So I've seen lots of threads on individual tires, and most of them have some good real world info on the tires if you dig through them (especially towards the end of most threads), but I haven't found a good thread for just user reviews. So I figured I'd start one "thumbsup"
Please feel free to add your tire reviews, but be sure to list your terrains and at least a Highlight of the truck they were run on.
I'm going to try and format mine to include the truck they were on, type of terrain ran on, foams used, etc. to try and get as much real world tire information as possible. Everything comes down to user opinions and setup in the end, but at least seeing some information should help.
All of my tires were run on the same basic terrains, I live in Northern Wv, so we have mostly dirt trails, with plenty of roots and a good bit of wet (smooth) river rock and creek crossings. I try to avoid mud (not always successful), and I love finding real dry rock on occasion. I try and drive a technical line and crawl obstacles instead of just bashing up them as well. The guys I run with have had plenty of different tires to compare with, from 1.9's to cut 2.2's, on a lot of different truck setups.
SO, first tire I'm writing on was an rc4wd Compass 1.9.
DSC_0019 by Kolben Hillbery, on Flickr
I ran these multiple times with a few different foam setups, and have them pretty well worn out at this point. They were originally on a mostly stock scx, and the truck grew around the tires to a backhalfed truggy on built axles, then back to a 9-10lb "scale" truck. They seemed to find a way to work on every setup I ran. I also ran these longer than any other tire, so I have the most experience with them and tend to use them as a baseline.
The tires themselves are my favorite compound (rc4wd x2ss) and are a big win in the looks category for me (toyo mtr reps). They are a bit oversized with certain bodys though. The stock foams aren't much to speak for, but they come alive with Crawler innovations Lil novas. I had 2 sets of lil novas and one set of Deuces Wilds through them (depending on truck weight).
As far as good and bad terrain, the compasses are a pretty versatile tire. They aren't super aggressive, so mud and sand aren't the best (they hang in there in mud, I ran them in a sandstone canyon once and the fine dust from it combined with mud and water plugged them fast, though even clogged up they do better than expected). On rock they do fantastic, running up there with Pitbulls in my experience. Loose dirt they also do pretty well, but wheelspeed is usually a plus. Packed dirt and roots the grab and go.
They also seem to do about the same wet or dry ( my truck sees a fair bit of water and the compasses always seemed to hang).
I'd recommend Compasses to anyone looking for a reasonably tall all-purpose 1.9 tire, though I'd definitely recommend a foam upgrade with them.
The second tire I'm writing on are rc4wd Mickey thompson TTC claw 1.9"s.
DSC_0204 by Kolben Hillbery, on Flickr
I ran these on a lexan bodied full frame truck and my truggy build, with stock foams and one set of lil novas (prefer the novas). They also look great, and are 4.75" tall like the compasses. The ttc's are x2ss compound as well, and work pretty well in just about every situation I've used them in.
The ttc's really seem to shine as a do-all trail tire, and take to mud a lot better than the compasses. They do take some wheel speed to clean out, and will plug pretty quickly in loose dirt or tacky mud (they clean out quickly). On rock they work well, the soft compound seems to grab well and the lugs grab ahold of edges. They grab well on roots and sticks (typical trail obstacles). The biggest problem I had with the Ttc's is wear, the small lugs (especially the outers) were deteriorating quickly when I had them on my truck.
The ttc's also work well in the wet, and gave no real issues running creeks or mud.
These also fit the recommendation for a tall and reasonably scale 1.9 tire that works well in most situations, but as usual with rc4wd recommend a foam upgrade.
Tire #3 on the list is a pitbull madbeast 1.9.
20150622_181924 by Kolben Hillbery, on Flickr
I only ran this on my hardbody truck, and never ran the stock foams. I had lil novas in them that were probably too stiff, and traded them off to a friend afterwards who did a foam change and cut them. (He's had much better luck with them). I can say the compound on them is great, dismounted you can squeeze them and the insides of the tire stick to eachother, and they're difficult to pull out of bags when new.
The pitts seem to really shine on dry rocks, they seem to grab just about any edge or ledge you get them in contact with.
On dirt they do alright, not as well as my rc4wd tires did though. Loose dirt they tend to plug quickly and are hard to clean out, and mud they really don't do well at all (not aggressive enough).
I think these are a great looking tire, a bit smaller and skinnier than I had been used to up at that point (4.65x1.6), that benefit from the CORRECT foams (lesson learned) and work awesome in a dry rock environment. They can be cut to work well in looser terrain but I'm not a huge fan of having to cut a tire to make them work.
The final tire on my list is the 1.9 Rc4wd Gladiator.
DSC_0024 by Kolben Hillbery, on Flickr
I went with the gladiators because I wanted a similar look and performance to the compass, but in a slightly shorter package (4.57x1.75). The look is awesome (nitto trail grappler reps), and are (imo) the best looking tire I've run. I run them with 4.50 lil novas (seem to be a great match for the tire on my setup).
On dirt the tires are very comparable to the compasses, the tread pattern is somewhat close so they plug easily, but even plugged they work very well, and they clean out without too much effort. Wheelspeed helps with looser dirt, but on packed dirt and roots they grab very well. They excel on rock, both smooth and rough. They do decently in mud for a scale looking tire, but they're no mud bashers haha.
Getting wet also doesn't seem to have a negative effect on them, and they do fine with creek rock.
