JConcepts Landmine Trail & crawler Tire
JConcepts 2.9" Landmine Crawler / Trail Tire for the SCX-6
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It was early in September and the oppressive summer heat was finally subsiding, giving us a bit more time for rock crawling during the later parts of the morning.
The summer heat had us packing the crawlers up by 10 am, but the with milder temps we were comfortable enough to stay out on the rocks crawling until noon. Back at the shop from an early morning crawl session I sat down in front of the computer to read an email sent from Rich over at JConcepts. Rich had reached out with a few questions about my experiences with the Axial SCX-6, looking to see if I had a favorable overall opinion of the truck. His timing was spot-on in that I was nailing down the final details on my SCX-6 review and preparing to upload it to the website. |
The Axial SCX-6 has impressed me much more than anticipated, and after some basic tuning to the shocks and link locations to improve its overall crawling performance, it had become one of my most favored crawlers in the fleet. The only thing I lamented were the limited body options for this crawler.
By the time Rich’s email arrived, I had already been testing a few different tires out on the trail, and while nothing was really blowing our skirts up, they all seemed to be doing reasonably well. The heavy weight of the SCX-6 plays a significant role in tire performance in that the crawler’s weight drives the tire’s lugs firmly into the rock surface, providing good traction with just about any quality tire. It’s one of the first things I noticed about the stock BFG tires; they crawl pretty darn well.
That said, it’s when the trail turns steep that the BFG tire struggles with traction. It’s also important to stress that the factory setup of the SCX-6 contributes some to the limited traction on steep ascents. I've written about this in more detail on the SCX-6 page, but the short version is that we adjusted our SCX-6 linkage and suspension, as well as weight distribution for maximum crawling performance out on the trail.
By the time Rich’s email arrived, I had already been testing a few different tires out on the trail, and while nothing was really blowing our skirts up, they all seemed to be doing reasonably well. The heavy weight of the SCX-6 plays a significant role in tire performance in that the crawler’s weight drives the tire’s lugs firmly into the rock surface, providing good traction with just about any quality tire. It’s one of the first things I noticed about the stock BFG tires; they crawl pretty darn well.
That said, it’s when the trail turns steep that the BFG tire struggles with traction. It’s also important to stress that the factory setup of the SCX-6 contributes some to the limited traction on steep ascents. I've written about this in more detail on the SCX-6 page, but the short version is that we adjusted our SCX-6 linkage and suspension, as well as weight distribution for maximum crawling performance out on the trail.
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I captured some of my thoughts regarding the SCX-6 in an email and sent them back to Rich, highlighting the traction issues I was encountering on some of the climbs.
I figured Rich had something in mind with his questions, so when a large box arrived in the mail a few days later, I wasn't terribly surprised. Inside was a new set of JConcepts Landmine tires mounted on plastic beadlock wheels specially made for the SCX-6 crawler. A while back I posted a detailed review on the 1.9” version of the Landmine tires, so rather than rehashing all of the specifics about the Landmine’s features, check out this link here. For all intents and purposes, these tires are simply a larger version of the current Landmines offered in both 1.9” and 2.2”. |
Out on the trail testing out the new 2.9" Landmines.
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The Landmine for the SCX-6 is a big, beefy looking tire, measuring in at 7” tall and 2.8” wide. Being a large tire, they are of course heavy, but not thick or chunky like the Pro-Line Racing (PL) TSL or even the factory BFG tire.
In comparison to the aforementioned tires, the Landmines feel much softer with their green rubber compound as well as having a more flexible and slightly thinner tire carcass. By design, the Landmines should be much more reactive to foam setup as well as changes to the suspension. As with most JConcepts products, these tires exhibit excellent attention to detail. The tire beads are well formed, the lug pattern crisp, and the sticky green rubber compound stands out when comparing them to the OEM tire or the PL offerings. This tire feels like a true rock crawling and all-around trail tire. |
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Foams
Now for the tricky part; foams. Rich sent along the only foams they had on hand for testing, but these were made from a soft single-stage open-cell foam similar to what is included with their 1.9 and 2.2 crawler tires. Knowing they would be too soft to support the SCX-6 weight, Rich said they were planning to use a much firmer open-cell foam for the public release, but he wanted to see how these would do on our local terrain. We did have other foams on hand, including the 3 Brothers Anti-Foams as well as a few sets of the PL two-stage SCX-6 foams, but starting with the open-cell foams first will give Rich and I a common baseline for evaluating the first round of testing results. |
The Axial SCX-6 is right at home crawling Badrock Ridge.
