Proline Tuber Chassis

Although the Proline Tuber Chassis (PTC) was somewhat of a pain in the rear-end to get set up, I must say that I have been thoroughly impressed with it. I have now used it for over a month and have the following to report:

The PTC is made of a durable black plastic, which can be painted to the color you desire. It is nothing more than a roll cage style body, but can be fitted with plastic add-ons to make it more suited to your style. Personally, I like the roll cage look and therefore left it as it came out of the box. However, I am sure that I will eventually add on the accessories to make it look more like an actual crawler.

The PTC was a lot heavier than the standard plastic shell that came with my Axial AX10 Scorpion. This was not too big of a deal, but initially I had to deal with tremendous twisting resulting from motor torque. This was an easy fix. I simply put stiffer springs on my shocks. It may sound strange to some people, but I found that putting a super firm spring on the rear driver’s side shock and leaving the rest of the shocks with super soft springs worked really well for me.

While crawling, my Axial took numerous rolls and falls. Although the PTC suffered some scratching, I am happy to say that it did not break. I am also pleased to report that my battery pack, my electronic speed control (ESC), and my receiver all stayed firmly in place, I never did have to readjust them after a tumble. Also, the scratches that the PTC sustained were hardly noticeable since the black plastic is the same color all the way through.

The only drawback that I have found with the PTC was having to take it off when I switched out my Axial ESC and Axial 27-Turn electric motor with the Tekin FXR ESC, and the Tekin 55-Turn motor. When I took the PTC off of the Axial chassis, I had to undo screws, remove my battery pack, undo and remove my ESC and unplug my steering servo from my receiver.

In short, I am very pleased with the PTC. I believe that it is a great body for those weekend warriors who don’t do much with their crawler other than drive it. It is also great for those who are looking for a durable body that can take a brutal beating and keep on looking good. However, for those who are competing and may need to make frequent or quick repairs, or for those who constantly enjoy tweaking their crawlers, I would go with something a bit less permanent, i.e. something that allows easy access to the crawler’s other parts.

Juice