Pro-Line Ultimate Crawler Tire Shootout
Ultimate Pro Line Crawler Tire Shootout
By Tony Arnold, Pete Bach, & Scott Hughes
Pro Line is never late to a party. For rock crawlers they haven't arrived empty handed; intro after intro of bodies, accessories, and tires. To be exact five 2.2 crawler tires, two compounds, and your choice of standard or memory foam inserts for a whopping twenty possible tire, compound, and foam combinations. I have partnered with Scott Hughes and the infamous Pete Bach (AKA Dirk Digler) of Team Pro Line to present one of the most comprehensive tests completed on crawler tires with results that surprised all.
TESTING
We each set up repeatable courses with ProLine's Gate Markers to assure fair testing. Pete and Scott tested only with AX10 based crawlers and Pro-Line beadlocks to ensure controlled testing. My testing ran tires through various entry-level, comp, and scale rigs and with various beadlocks for an overall performance and weight perspective. We ran a variety of surfaces including lime and sand stone, riverbed rocks, dirt, granite, and loose clay type rock, under all situations - dry, muddy, and wet. Pete tested on Colorado's big rocks, Scott in riverbeds, and me on loose midwestern limestone rock. We each ranked tires from 1-10 on various criteria with our scores averaged and totaled for a final score.
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The Hammer is designed to be universal competition all terrain tires with alternating outer solid lugs and recessed lugs allow for different lug flexing characteristics. The design goal was to allow the tire to continually grab and re-grab for traction while the center lugs assure side hilling traction. The finely detailed sidewall tread is intended to navigate tight spots. | ||
PETE BACH (BIG ROCK) | TONY ARNOLD (LOOSE ROCK) | SCOTT HUGHES (RIVERBEDS) |
The slower the tire turns, the better traction achieved. The alternating shoulders navigating over obstacles with a throttle blip. Steep climbs and side hilling instilled confidence with little tire spin. An all around performer without a noticeable weak point. | The M2 worked well, but the M3 compound hooked up better, even with similar weight. Very good performer at everything. Alien rover non-scale look didn't do it for me but will look good with the Helios body. Performed well with all beadlocks and rigs. | Its' slower wheel speed comp focused tire benefits greatly from "open" lug design excelling as long as you stay off the throttle. In M3, definitely my favorite tire with memory foams. We designed this tire to be one of the best bolt on upgrades for any 2.2 rock crawler. |
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Modeled after Pro-Line's popular Badlands motocross tire design, these are thin and up to a 1/4" taller than other crawler tires and give extra clearance. | ||
PETE BACH (BIG ROCK) | TONY ARNOLD (LOOSE ROCK) | SCOTT HUGHES (RIVERBEDS) |
King of Side Hilling. None of us wanted to remove these tires! Not only do they side hill better than any tire we've tried, they climb with little effort. On the throttle, hitting it hard or crawling at extra low rpm's, these tires simply grab anything we threw at them. The Badlands excelled on loose tracks even with wheel speed. Traction reduces as the throttle opens. | Badlands walked all over other tires tested. Pick a line, any line, and go. Straight tracking, great traction and in M3 compound can load with mud and still crawl. These increased performance in every rig they were bolted to, but performed better with narrower beadlocks and memory foams. These just rocked. They dug in on everything with excellent traction. | So we got lucky with converting an existing tread pattern into a 2.2 design. The Badlands in both M2 and M3 turned out to be killer crawler tires. The Badlands are not go-slow tires like the hammer, but it does loose considerable traction as you open the throttle. I noticed that Badlands were less sensitive to the amount of weight applied. |
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The Moab's were the first real competition 2.2 tire and are still a staple at competitions around the country. The scores however might not reflect how well these tires actually work in loose, wet or muddy tracks. | ||
PETE BACH (BIG ROCK) | TONY ARNOLD (LOOSE ROCK) | SCOTT HUGHES (RIVERBEDS) |
M3s in sandy, loose, wet, muddy, and dirty courses show performance on par with newer tires. Unlike the other tread patterns, the braced Moab tread pattern takes advantage of the M3 compound and remains a good large flat rock tire, but didn't fair as well on dry rock. | Skip the M2s for crawling. Stick M3s with memory foams on a muddy or wet course and these are still killer. The Moab's don't mind wheel speed and make a great rock racer tire that grips and blasts over rocks. Run light or heavy. Still a favorite sandy course tire. Liked narrow beadlocks best. Looks scale. | The Moab's remain a great success both in and outside of the crawler market. The round design leads to less tip overs, however on dry flat rock sections they struggle for traction. Still a popular tire for jagged sharp edged courses that are encased in mud or wet and muddy riverbeds. |
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The ever-popular Masher 2000 M2 tire was developed before RC crawling took off and is still a comp tire of choice, especially in wet and muddy conditions. | ||
PETE BACH (BIG ROCK) | TONY ARNOLD (LOOSE ROCK) | SCOTT HUGHES (RIVERBEDS) |