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Tremendous traction from the Landmines
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Out on the Trail
Starting out on the lower side of Badrock Ridge, we headed into a relatively easy section of trail winding through some of the beautiful desert terrain. Cruising along the lower levels, I could hear the soft rubber of the Landmines gripping the rock fragments, twisting and pulling them free from the dirt as the SCX-6 made its way through chunky sections of trail. The improved traction was noticeable immediately, with the SCX-6 climbing right up a few steep rocks and ledges with little to no trouble. Swinging around to the side of a few larger rocks, the weight of the truck made itself know by compressing the outside tires quickly to the wheel’s edge. The traction held, but the SCX-6 was feeling a bit squirmy with the open-cell foams. This didn’t come as much of a surprise, and I would need to be careful on steep side-hills. With the trail performance going rather well in spite of the open-cell foams, I wanted to see how the Landmines would do when faced with a much longer and slippery ascent. Heading over to the east side of Badrock, we tackled some of the longest and most treacherous climbs of the entire area. |
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Confronting us that morning was a long, dished out, and slowly eroding trail known as the “Water Slide” of Badrock Ridge.
Facing southeast, Water Slide is a challenging climb due to the eroding sandstone surface. The surface is loosely bonded with the underlying sandstone, and simply rubbing the rock with your hand will have it crumbling away in light sheets of sand. With harder rubber compounds, they tend to struggle with grip in these conditions, resulting in substantial wheel spin. On smaller rocks you can "wheel spin" your way to the top with high RPMs, but on this trail if you lose traction and start to tumble, you're taking the truck home in pieces. Starting up Water Slide trail, the Landmines executed a flawless performance with a considerably improved level of traction and control compared to other tires. |
Headed up Water Slide trail at Badrock Ridge.
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The soft green rubber compound is pliable and molds to the minute cracks and voids in the rock’s surface. This is complimented by the Landmine's squared lugs hooking into the rock’s imperfections. I've seen this same traction from the their 1.9 and 2.2 Rupture tires, and these made from an identical rubber compound, and I consider the Ruptures to be unsurpassed in crawling performance outside of specially made comp crawling tires.
Surprisingly the SCX-6 easily climbed to the top of Waterfall with no real struggle or any difficulty to note. There was plenty of groaning from the tires working under the SCX-6’s weight, but they remained firmly mounted to the plastic beadlock wheels.
We worked on a few more unique spots of the trail that following weekend, crawling up and down various rocks and outcroppings with the same results; excellent traction with over-matched foams. It was time to do something about the foam situation, and we knew just where to start.
Surprisingly the SCX-6 easily climbed to the top of Waterfall with no real struggle or any difficulty to note. There was plenty of groaning from the tires working under the SCX-6’s weight, but they remained firmly mounted to the plastic beadlock wheels.
We worked on a few more unique spots of the trail that following weekend, crawling up and down various rocks and outcroppings with the same results; excellent traction with over-matched foams. It was time to do something about the foam situation, and we knew just where to start.
The open-cell foam struggled with the SCX-6's weight.
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Foam Update
With most of the testing complete for the Landmines, I knew the only thing holding these tires back were a good set of two-stage foams. I had a set of PL foams here in our inventory, but I wanted to check one more time with Crawler Innovations (CI) to see if they had something brewing for the SCX-6. I have tested multiple times with PL two-stage foams and compared them to the CI two-stage foams in the same truck, on the same rock, and I consistently find the CI foams give me an improved edge in performance when challenged by steep, technical rock formations. I felt that if we were looking to get the most out of these new Landmine tires, CI was the best path forward. Reaching out to Edmundo over at CI, I mentioned that I had a new tire here from “Company X” undergoing field testing and I needed some of his two-stage magic to see just what these tires could really do. Edmundo said they had been experimenting with a few of his products on their SCX-6, and said that while not fully sorted out, they had been doing rather well with the BFG tires. |
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The large-scale market is still somewhat of a crap-shoot in that the uses of the SCX-6 are widely varied, and there is reasonable question as to if there are enough dedicated SCX-6 crawlers to want a high-quality two-stage foam.
