Dlux fab goat 2.2" Competition crawler tire
2.2" Capra with Dlux Fab Goat Tires
|
If you’re serious about rock crawling, then it's likely you already own some of Dlux Fab’s products or have at least read about them online.
As the purveyors of premium crawling products geared towards competition, Dlux Fab is known for custom crawlers, axles, transmissions, and for the focus of this review; tires. In Dlux’s lineup of tires, their flagship offerings is the 2.2” Goat crawling tire. Specifically designed for competition on highly technical terrain, the Goat tires are perfectly suited for our rocky desert littered with sandstone formations. The Goat's narrow width and staggered open-lug block pattern result in a distinctive look, and the rounded tire crown lends itself to scooting along rock walls with a firm grip. |
Goat tires come in three different rubber compounds: Med (Silver dot), Soft (Gold dot), and Sticky (Red Dot - Extra Soft). The idea behind three different compounds is to select the right level of softness relative to the ambient temperatures at your crawling location. The hotter the temps, the harder the rubber compound you should use.
Throwing the temperature recommendations out the window, we choose one set of Gold Dot ( soft ) compound and a second set in the Red Dot ( extra soft ) compound for this review. The goal is to see what these tires can do rather than having them last the next ten years.
Throwing the temperature recommendations out the window, we choose one set of Gold Dot ( soft ) compound and a second set in the Red Dot ( extra soft ) compound for this review. The goal is to see what these tires can do rather than having them last the next ten years.
|
Tire Inspection
Unlike most crawler tires which show up in fancy packaging, the Dlux Fab tires arrived smashed flat as pancakes and wrapped in a simple plastic bag. Goats are sold without inserts, and the rubber compound clearly marked on the side of the tire with a small color dot. The Goats dimensions are 5.75” x 1.7” with a tread pattern similar to that of the HPI Rovers or JConcepts Rupture tires, but much narrower in tire width. The beads are well-formed but soft, and the sidewalls are much thinner than other tires. I wouldn't say they are fragile, but these are not rock bouncing tires by any means. We punched three small holes in each tire for venting. |
Red Dot Compound
|
Dialing in the right amount of "squish" with the CI foams.
|
Foam Setup
Getting the right foam setup is absolutely essential for these tires to perform. The Goats are very thin and somewhat flimsy, so a high-quality two or three-stage foam is needed. Foams for this project could be a bit of a challenging, in that we weren’t sure of 5.5” or 6.0” diameter foams from Crawler Innovations were the right choice. Talking with Matt over at Dlux, he said they run the 6.0” CI narrow foams almost exclusively, but a little experimentation with narrow 5.5” might yield some interesting results, especially on lighter builds. Installing the foams and tires onto the beadlocks was relatively simple, but you do need to keep an eye on the tire’s bead or it will slip off the wheel when tightening the screws. |
After months of working with the 5.5” foams, we decided to swap them out for 6.0” foams to see if there was a difference, and indeed there was. Typically, the 6.0” size is ideal for the Goats, but with both of the test crawlers running on the light-weight side of the spectrum, the 5.5" warranted the testing effort.
The performance with the 5.5" was surprisingly good, with only a few struggles on steep side-hill situations for the Capra. The Antero showed almost no difference between the two foams.
Switching to the 6.0’s, they proved to offer more control on steep lines and prevented the tires from squirming on the steep, off-camber lines. So, if you’re looking to stay with one set of foams, go with the 6.0” size from Crawler Innovations.
The performance with the 5.5" was surprisingly good, with only a few struggles on steep side-hill situations for the Capra. The Antero showed almost no difference between the two foams.
Switching to the 6.0’s, they proved to offer more control on steep lines and prevented the tires from squirming on the steep, off-camber lines. So, if you’re looking to stay with one set of foams, go with the 6.0” size from Crawler Innovations.
Wheel Setup
The Goats are much narrower tires than most 2.2” crawling variants, so picking the right wheel is important. Dlux Fab sells several wheels to choose from on their website, offering a few different options besides standard beadlock wheels. Just be sure to run a 25mm width wheel rather than the typical 35mm setup. We picked up our wheels from Ebay for less than $35.00 shipped.
