HBZ Warthog - Axial Chassis Upgrade

Quick Review
HBZ Warthog - Axial Chassis Upgrade -
By Tony Arnold - StampedeProject.com

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One of the coolest areas of rock crawling is the scale "tuber" style chassis. These chassis mimic real 1:1 competition cage buggy body crawlers which are all fabricated and welder by hand from steel tube. All that custom welding and fabrication can be expensive even at at 10th scale, but HBZ (Hard Bodyz), the makers of bolt on monster truck roll cages, has introduced the Warthog, an affordable bolt on "no mod" tuber style replacement chassis for the Axial AX10 that not only looks very scale, but drastically improves performance as well.

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KIT
The Warthog is 2.2 class USRCCA competition legal and available in either "Comp" painted/chromed steel tube or the "Pro Comp" stainless steel tube version I used in my build. The pre-welded tube chassis, pre-cut body panels, painted body panel decals, zip ties, screws, lower carbon fiber chassis, and misc other parts are included in the box for headache free conversion of your stock Axial crawler into something incredibly realistic.

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ASSEMBLY
Just to show how easy the conversation was, I used a slightly upgraded RTR Axial crawler. For immediate improvement in performance, this bolt on chassis is about as easy as it gets. Detach the skid plate, links, and shocks from the stock chassis and reattach the skid plate and links with stock screws. The shocks attach to the chassis via the Warthog supplied stainless hardware. The stock battery tray gets re-purposed to hide the transmission and provides a lower CG electrics mount which I was able tosuff all the RTR's electrics under for a very clean build. HBZ is expecting the builder to use either a small lightweight crawler pack mountable on the battery tray or relocate the battery mounting to a lower CG on axle position. I opted to use an Axial Battery relocation kit and mounted a full size MaxAmps Lipo pack at the rear axle.

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TESTING & CONCLUSION
This was a very simple upgrade that provides a beefy look with light weight. The Warthog delivers greatly lowered CG and huge performance increase all with scale realism that nets plenty of oohs and aahs. The Warthog is even 100% American made. If you don't feel like painting, the kit includes pre -painted body panel decals. The high durability compact design reduced hang ups during crawling and lowered overall ride height and CG. What I liked best was that the Warthog worked equally well as an Axial RTR upgrade and later in a highly customized build, so the chassis is more than flexible enough to grow into more advanced crawler builds as you get more involved with crawling. Regardless of your experience this is a great chassis to improve looks, durability, and crawler performance.

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SPECIFICATIONS:
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Warthog Comp $189.99
Designed Wheelbase: 12.5"
Material 3/16" tube steel 1/8" solid steel.
Weight 8 ounces
Weld: Mig
Finish: Duplex Chrome or Powdercoat.

Warthog Pro Comp $219.99
Designed Wheelbase: 12.5"
Material 3/16" Stainless steel, 1/8" solid stainless steel.
Weight: 6.5 ounces
Weld: Tig
Finish: Hand Polished to perfection.

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SOURCES: HBZ - Hard Bodyz - www.HBZUSA.com