With the tires mounted backwards the M2Ks easily scaled large ledges and huge jagged boulders, but were weak side hill performers. The very large voids and long traction lug bars help clear mud, rocks and other debris better than any other Proline tire on the market. | Need clearance? This is your tire. Thin beadlocks like Pro-Line's netted better performance. Actually side hilled & crawled better on the loose course than everything except Badlands or M3 Hammers. Some things are so good they become classics like M2Ks. Best setup was with only rears reversed with stock foams. | Yep they are still great despite the ratings it received. I am stunned how many competitors still do well with Masher 2000s. The pattern has worked for almost a decade. Mount them backwards (with the V pointed toward the back) or forwards for different traction and go. Little or a lot of weight and these still perform great. |
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Modeled after 1:1 Jeep Rock Crawler tires, is the most controversial performer of our test. We agreed that nothing could top the Flatiron once throttle was applied. The tread is super flat, even when mounted on a narrow wheel and the tire tracked perfectly straight. The kerfs (molded sipes) in the tread blocks aid in their side hill ability on slick rock and keep the tire stable on the tread surface. | ||
PETE BACH (BIG ROCK) | TONY ARNOLD (LOOSE ROCK) | SCOTT HUGHES (RIVERBEDS) |
The slick rock champion! The huge squared off shoulders, sidewall lugs, and short center lugs minimize LFO, pick up traction and keep the tire stable and moving in the right direction. Even with M3 compound LFO was not an issue. When these lugs bite, they bite hard and do not let go. The voids and long tread blocks are large enough to get the truck over all ledges. | Damn sexy scale look however on my loose course the Flatirons were useless. M3s are required for moist soil to avoid tread loading. Pegging the throttle delivered results. A killer rock racer tire. Shorter height reduces clearance. Moving to large non-shedding dry rocks, these tires shined when mounted on narrow beadlocks. M3 performed best in any condition for me. | Keep them soaking wet or dry and they perform great. Why the vast difference between the other two nut jobs? The tire was designed for use on flat rocks, Tony's course was super loose where the Flatirons are at their worst. The tire has a lower height and therefore a lower CG that makes it superior on the steep ascents. M3s are an excellent wet river running scale tire. |
The Winner Is...
Is there one tire to rule the crawler world? Nope. Each delivered different results on different terrain. Changing drivers, moisture, or terrain made an impact on performance. Believe me, animated discussions ensued over the ranks. We each liked a different tire best. Pete was in love with the Flatirons for his big rocks. The Badlands were unstoppable on my loose, flaky, clay courses. Though different compounds and tires would get the most from each course, we all agreed with Scott that the Hammers in either M2 or M3 depending on the course with memory foams up front and stock foams in the rear was the best overall combo.
A good tuning rule is the more weight and softer the compound the firmer the foams should be. The softer compound tires excelled in loose, wet, or damp environments, cleaned out the tread better, and seemed to come ready to run. The harder M2 compound tires worked better and better with each use and increased traction as weight increased. M2 compounds overall faired better from a tread wear perspective with thicker lugged treads like Mashers or Flatirons delivering the least tread wear.
Even though the Badlands were the points winner, we proclaimed the Hammer the overall winner simply because it combined all the good points of the tires into one incredibly, predictable user-friendly tire that won't require changing tires for each course. See you on the rocks... hopefully with a new set of Pro-Line tires.
| Hammer M2 | Hammer M3 | Badlands M2 | Badlands M3 | Moab M2 | Moab M3 | Masher 2K M3 | Flatirons M2 | Flatirons M3 | ||
| Size (sidewall) | 4.93 x 2.25 | 4.93 x 2.25 | 5.06 x 2.07 | 5.06 x 2.07 | 4.95 x 2.17 | 4.95 x 2.17 | 4.97 x 2.40 | 4.84 x 2.14 | 4.84 x 2.14 | |
| PETE BACH | Climbing | 9 | 8 | 9 | 8 | 5 | 6 | 8 | 9 | 8 |
| WET/DRY | Sidehilling | 9 | 8 | 10 | 9 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 9 | 8 |
| SLICK ROCK | Wheel speed | 8 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 10 | 9 |
| Crawl speed | 9 | 8 | 9 | 8 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 8 | |
| Overall Traction | 9 | 8 | 9 | 8 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 9 | 8 | |
| TONY ARNOLD | Climbing | 7 | 9 | 9 | 10 | 5 | 6 | 8 | 5 | 6 |
| LOOSE - WET/DRY | Sidehilling | 7 | 9 | 9 | 10 | 5 | 6 | 8 | 5 | 7 |
| LIMESTONE/CLAY | Wheel speed | 7 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 6 | 6 | 8 | 10 | 10 |
| Crawl speed | 8 | 9 | 8 | 9 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 8 | 8 | |
| Overall Traction | 7 | 9 | 9 | 10 | 5 | 6 | 8 | 5 | 6 | |
| SCOTT HUGHES | Climbing | 7 | 9 | 6 | 8 | 5 | 8 | 8 | 7 | 9 |
| WET/DRY | Sidehilling | 8 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 5 | 6 | 8 | 8 | 9 |
| RIVER ROCK | Wheel speed | 7 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 |
| Crawl speed | 9 | 8 | 9 | 8 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 8 | |
| Overall Traction | 8 | 9 | 8 | 9 | 5 | 8 | 7 | 8 | 8 | |
| GROUP | Ease of use | 10 | 5 | 10 | 7 | 10 | 9 | 8 | 10 | 9 |
| Tread Wear | 8 | 6 | 7 | 6 | 9 | 8 | 9 | 9 | 8 | |
| Cool Factor | 8 | 8 | 9 | 9 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 10 | 10 | |
| Avg. Score | 8 | 8 | 9 | 8 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 8 | |
| Overall Score | 145 | 144 | 154 | 152 | 104 | 119 | 136 | 147 | 149 |
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