biggusditchus
30-04-2008, 03:58 PM
Proline now offer a beadlock wheel for the 2.2 class (30 series) called the 8 Shooters in either chrome with silver beadlocks, chrome with black beadlocks or black with black beadlocks, the Proline USA logo is embossed into each beadlock. As with most wheels they are sold in pairs and have a very reasonable recommended retail price (rrp) of £18.99. The 12mm hex fitment makes them suitable for most if not all crawlers/trucks in this class i.e. Axial Scorpion, Tamiya TLT, Tamiya Highlift, the list could go on, the blurb on the package say they have a .20” offset but more on this later. In design they are quite aesthetically pleasing with some nice little touches, simulated wheel nuts, 8 holes about the outer edge etc. Turning to the back of the wheel the hex has a good thick outer wall which should be strong enough to withstand the pressures put on them by rock crawling, but only extended testing will prove this, there are also 8 large webs to provide further stability to wheels and eliminate flex.
My first impressions of this wheel were how heavy they feel each one weighs a little over 50g, at first glance they appear plastic but infact the wheels are a durable nylon and taking the rings off shed some light on the added weight showing they are in fact metal (cast aluminium). The hardware for bolting up the rings are m2 hex head bolts which when tightened up are recessed into the ring which is ideal (No more hanging up) , I personally would have preferred the bolts to be m3 as I initially had concerns that they wouldn’t be able to tighten up sufficiently to hold tyres securely without stripping, I was later to find this was not the case. The 8 shooters are also a very narrow wheel, 1.2” wide (Proline advertise them as the narrowest on the market), which will allow the tyres to do their job more effectively, it also saves us the time and effort narrowing wheels ourselves a job I hate. Should you wish to add weight there is a 1.8” inner diameter which will allow for plenty of weight to be added by either sticking weights or wrapping lead around. It was a pity to note that no air hole was drilled into these wheels, but it doesn’t take a minute to drill them yourself.
When it came to fitting the tyres to the rim it was generally a simple task, just need to take time and care to ensure the tyres bead is clamped securely. I would recommend using a good quality 2mm hex driver and don’t try to overtighten each bolt as they just need to be “nipped up” snugly (Once all bolts are in place I advise going round the wheel once or twice again just to ensure that all bolts are all secure). I tested them by pulling the tyre away from beadlock and they held fast.
I fitted the wheels to my crawler (a modified TLT) and they proved to be a good fit, tight in the hexes with no apparent slop, the hole in centre is large which some buyers will appreciate as I know some TLTs running CVD’s will need this, no doubt other trucks need this too. Going back to first paragraph I mentioned the .20” offset which I have to admit didn’t mean a great deal to me, but looking at the hex it is almost in centre of wheel, when fitted to my truck which has INET wideners the overall track width was a little over 11 inch, (with my Junfac wheels the track was 12inch) this I was happy with as I have felt at 12 inch my crawler was a little wide!
As fitted to my TLT crawler (Bigg Ugly), also note Proline Badland Tyres and Proline gate markers to be reviewed shortly
Taking the truck for a run at Black Rocks under some extreme conditions, with massive tyre deformation at no point did they pull away from beadlocks also with usage of the dig the hexes held fast (I have had problems with other wheels where drive hex rotated in wheel)
As you can see plenty of deformation, but tyre still held by beadlock
Testing was brought to a sudden halt with a servo failing, appeared to have a heavy smoking habit! But further testing will be done on these wheels and results posted here.
In brief I am very happy with the wheels, they look great and work well. What more can we ask for. They are distributed by CML distribution (www.cmldistribution.co.uk) and can be purchased from most model and hobby shops.
Part numbers of available Proline 8 Shooter Beadlocks..
PL2698-02 Chrome/Silver
PL2698-03 Chrome/Black
PL2698-05 Black/Black
My first impressions of this wheel were how heavy they feel each one weighs a little over 50g, at first glance they appear plastic but infact the wheels are a durable nylon and taking the rings off shed some light on the added weight showing they are in fact metal (cast aluminium). The hardware for bolting up the rings are m2 hex head bolts which when tightened up are recessed into the ring which is ideal (No more hanging up) , I personally would have preferred the bolts to be m3 as I initially had concerns that they wouldn’t be able to tighten up sufficiently to hold tyres securely without stripping, I was later to find this was not the case. The 8 shooters are also a very narrow wheel, 1.2” wide (Proline advertise them as the narrowest on the market), which will allow the tyres to do their job more effectively, it also saves us the time and effort narrowing wheels ourselves a job I hate. Should you wish to add weight there is a 1.8” inner diameter which will allow for plenty of weight to be added by either sticking weights or wrapping lead around. It was a pity to note that no air hole was drilled into these wheels, but it doesn’t take a minute to drill them yourself.
When it came to fitting the tyres to the rim it was generally a simple task, just need to take time and care to ensure the tyres bead is clamped securely. I would recommend using a good quality 2mm hex driver and don’t try to overtighten each bolt as they just need to be “nipped up” snugly (Once all bolts are in place I advise going round the wheel once or twice again just to ensure that all bolts are all secure). I tested them by pulling the tyre away from beadlock and they held fast.
I fitted the wheels to my crawler (a modified TLT) and they proved to be a good fit, tight in the hexes with no apparent slop, the hole in centre is large which some buyers will appreciate as I know some TLTs running CVD’s will need this, no doubt other trucks need this too. Going back to first paragraph I mentioned the .20” offset which I have to admit didn’t mean a great deal to me, but looking at the hex it is almost in centre of wheel, when fitted to my truck which has INET wideners the overall track width was a little over 11 inch, (with my Junfac wheels the track was 12inch) this I was happy with as I have felt at 12 inch my crawler was a little wide!
As fitted to my TLT crawler (Bigg Ugly), also note Proline Badland Tyres and Proline gate markers to be reviewed shortly
Taking the truck for a run at Black Rocks under some extreme conditions, with massive tyre deformation at no point did they pull away from beadlocks also with usage of the dig the hexes held fast (I have had problems with other wheels where drive hex rotated in wheel)
As you can see plenty of deformation, but tyre still held by beadlock
Testing was brought to a sudden halt with a servo failing, appeared to have a heavy smoking habit! But further testing will be done on these wheels and results posted here.
In brief I am very happy with the wheels, they look great and work well. What more can we ask for. They are distributed by CML distribution (www.cmldistribution.co.uk) and can be purchased from most model and hobby shops.
Part numbers of available Proline 8 Shooter Beadlocks..
PL2698-02 Chrome/Silver
PL2698-03 Chrome/Black
PL2698-05 Black/Black