Understandably Edmundo isn’t 100% ready to invest on raw materials dedicated to the SCX-6 platform at this time, but there is definite interest on his part for testing out a few ideas. With the economy slowing down, it’s quite possible SCX-6 foams won’t sell in enough volume to break even, and they surely won’t be cheap. Edmundo was also concerned that proper foams will be slightly north of $100 for a set of SCX-6 foams, but I countered that with the price of admission to the SCX-6 at $1100, a $100 set of foams are in line with spending $50 for foams on a $500 SCX-10.3 variant. After further discussion, we agreed to put a pin in the topic for the time being, but Edmundo said he would get something over to me for consideration. |
Crawler Innovations foams installed.
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Two weeks later a box arrived with a custom set of foams what were based on the 2.2 tire widths, but with a properly machined 2.9” closed-cell inner foam and a 7” tall open-cell firm outer foam. Unfortunately, they were a bit narrow and moved too much from side to side in the tire. To solve this, I grabbed a set of the OEM foams from Axial and to the best of my ability, carefully sliced off ¼” thick discs.
CI 2.9" Test Foams and sidewall discs after a few weeks on the trail.
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At this point I swapped out the plastic beadlock wheels for a set of Ebay aluminum beadlock wheels. As much as I love the Spec RC custom 2.9 beadlock wheels, our rugged trails tend to put some nasty bites into aluminum wheels and I don’t want to ruin a $250 set of wheels.
I installed one disc on each side of the CI foam, sandwiching the two-stage foam and completely filling the tire. It took some squeezing to get the wheel together, and it’s worth experimenting with a slightly narrower disc and even possibly a firmer material. I’m hedging my bet that Edmundo will have this sorted out shortly as he continues his testing and development, but I feel that side tuning discs made from a closed-cell foam would be a good solution to this issue. With the side discs installed, there was plenty of support on the sidewalls of the tire without compromising the soft traction under the tread pattern. The feel of this two-stage setup was excellent, and I was stoked to get back out on the trail to see what these could do. |
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Back Out at Badrock
With the new CI foam setup installed, we were brimming with confidence and jumped right back into the nastier sections at Badrock Ridge. The game plan was to start up the southwest section of trail, scaling some of the more technical rock outcroppings before we hit the massive ascent of El Arbol Perdido trail: The Lost Tree. Checking to see if the new CI foams were up to the task of supporting the SCX-6’s weight, we chose a steep but short trail which featured a difficult rock wall which had given me all kinds of problems with the SCX-6 during previous attempts. Approaching from the lower left side of the rock, I carefully worked the SCX-6 up the rock and heading slightly to the right where the rock had a few more spots for the tires to grab hold. The angle put most of the crawler’s weight on the rear right tire, but the traction held firm and I was able to continue the ascent. |
Pushing the SCX-6's crawling performance.
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Devil in the Details
Slowly but surely the SCX-6 continued to climb the rock, and in the photo above you can see the passenger's rear tire knotting up around the rock for a firm hold. Also note that the CI close-cell inner foam is preventing the tire from crushing down to the wheel. Keep the tire centered on the wheel is where the foam sidewall discs come into play, complimenting the closed-cell inner foam for complete tire support, but that's not the whole story here.
Notice the passenger's front tire and how there is still some flexing of the sidewall as the Landmine tire conforms to the rock, yet there is only minimal weight on that tire; this is where a proper foam set up paired with a premium crawling tire really shines and the crawling magic happens. Front tire traction, link position, suspension setup, and weight distribution all contribute to crawling performance. If your front tires are not conforming to the rock's surface on steep climbs, you need to address items listed in bold above; crawling performance not just about the tire. As good as the tire may be, foams, links, suspension, and weight distribution errors will negate any performance gains a good tire can provide.
Slowly but surely the SCX-6 continued to climb the rock, and in the photo above you can see the passenger's rear tire knotting up around the rock for a firm hold. Also note that the CI close-cell inner foam is preventing the tire from crushing down to the wheel. Keep the tire centered on the wheel is where the foam sidewall discs come into play, complimenting the closed-cell inner foam for complete tire support, but that's not the whole story here.