The Goats are much narrower tires than most 2.2” crawling variants, so picking the right wheel is important. Dlux Fab sells several wheels to choose from on their website, offering a few different options besides standard beadlock wheels. Just be sure to run a 25mm width wheel rather than the typical 35mm setup. We picked up our wheels from Ebay for less than $35.00 shipped.
|
2.2” Axial Capra
As the first test crawler for this project, we rolled our custom 2.2” Capra crawler out from the storage rack and prepped it for the Goat evaluation. After countless hours out on the trail, the Capra had proven a solid and high-level of performance in our local terrain, excelling on steep and technical rock. For more information about this Capra, be sure to check out the crawler tabs on this website for a full description of the custom parts and detailed overview of this machine. |
Slick Sandstone at Calico Basin
|
Sticky control easing down the rock.
|
Carbon Chassis Crawler - Antero
Set up with a longer 12.8" wheelbase to match the portal axles, the Antero is our most capable 1.9” crawler in the fleet. Designed in-house, the Antero typically runs the 4.9” tall JConcepts Ruptures on a 1.9” wheel, and the performance has been stellar. Stepping up to the much taller 5.75” tall Goats will throw the ratios off a bit, but hopefully not enough to diminish performance. The Antero is significantly lighter than the Capra, with most of its weight nestled on the axles, making it a far better steep-angle and technical crawler. If there is a crawler which can push these tires, it’s the Antero. 
|
Evaluation Results - dlux fab Goat
Technical Rock: 29/30
Headed out to the worst of what Badrock Ridge had to offer, the Capra was ready to see what it could tackle with the Goats installed, and it did not disappoint. Right away the chunky terrain proved little challenge to the portal axles and 5.75” tires.
Headed out to the worst of what Badrock Ridge had to offer, the Capra was ready to see what it could tackle with the Goats installed, and it did not disappoint. Right away the chunky terrain proved little challenge to the portal axles and 5.75” tires.
|
|
With the sun warming the rocks, we attacked the base of High Line trail with confidence, racing up the side of the rock face towards the summit.
The off-camber line and steep ascent is highly challenging for most crawlers, but the Goat tires kept things under control with smooth sailing to the top. |
|
The narrow footprint of the tire grabs the rock’s edges and imperfections quite well, focusing the weight of the crawler into a specific spot.
Due to the camera angle, the trail is steeper than it looks with a blend of slick and rough stone surfaces. With a bit of patience, the Capra made it to the top. |
|
|
|
Calico Basin is a unique testing area in that the rock isn’t as technical as Badrock Ridge, but it features some heavily eroded and slick blocks of sandstone.
Calico is popular with hikers, and the foot traffic smooths off the rock’s edges and coats the rock's surfaces with a fine layer of dust. The Goat tires navigated this line carefully, working hard to keep hold of the worn sandstone. We made a number of passes for this line, making it to the top on each attempt. |
|
As the weather cooled, we swapped out the Goats from the standard Gold Dot compound to the much softer Red Dot compound.
Hitting the trail with the Red Dot Goats, we had expected these to feel like glue on the rock, but what we found was they were just a bit more sticky. |
|
I feel that reading the description on Dlux's website had us under the impression these Red Dots would be a bit of a sticky mess, and that can bring about a new set of problems where tires won't scoot by rock walls or release on turns. There is such a thing as too much traction, but for the Red Dots this wasn't the case. The Red Dots are indeed softer and a bit more sticky, but not so much different that it changes your style of crawling. We wanted to point this out in that the leap from Gold to Red compound isn't that extreme.
|
|
Back at Badrock, we attacked a few steep vertical notches, thinking they'd be too much for the Capra, but again that wasn't the case. The Capra made short work of these challenges.
Between the layout of the Capra and the performance of the Goat tires, there really wasn't anything at Badrock Ridge that the Capra couldn't handle. |
|
Running the 6.0" CI narrow foams is the way to go along with the 25mm narrow 2.2" wheel.
Here is a link to the foams you will need: LINK We did purchase all of the foams used for this project. We scored the Goat's performance as a solid 29/30 for Technical Rock. |
|
|
|
Large Slab ( Slick Rock ): 18/20
Switching over to the slick rock areas, the Goat’s performed well on a number of difficult ascents. The fine tread pattern of the Goats was able to seize hold of tiny imperfections in the rock, providing enough grip for both the Capra and Antero to scale. As you will see in the videos, some of the larger slabs will have us fishing around some for traction, but ultimately we made it to the top of every trail attempted. |
|
In this video, the Antero is attacking one of our longer technical trails composed of both slick and technical sandstone.
Interestingly, it's the slick rock on this trail section which really gives most crawlers some fits. Not surprisingly, the Antero skates it way to the top with little effort. The video is comprised of three clips stitched together. |
|
|
|
We moved over to a tricky hump of sandstone to look closely at the side-hill capability of the Goat tires. The sandstone is incredibly slick in this small section, and as you can see in the video, we needed to steer the Capra uphill to keep from sliding off.
Some of this sliding is due in part to the narrow contact patch of the Goat tire when compared to a wider crawler tire. Like any other aspect of crawler design, compromise is everywhere. |
If most of your crawling is on slick rock, I’d favor Red Dot over Gold Dot for rubber compounds. Looking over the performance on this terrain, we scored the Goats a 18/20.
