Hopping Up The RC4WD TF2 LWB – PART 2

Easily one of the biggest changes you can make to any vehicle is new wheels and tires. In our upgrade series for the RC4WD TF2 LWB we decided to switch out the stock kicks for high-end upgrades.

As we are keeping our TF2 a 1.55 machine, we went with Ballistic Offroad Anvil 1.55″ Beadlock Wheels and Mickey Thompson Baja Claw TTC Scale Tires. The wheels are absolutely little works of art, while the tires are in a completely different league than the stockers.

First a word on the wheels, they are an officially licensed product and RC4WD went above and beyond to make sure they looked as scale as possible. They are lightweight (for aluminum units) and are incredibly beefy.

The Micky Thompson tires are also officially licensed and incredibly scale accurate with their look. Better still, they are a lot taller and softer than the stock tires, thus instantly giving our rig much more trail capability.

The install on our TF2 was incredibly easy. Removal of the stock wheels is as simple as taking off 4 nuts. Now, the aluminum beadlock wheels do take some time to put tires on, but the entire process still took us less than an hour. The wheels use 6 bolts on the back to secure the tire and there were 8 small bolts that secure the wheel nut cover. RC4WD supplies a small adapter along with the wheels that is used on the wheel nut covers and our install could not have gone any easier.

After installing the new wheels & tires we found that the new Mickey’s are so much taller than the stock units that we’ll need to cut out the wheel wells and perhaps do a bit of a body lift. However, we have also found that the new wheel/tire combo completely transforms our rig out on the trail. The new larger/stickier tires allow our TF2 LWB to easily climb obstacles that previously we had no chance of getting over. The Mickey Thompson tires do an amazing job on slick rocks, but where they really impress is when slushing through the mud. Their chevron styled tread pattern loves to chew through mud and we’ve found that they also clean out well when given a shot of throttle. The uber soft X2 SS rubber compound also yields loads of grip on grass and over tree roots and small branches.

Our install of the new wheels and tires has transformed our truck in both the looks and performance department. Their extra size has also created the need to do more modifications which we will address in the coming weeks. Until then you can hit up This Link to read more RC4WD news right here on BigSquidRC.