The gladiators are a definite recommendation for a mid-height and wide 1.9 all purpose trail tire with an awesome scale look. I'd definitely recommend a foam upgrade with these as well.
Please feel free to add your tire reviews, but be sure to list your terrains and at least a Highlight of the truck they were run on.
I'm going to try and format mine to include the truck they were on, type of terrain ran on, foams used, etc. to try and get as much real world tire information as possible. Everything comes down to user opinions and setup in the end, but at least seeing some information should help.
All of my tires were run on the same basic terrains, I live in Northern Wv, so we have mostly dirt trails, with plenty of roots and a good bit of wet (smooth) river rock and creek crossings. I try to avoid mud (not always successful), and I love finding real dry rock on occasion. I try and drive a technical line and crawl obstacles instead of just bashing up them as well. The guys I run with have had plenty of different tires to compare with, from 1.9's to cut 2.2's, on a lot of different truck setups.
SO, first tire I'm writing on was an rc4wd Compass 1.9.
DSC_0019 by Kolben Hillbery, on FlickrI ran these multiple times with a few different foam setups, and have them pretty well worn out at this point. They were originally on a mostly stock scx, and the truck grew around the tires to a backhalfed truggy on built axles, then back to a 9-10lb "scale" truck. They seemed to find a way to work on every setup I ran. I also ran these longer than any other tire, so I have the most experience with them and tend to use them as a baseline.
The tires themselves are my favorite compound (rc4wd x2ss) and are a big win in the looks category for me (toyo mtr reps). They are a bit oversized with certain bodys though. The stock foams aren't much to speak for, but they come alive with Crawler innovations Lil novas. I had 2 sets of lil novas and one set of Deuces Wilds through them (depending on truck weight).
As far as good and bad terrain, the compasses are a pretty versatile tire. They aren't super aggressive, so mud and sand aren't the best (they hang in there in mud, I ran them in a sandstone canyon once and the fine dust from it combined with mud and water plugged them fast, though even clogged up they do better than expected). On rock they do fantastic, running up there with Pitbulls in my experience. Loose dirt they also do pretty well, but wheelspeed is usually a plus. Packed dirt and roots the grab and go.
They also seem to do about the same wet or dry ( my truck sees a fair bit of water and the compasses always seemed to hang).
I'd recommend Compasses to anyone looking for a reasonably tall all-purpose 1.9 tire, though I'd definitely recommend a foam upgrade with them.
The second tire I'm writing on are rc4wd Mickey thompson TTC claw 1.9"s.
DSC_0204 by Kolben Hillbery, on FlickrI ran these on a lexan bodied full frame truck and my truggy build, with stock foams and one set of lil novas (prefer the novas). They also look great, and are 4.75" tall like the compasses. The ttc's are x2ss compound as well, and work pretty well in just about every situation I've used them in.
The ttc's really seem to shine as a do-all trail tire, and take to mud a lot better than the compasses. They do take some wheel speed to clean out, and will plug pretty quickly in loose dirt or tacky mud (they clean out quickly). On rock they work well, the soft compound seems to grab well and the lugs grab ahold of edges. They grab well on roots and sticks (typical trail obstacles). The biggest problem I had with the Ttc's is wear, the small lugs (especially the outers) were deteriorating quickly when I had them on my truck.
The ttc's also work well in the wet, and gave no real issues running creeks or mud.
These also fit the recommendation for a tall and reasonably scale 1.9 tire that works well in most situations, but as usual with rc4wd recommend a foam upgrade.
Tire #3 on the list is a pitbull madbeast 1.9.
20150622_181924 by Kolben Hillbery, on FlickrI only ran this on my hardbody truck, and never ran the stock foams. I had lil novas in them that were probably too stiff, and traded them off to a friend afterwards who did a foam change and cut them. (He's had much better luck with them). I can say the compound on them is great, dismounted you can squeeze them and the insides of the tire stick to eachother, and they're difficult to pull out of bags when new.
The pitts seem to really shine on dry rocks, they seem to grab just about any edge or ledge you get them in contact with.
On dirt they do alright, not as well as my rc4wd tires did though. Loose dirt they tend to plug quickly and are hard to clean out, and mud they really don't do well at all (not aggressive enough).
I think these are a great looking tire, a bit smaller and skinnier than I had been used to up at that point (4.65x1.6), that benefit from the CORRECT foams (lesson learned) and work awesome in a dry rock environment. They can be cut to work well in looser terrain but I'm not a huge fan of having to cut a tire to make them work.
The final tire on my list is the 1.9 Rc4wd Gladiator.
DSC_0024 by Kolben Hillbery, on FlickrI went with the gladiators because I wanted a similar look and performance to the compass, but in a slightly shorter package (4.57x1.75). The look is awesome (nitto trail grappler reps), and are (imo) the best looking tire I've run. I run them with 4.50 lil novas (seem to be a great match for the tire on my setup).
On dirt the tires are very comparable to the compasses, the tread pattern is somewhat close so they plug easily, but even plugged they work very well, and they clean out without too much effort. Wheelspeed helps with looser dirt, but on packed dirt and roots they grab very well. They excel on rock, both smooth and rough. They do decently in mud for a scale looking tire, but they're no mud bashers haha.
Getting wet also doesn't seem to have a negative effect on them, and they do fine with creek rock.
The gladiators are a definite recommendation for a mid-height and wide 1.9 all purpose trail tire with an awesome scale look. I'd definitely recommend a foam upgrade with these as well.
