First up are their new Shockwave 3.8″ pre-mounts. These feature their new Shockwave tires mounted up on 3.8″ F-11 black wheels made to bolt right up on your monster truck. These lightweight tires give better than stock traction on all the surfaces that bashers like- grass, pavement, and of course in the mud. Street price for these monsters is $45 a pair and they have a part number of #1193-13. Click Here for more information.

Pro-Line has announced new Badlands pre-mounts as well. Badlands are perhaps the most popular bash tire here at BigSquidRC and the new pre-mounts come on black Renegade wheels in both Slash rear and Pro-Line ProTrac offsets. Part numbers are #1182-15 for the ProTrac offset and #1182-13 for Slash rear. Street pricing is $35 a pair, simply click THIS LINK for more information.

For you guys that do most of your bashing on the street Pro-Line has introduced new Road Rage 2.8″ pre-mounts. Road Rages give great traction on pavement and seem to wear forever. These come in two different offsets, #1172-12 and #1172-13 to ensure a proper fit on your Traxxas Stampede. Street pricing is $35 a pair and HERE is the link you want to get more information.

On the opposite end of the spectrum Pro-Line has you covered with new Sling Shot paddle tire pre-mounts for short course trucks. The new Sling Shot pre-mounts come in two different offsets on black Renegade wheels. Part numbers are #1158-17 for Slash rear offset and #1158-18 for Pro-Line ProTrac. Street pricing is $35 a pair, for more information THIS is the link you want.

The last set of new pre-mounts are Trencher 3.8″ mounted up on black F-11 wheels. Trenchers are a legendary bash tire that we use on a daily basis here at BigSquid because they work great on nearly every surface. These new pre-mounts come with 17mm hexes to fit vehicles like the Revo and the Summit and have a part number of #1184-13. Street price is $45 a pair and check out THIS LINK for more information (and even a BigSquid mention!).

The ShockWaves are designed for Traxxas style 3.8″ rims and will also be available as pre-mounts on black Pro-Line F-11 wheels with 17mm hexes. More information will be available on these very soon, until then HERE is the link to the official Pro-Line website.

Dare to click on a BigSquidRC TGIF Myster Link? You know you want to!

Part number for just the tires is #31445, while the part number for the pre-mounts is #31440. Both are available right now with a street price of $22 for the pre-mounts and $12 for just the tires. Hit up THIS LINK for more information on the Associated website.

Check out more Associated news AT THIS LINK right here on BigSquidRC.

Recently the crew over at Pro-Line posted a “Sneak Peek” of their upcoming Trencher 2.2 for 1:16 E-Revo. Soon all you 16th scale E-Revo drivers will be able to enjoy all the great characteristics of the Trencher too. We’ll have more information on the 2.2 Trencher soon, until then hit up the official Pro-Line Website to see all the other goodies they have.

Are you a big fan of Pro-Line? You can find more Pro-Line news at THIS LINK right here on BigSquidRC.

We have more AKA news right HERE on BigSquidRC.

Some of the tires also got further upgrades. For instance, the Cityblock 2 had its tread opened up slightly to help it dig in deeper, the Wishbone 2 had its tread pattern condensed for more traction and longer wear, and the Handlebar got slightly taller pins. The new tires range in price from $26 to $39 for pre-mounts.

AKA didn’t forget about upgrading their inserts, they now have asymmetrical cores for more sidewall support. Both their new Red (#33017 soft) and Black (#33016 medium) have a price point of $18. Hit up the AKA Website for more information.

We reviewed the AKA Enduro SC’s a while back, Click Here to read the review.

In the last 5 years there has been an explosion in the 8th scale buggy tire market. One of the more affordable choices comes from Duratrax, where they have a complete line of reasonably priced tires and pre-mounts. We’ve been bashing and thrashing two sets of Duratrax Equalizer Pre-Mounts (one in C3 (super soft) compound and one in C2 (soft) compound) for a few weeks now. Are they worth your cash to bash with? Come on, let’s find out…

From: Duratrax
Direct Link: Equalizer Pre-Mounts 8th Buggy

Review By: Cubby
Pics By: Cubby

Specs:

Part number: #DTXC3644 (C2 white) and # DTXC3645 (C3 white)
Fits- 8th scale buggies on both front and rear.
Street Price: $18 per pair

What’s Needed To Complete Install: Not much. Remove your wheel nuts and pop’em right on.

Build Quality: Glue job looked well done. Tires and rims both looked (and felt) of good quality.

