The Backyard – Old Trucks, New Problems

Greetings all and Happy Friday! Welcome to The Backyard!

Well friends, apparently we’re old now. I say that because JConcepts has just released a pair of new monster truck bodies featuring a 1999 Ford F-250 and a 2001 Chevy Silverado 1500.

Yes. Trucks from 1999 and 2001 are now retro RC bodies.

I’ll give my fellow elder millennials a moment to process that.

Okay. Everybody good?

Because once I got over that little existential crisis, I was able to appreciate just how awesome these two bodies are.

Both are single-cab pickup bodies designed around a 13-inch wheelbase, making them a natural fit for the long-wheelbase version of the JConcepts Reactor. The Chevy absolutely nails that turn-of-the-century Silverado look, while the Ford captures the big, chunky styling of the early Super Duty trucks. JConcepts also includes optional pieces like a racerback and visor with the Ford if you really want to lean into that period monster truck aesthetic.

Both bodies have some aesthetics that are juuuust slightly pulled and stretched to fit the wheelbase, which actually help them look more scale appropriate for a monster truck of that era, as you would see the same thing done with various fiberglass molds to get bodies to fit correctly!

And man…that Ford is calling my name.

Regular Backyard readers may remember that I already have a Reactor, and I’ve pretty much decided there will eventually be a Reactor #2 joining it.

The question has been what form Reactor #2 is going to take.

My current truck is built in the 13-inch long-wheelbase configuration, and if I build another one that way, there’s a very good chance this new ’99 F-250 body is going on top. Throw on the right wheels and tires, come up with some appropriately ridiculous late-’90s/early-2000s monster truck graphics, and I think it would look absolutely killer.

But there’s a problem.

Part of me thinks Reactor #2 should be built in the short-wheelbase configuration.

My logic is simple enough: if I’m going to own two Reactors, why not have one of each?

And going short-wheelbase opens up another possibility I’ve had kicking around in my head—an Aerostar body done up as the Rotten Apple Express.

For those unfamiliar, Rotten Apple is the name I’ve used on various monster truck builds over the years, and the idea of doing an old-school monster van version has been rattling around in my brain for awhile. A short-wheelbase Reactor underneath an Aerostar body would be a pretty darn good foundation for it.

So now JConcepts has created a problem for me.

Do I build Reactor #2 short and finally do the Rotten Apple Express?

Or do I build another long-wheelbase truck because that ’99 F-250 body looks SO GOOD (and because long wheelbase is usually better on the race track!)?

These are the difficult decisions we face in this hobby, friends.

First-world RC problems aside, I really like what JConcepts is doing here.

One of my favorite things about the current RC monster truck scene is that we aren’t limited just to replicas of famous trucks. Companies are giving us the ingredients to build monster trucks that could have existed, of almost any make/model!

That’s exactly what I see when I look at these new bodies.

Take that ’99 F-250, put it on a Reactor, add the right wheels and tires and give it some appropriately wild graphics, and suddenly you’ve got something that looks like it could’ve rolled onto the floor of the Metrodome in 2000.

Anyway, keep the bodies coming, JConcepts. I’m loving this stuff.

And as for Reactor #2?

I’ve apparently got some thinking to do.

That’s it for me this week. Until next time, keep it on all 4’s!