› Pro-line Brute Bash Armor Body for Traxxas X-maxx
Just try to break it—i dare ya
Pro-line has been making RC bodies since the ’80s, and the company is known for producing some of the best in the business. It makes race bodies that not only look good but also enhance the performance of the vehicle. Pro-line is also knocking it out of the park when it comes to scale. Its bodies are made out of polycarbonate, which is lightweight and works great for most vehicles. When it comes to bashing, however, they can wear out if you’re extra hard on your vehicle and crash a lot. Let’s face it—bodies aren’t cheap, and having to replace them can put a dent in your wallet. With this in mind, Pro-line has developed a new material for extra-strong RC bodies: Brute Bash Armor. At the time of this review, there’s a body for the Traxxas X-maxx, Pro-line PRO-MT 4X4, and Traxxas Stampede 4X4 as well as for the 2WD and 4WD versions of the Traxxas Slash. I was able to get my hands on the Traxxas X-maxx version, and I can’t wait to tell you all about it.
FEATURES
Pro-line is keeping the type of plastic(s) Brute Bash Armor is made from under wraps, but the material is vacuum-formed, just like Pro-line does with its polycarbonate bodies. The material is twice as thick as other X-maxx bodies, and Pro-line trims it for you, which is a great
thing because cutting material that thick on a body this large would take a toll on your hands and scissors. White is the only color offered, and the body cannot be painted, according to Pro-line. A full sheet of decals with bed graphics is included to dress it up.
ASSEMBLY
Applying the stickers takes a while to do because they are rather large and there’s a lot of cutting to do to get them from the sticker sheet to the body, but like all Pro-line stickers they conform well to the various surfaces. The body accepts the X-maxx’s quick-release mounting system, but I had to enlarge the body’s screw holes and flex the plastic parts a bit to install the parts on my preproduction body. Pro-line says the production bodies’ screw holes and cutouts have been revised for a direct fit.
TESTING
The Brute body is crisply molded and precisely trimmed, with a smooth finish. It’s also noticeably heavier than the stock polycarbonate body. The Brute weights 23.4 ounces, which is 10.3 ounces more than the original. That’s a significant amount of additional weight, but I didn’t notice any performance difference with the heavier-than-stock body in place. The 8S X-maxx is so over-the-top powerful that the extra 10 ounces didn’t seem to matter. Rollovers and impacts (including intentional roof drops onto pavement) scuffed the body as expected,
but the Bash Armor material didn’t dent, crack, tear, or deform (at least not permanently—it will certainly flex, but it returns to shape).
FINAL WORD
I like the direction that Pro-line is going with the new line of Brute Bash Armor bodies. There are a lot of hard-core bashers out there, and this body is sure to hold up to the abuse that they will give it. The Brute Bash Armor bodies are expensive, but the price has to be weighed against the cost of polycarbonate bodies you won’t need to replace. In the case of the X-maxx, the Brute body is only $20 more than the stock Traxxas shell. The Brute Bash Armor body pays for itself as soon as it saves you from buying one more replacement body, and it may save you from buying another body ever. Viewed in that light, it will actually save you money.—kevin Hetmanski
SOURCE
Pro-line prolineracing.com