Test Drivers: Cubby, Brian, Tim, Ryan and Iron Mike

Test Venues: Leisure Hours indoor track in Joliet Illinois, St Louis Dirtburners, a backyard, and a cul-de-sac.

Set-up Notes: For testing we threw the Equalizers on a Hot Bodies VE8 buggy. Speedo was a Castle Monster, motor was a Castle 2650, radio system was a Futaba 3PKS, Hitec handled the steering duties, and we used 4S worth of MaxAmps Lipo power to energize the beast.

Performance-

Street: While you might be tempted, resist the urge to run the Equalizers on pavement. They will give some outstanding grip on the street, but they will wear out extremely quickly due to their soft composition and tread design. These tires were designed for dirt, use them there. If you do a lot of street running invest in a set of Duratrax Bandito’s (their 8th scale buggy street treads).

Grass: The Equalizers didn’t offer the traction of AKA Moto’s or Pro-Line Badland’s on grass, but they did quite well on the green stuff. The Equalizers provided decent forward grip and a certain amount of slip when looking for sidebite that kept our buggy from constantly traction when cornering. Overall, very usable in grass.

Dirt: The Equalizers are really intended for use on a prepped dirt surface. On a hard, damp, clay surface like the indoor track at Leisure Hours, they were quite drivable, but didn’t offer the pure mechanical grip of smaller pinned tires. A loamy outdoor track was where the Equalizers really stood out. When the pins could do a bit of penetration, like in the fluff or on a loose/loamy track, the Equalizers felt really dialed offering a lot of traction.

Btw, if you’ve never felt a set of C3 compound Duratrax tires, they feel nearly as soft and sticky as the softest compounds from the big names.

Summary:

Time To Bash: A It literally takes 2 minutes to mount up the Equalizers. This is one of the fastest improvements you can make to your 8th scale buggy.

Car Show Rating: C The Duratrax tires have lettering on the sidewall. Some of the staff really liked the look, while others prefer a more traditional look. The rims were standard white dishes.

Bash-A-Bility: B We experienced no “major” issues with the Equalizer pre-mounts- we didn’t break any rims, nor did we rip/explode any of the tires. However, because they were molded in fairly soft compounds (extremely soft in the case of the C3′s) we experienced relatively fast wear rates. Had they have been molded in a harder/longer wearing compound they would have received an “A”.

Performance: C There are better bashing tires on the market and better track tires. However, the Equalizers weren’t far off the pace in either category.

Value: B The Duratrax pre-mounts cost much less than just the tires from a “premium” brand, yet they still give good performance. That represents a very good value to us.

BigSquid Rating: B- Are the Duratrax Equalizer pre-mounts worth your cash? They are soft on the wallet yet give good traction on grass and in the dirt. We found them to be quality units and a very affordable option when driving on prepped dirt surfaces.

13110SRW 1:10 Buggy Handlebar LTD Rear (Soft) HEXLITE Wheel Pre-Mounted White
13110SRY 1:10 Buggy Handlebar LTD Rear (Soft) HEXLITE Wheel Pre-Mounted Yellow
13110VRW 1:10 Buggy Handlebar LTD Rear (S Soft) HEXLITE Wheel Pre-Mounted White
13110VRY 1:10 Buggy Handlebar LTD Rear (S Soft) HEXLITE Wheel Pre-Mounted Yellow
13107SRW 1:10 Buggy Impact Rear (Soft) HEXLITE Wheel Pre-Mounted White
13107SRY 1:10 Buggy Impact Rear (Soft) HEXLITE Wheel Pre-Mounted Yellow
13107VRW 1:10 Buggy Impact Rear (S Soft) HEXLITE Wheel Pre-Mounted White
13107VRY 1:10 Buggy Impact Rear (S Soft) HEXLITE Wheel Pre-Mounted Yellow

Retail price is $28 per pair and you can get more information on the official AKA Website. Give THIS link a try for more AKA news right here on BigSquidRC.

AKA is producing Handlebars for a wide variety of vehicles- 10th scale buggy, 8th scale, and for short course trucks. And talk about variety, some Handlebars are available pre-mounted, some just with inserts, and some just the tires w/o inserts. AKA is doing their best to accommodate your tire needs, whatever they might be.

To get more information on the Handlebars and all of AKA’s products hit up their Official Website. Hit THIS link to read our latest AKA SCT tire review.

These are available right now, the part number for the X2 (medium) is #9045-002, and the X3 (soft) is #9045-003. Expect a street price of right around $22 per pair. Hit up the Pro-Line Website for more information.

We have lots more Pro-Line news right HERE on BigSquidRC.