Narrow 25mm wheels are best for this tire design.
|
Tire Construction Quality and Appearance: 20/20
Squishy and thin, highly detailed and somewhat delicate; there is not doubting the overall build quality of these tires. Getting the Goats setup with foams and on a set of beadlocks takes a bit more effort than thicker, heavy duty crawling tires. That said, once installed, they ooze quality and craftsmanship. Out on the trail, we pushed these tires in extreme conditions with outside temperatures frequently exceeding 110 degrees, and the Goats held up. Even though the sidewalls are thin, we did not tear or damage either pair during the extensive crawling sessions. It’s worth noting because the rounded edges of the tires make them excellent for driving into rock walls for support, running the sidewall as a kind of drag & slip kind of anchor. |
|
Rubber Compound: 20/20
There was no time during the testing where we could find any fault with either rubber compound on the Goats. The Gold Dot rubber compound was holding up better than expected, and the Red Dot handling the heat as well. During one crawling session we brought along a thermometer, curious to see just how hot the rock was. Just shy of 140 degrees, the hot rock provided more than enough heat to keep the Gold Dot tires sticky. We didn't try this with the Red Dot compound for obvious reasons. |
Toasty day out on the trail.
|
This climb challenged the traction of the Goats.
|
Tread Life: 3/5
Performance comes at a price, and after a few dozen crawls on our sandstone, the Red Dot tires were starting to feather and show signs of wear. Initially, the bit of wear improved the Goat’s traction, but as the crawl time started to add up, the edges of the tread began to fade away. The wear rate between the Red Dot and Gold Dot compound was closer than expected, so unless you’re crawling mid-day in the hot desert conditions, I’d suggest going with the Red Dot compound for maximum performance. The slight loss of tire life is offset by the maximum grip they provide. In all honesty, for a competition-grade tire, we really don’t care about tire life. For us, it’s all about performance, and the Goats deliver. |
|
Versatility: 5/5
As a highly capable rock crawling tire for both buggies and competition trail trucks, it hard to identify out terrain where the Goats didn't perform admirably. On both technical and slick rock, the Goats provided plenty of traction and control, but if we had to pick their main strength, it's on technical rock. Overall, these are worth of both all-out competition as well as cruising along your local trail system, challenging the hardest lines your RC can handle. |
The Dlux Fab Goats are a worthy addition to your tire collection.
|
Evaluation Score: 95/100 ( 95% )
Final Thoughts
The Dlux Fab 2.2” Goat tires are one of the most unique crawler tires on the 2.2” market today. The narrow width and fine tread pattern lends itself to attacking precise and technical lines found on the most challenging trails. Tailored for the competition market, the Goat tires are ideally suited for light-weight competition builds or for those looking to shame their buddies while out on the trail.
Both of our test crawlers performed at their top level with these tires, with a nod going towards the red compound and 6.0” Crawler Innovations two-stage foam. The gold-dot compound also performed well at handling the extreme rock temperatures with ease.
If you have a highly tuned crawler capable of running 2.2” tires, I can’t think of a reason to not have a set of Goats in your collection. Be sure to check out the YouTube link below for the full video collection from our testing.
Specifications
Product Links
The Dlux Fab 2.2” Goat tires are one of the most unique crawler tires on the 2.2” market today. The narrow width and fine tread pattern lends itself to attacking precise and technical lines found on the most challenging trails. Tailored for the competition market, the Goat tires are ideally suited for light-weight competition builds or for those looking to shame their buddies while out on the trail.
Both of our test crawlers performed at their top level with these tires, with a nod going towards the red compound and 6.0” Crawler Innovations two-stage foam. The gold-dot compound also performed well at handling the extreme rock temperatures with ease.
If you have a highly tuned crawler capable of running 2.2” tires, I can’t think of a reason to not have a set of Goats in your collection. Be sure to check out the YouTube link below for the full video collection from our testing.
Specifications
- Dlux Fab 2.2” Goat Crawler Tires
- MSRP: $40.00 ( pair )
- Height: 5.75”
- Width: 1.7”
- Rubber Compound: Med (Silver dot), Soft (Gold dot), and Sticky (Red Dot - Extra Soft).
- Wheel Note: Ideally suited for narrow 2.2” beadlocks. ( 25mm )
- Includes two tires, no foams included.
- Easy to mount bead surface.
Product Links
- Dlux Fab
- Crawler Innovations
YouTube Video: Dlux Fab Goat Collection
This link will take you to the complete set of testing footage from the Goat evaluation. This video has much more unseen testing footage than was shared in this review, so if you want to see more of these tires performing, click on the link.
This link will take you to the complete set of testing footage from the Goat evaluation. This video has much more unseen testing footage than was shared in this review, so if you want to see more of these tires performing, click on the link.