rig setup has a lot to do with this, but still. Perhaps being so light helps...I honestly don't know.

Sent from a rock

[Hotrodvw]

Originally Posted by dna4engr

I had these on my 1.9 class 2 truggy and couldn't get it to perform. Then I switched just the fronts to lil nova 2 stage ad it was a whole new day for rock crawling. Left the dw in back with 1 rib cut out. Love the setup now.

Good to know, Thank you!

Originally Posted by gottorque

On my 1.9 wraith I run the DWs in 1.9 pits. Now, this truck is a meager 6lbs rtr, with most of the weight up front. When I bought the foams, I didn't expect them to work and only got them to bring the height back. Yes, CI reccomends 7+ lb trucks, but the strange thing is...they work really well. The majority of the crawling I do is on the rocks...gnarly lines and super chunky diff catchers. Foams are un modded, yet they just walk up stuff. Granite (lol) rig setup has a lot to do with this, but still. Perhaps being so light helps...I honestly don't know.

Sent from a rock

My experience is the opposite.......no bueno for me.

[realsickclown]

But I would say yes they will break in (some).

[Crawlininga]

I have gotten mine wet and forgot to dry them when I was finished and the next run I noticed that they were way softer then before. So maybe you could soak them rig them out and then put them in wet and see what happens


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[Hotrodvw]

I just vented the tires before today's run. I know, I know..........they said to vent the tires, I just now got around to doing it. I did a bit of work on the rear foams last night. They seem to be a bit more supple on the center section of the tire now. Who knows, it's all rock rather than the loose shale crap I was on before. I still think these foams are too firm for this rig. I weighed it last night, I'm at 5.8 lbs. Either need to eat more bacon cheese burgers, or swap the foams out for something softer. The tires actually worked pretty good today. Nothing blatantly irritating. If I couldn't climb it, it was vertical.

Here's what I did to the foams. I cut little V's in the center ribs. Trying to soften it up in the middle while keeping the side wall supported.

[gdb85]

What you did was a great mod, (yeah, tires shoulda been vented from the get go) I would give them another try or two. Side hilling should've awesome.

You do have a light rig, just from my experience, if you switch to Lil Novas, go soft outer up front & medium outer in the rear.

Hope you work it out, I'm a firm believer in CI foams. I have 8 scale rigs & 2 go fast & they all have CI foams.

[Jeep757]

Still new to rc crawlers, how do you vent the tires?

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[thefatkid]

Originally Posted by Jeep757

Still new to rc crawlers, how do you vent the tires?

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I use a leather punch from harbor freight.

Leather Punch Tool

I need to repunch them because I used the smallest hole and it seems to not be big enough.

[Hotrodvw]

Originally Posted by gdb85

What you did was a great mod, (yeah, tires shoulda been vented from the get go) I would give them another try or two. Side hilling should've awesome.

You do have a light rig, just from my experience, if you switch to Lil Novas, go soft outer up front & medium outer in the rear.

Hope you work it out, I'm a firm believer in CI foams. I have 8 scale rigs & 2 go fast & they all have CI foams.

Cool...that's very reassuring. Side hilling was great, no trouble there. Really, they worked better being vented alone. I'll grab up some of those foams.

[Natedog]

Originally Posted by wilbywise

I would recommend to do some compare and contrast to your previous setup. Go to your local crawling spot or somewhere familiar and find the trickiest line possible. Hit it a few times until you can either do it or not. Swap over to you last setup and test it out. Hopefully for your sake you have them on another set of rims or something. Try it on a hill climb, rock faces, and different weather conditions to really get a feel for them. But i was the same way, compared them to my stock ripsaws and I would say it was a definite upgrade for me!

Yes, you gotta do back to back runs on the same rocks, same lines, same temperature, same humidity....don't change anything else on the truck, just the foams. Two sets (or more ) of wheels and same tires helps. It's amazing the sun starts going down and steep lines I walked midday are no go as the rocks cool.

Originally Posted by Crank

I have the same set up on one and removed the 2 center ribs in the fronts, it made a big difference.

Great idea!

Originally Posted by gdb85

Well that depends on how much coin you want to drop.

Since you already have these DW's, I'd just modify.

Might as well mod what you already got.

Originally Posted by dna4engr

I had these on my 1.9 class 2 truggy and couldn't get it to perform. Then I switched just the fronts to lil nova 2 stage ad it was a whole new day for rock crawling. Left the dw in back with 1 rib cut out. Love the setup now.

Dang good idea DW in back and 2 stage up front!

Originally Posted by gdb85

What you did was a great mod, (yeah, tires shoulda been vented from the get go) I would give them another try or two. Side hilling should've awesome.

You do have a light rig, just from my experience, if you switch to Lil Novas, go soft outer up front & medium outer in the rear.

Hope you work it out, I'm a firm believer in CI foams. I have 8 scale rigs & 2 go fast & they all have CI foams.

Yes, yes, yes. I resisted venting for long time, big mistake vented tires/wheels is a must.

Originally Posted by thefatkid

I use a leather punch from harbor freight.

Leather Punch Tool

I need to repunch them because I used the smallest hole and it seems to not be big enough.

That's the best way to vent tires, leaves nice clean evenly sized holes. Fast and easy too.

Originally Posted by Hotrodvw

I just vented the tires before today's run. I know, I know..........they said to vent the tires, I just now got around to doing it. I did a bit of work on the rear foams last night. They seem to be a bit more supple on the center section of the tire now. Who knows, it's all rock rather than the loose shale crap I was on before. I still think these foams are too firm for this rig. I weighed it last night, I'm at 5.8 lbs. Either need to eat more bacon cheese burgers, or swap the foams out for something softer. The tires actually worked pretty good today. Nothing blatantly irritating. If I couldn't climb it, it was vertical.

Here's what I did to the foams. I cut little V's in the center ribs. Trying to soften it up in the middle while keeping the side wall supported.

Try them some more on back to back runs same same. Nice tuning mod.

EDIT: CI foams made a world of difference in my crawler. Post back after you do more testing.