Joe that sounds like an awesome resource- thanks for putting that together.
Depending on what you mean by Monster Truck chassis- scale or racing, txt or clodbuster or axial. I can at least get this thread started with my ideas
What's cool with this part of the hobby you can go as small or big as you want.
For race clods:
Crawford Performance Engineering (CPE) http://www.crawfordperformanceengineering.com/index.php offers a good competitive race chassis for the clodbuster with the Terminator and Predator Chassis. Brett has second-to-none customer service and really is a one-stop-shop for all things clodbuster from mild modification to full blown race chassis; wheels tires esc servos steering links you name it... I totally dig what he just came up with:
http://www.crawfordperformanceengineering.com/product_info.php?products_id=558 The ABC's of how to build a modified clodbuster. In addition to catering to the clodbuster side of things- Brett really introduced the world of Redcat's Ground Pounder- an entry level monstertruck to the market. The chassis plates from these little babies have been used as a cool way to make more realistic type M/T chassis. If you do a search on here using some of terms mentioned above you can find some great inspiring builds.
Here is a couple pictures of my trucks with Brett's chassis the terminator and predator:
Zyck Racing Products (ZRP), Jon is a current racer that has used his experience and ingenuity to create a very competitive race chassis, the ZRP Diablo. Best way to get a hold of him is PM here "Zyck2k" or emailing him directly at
[email protected]. Jon is a huge support to the racing community and is always available to help out a fellow racer.
Here is a couple pictures of my trucks with Jon's chassis the Diablo
Of course you can still find ESP zillas chassis on ebay and I heard people contacting the company directly to purchase. Seems like everyone has built and had one of these.
Other companies and their chassis are still floating around on Ebay or on B/S/T of forums like this. However, finding real-time support for them are harder and harder to find- doable but not like CPE and ZRP continually offer. Brad from Thunder Tech still floats around and does what he can, and all my emails I have sent to Ben from PRP get returned... they just have parts that are not being produced anymore for commercial quantity.
As far as scale realism, our very own Jamie Grund makes a great retro class chassis (4x4jamie)... check out this recent build picture below. Jamie has a true passion for all things monster truck and his chassis is a great example of his commitment. The retro class looks really cool and I can't wait to build my first truck for this class. At the races I had no clue what all was involved but at ihobby, when I saw the jumps to pulling to corn bogging-- I was hooked and look forward to spring nats.
John Boyer is still available to commission for tube work. His reputation and work really speak for themselves, you can contact him through this email
[email protected]. These just become works of art and I personally enjoy the time and attention to detail to build these.
As far as parts suppliers goes... first I suggest signing up with rcmt.net and becoming a member. Before you start blowing your life savings take some time and see what others do, what you want and then go out and pick up the stuff. After a while the privilege of being a member gains you access to the B/S/T which presents some great deals. Brett really has created a great shopping experience at crawfordperformanceengineering.com.
http://store.rc4wd.com/ has done a great job with creating a scale looking competitive Monster/Truck tire- the rumble (plus other misc items- like other tires, driveshafts, wheels, shock mounts ect...). It was good news to hear that imex is still producing bajas and pullers for clodbuster wheels. Ebay of course is a great resource for new and discontinued parts. Unfortunetly when is comes to tamiya products and LHS you will be well stretched to find in-stock. But places like towerhobbies, amainhobbies ect... are a good place to go.
Hope that helps grease the wheels for this thread, I am sure others will chime in. If you have any questions or want to know my preferences I can answer what I can just PM me.