Notice the passenger's front tire and how there is still some flexing of the sidewall as the Landmine tire conforms to the rock, yet there is only minimal weight on that tire; this is where a proper foam set up paired with a premium crawling tire really shines and the crawling magic happens. Front tire traction, link position, suspension setup, and weight distribution all contribute to crawling performance. If your front tires are not conforming to the rock's surface on steep climbs, you need to address items listed in bold above; crawling performance not just about the tire. As good as the tire may be, foams, links, suspension, and weight distribution errors will negate any performance gains a good tire can provide.
Nearing the top of the rock, the angle steepened a bit more with the driver’s side tire complete lifting away from the surface. We had dialed in the link setup on the SCX-6 to have just the right amount of anti-squat to keep the front tires planted on steep lines, but this line really had the truck in a tough spot. Impressively, the rear tires continued to hold firm, and the front passenger tire had just enough traction to maintain control over the front.
Up we continued and once the top of the rock was reached and the tires started to break over the summit, the SCX-6’s front tires dropped down and pulled crawler’s weight down over to the front axle, and we were on top. I was impressed because we had attempted this wall a number of times before with a pair of SCX-6 but had never made it to the top. It just shows that with proper link setup paired with good tires and foams will take the SCX-6 to the next level of crawling.
We knocked off a few more steep rock faces with similar results, but now it was time to cruise on over to El Arbol Perdido trail and really put these tires to the test.
Up we continued and once the top of the rock was reached and the tires started to break over the summit, the SCX-6’s front tires dropped down and pulled crawler’s weight down over to the front axle, and we were on top. I was impressed because we had attempted this wall a number of times before with a pair of SCX-6 but had never made it to the top. It just shows that with proper link setup paired with good tires and foams will take the SCX-6 to the next level of crawling.
We knocked off a few more steep rock faces with similar results, but now it was time to cruise on over to El Arbol Perdido trail and really put these tires to the test.
Headed to the top of El Arbol Perdido.
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El Arbol Perdido is one of the longest trails at Badrock, starting at the base of a sandstone formation and winding its way to the top of a hidden summit. Moving at a reasonable pace measured against the difficulty of the trail, it takes about 30 minutes to reach the summit.
Looking up from the bottom of the trail, you can see the sandstone has been heavily eroded by rainwater carrying rock debris from the area above. During the monsoonal rains, water runoff roars down the rock’s face, cutting away the softer sections of sandstone and leaving a unique divot pattern in the rock. After the rains, the surface left behind is grainy and porous, often crumbling away underneath the tires. Hiking up to follow your truck and spot the line is just as sketchy, forcing us to hang our transmitters from a cord around our neck so we can use both hands for climbing. Starting at the loose, rocky bottom of the trail, the SCX-6 front tires easily rolled up the weathered rock’s face, with the rear tires digging in during the weight transfer, scooting the rear axle into position. Staying smooth on the throttle, the SCX-6 settled in and slowly crawled its way up the first block of sandstone. The bits of sand peeling away from the rock’s surface didn’t seem to bother the SCX-6’s traction in any noticeable way. As a side note, we are not running any overdrive in front axle or underdrive in the rear. |
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Continuing up the heavily eroded slope, El Arbol Perdido comes into view above the SCX-6, looming down from the top. The stunning beauty of this area was on full display with the seasonal monsoon clouds adding white contrast to the blue sky above.
Staying with a slow and deliberate pace, the SCX-6 continued to climb with a sure-footed traction only seen with our comp crawlers. I favored the middle of the crease, straddling a slight ridge to keep the tires from dropping into a narrow crack on either slide of the channel. Nearing the top of the channel, the SCX-6 was leaning back a fair amount with the front tires lightly touching the rock’s surface. Fishing the front tires left and right, I was able to grab hold of the random edges and small bumps in the rock to maintain forward movement. A short bit later and I had made it to the top of the initial climb and now it was time hang a sharp right and follow the trail around the upper sections to reach the summit. The rest of the trail is not as formidable, and about 10 minutes later I was rounding the last corner before reaching the summit. Overall the performance on this trail was excellent, with a strong showing from the Landmines and CI foams. |
This last part of the initial ascent is a bit stressful.
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Favorite crawler in the fleet.
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Honcho Update
While we were in the final stages of testing, Axial dropped a nice update to the SCX-6 with their Honcho version of the crawler. The new body, cage, and bumpers looked fantastic, so I headed over to Horizon Hobbies’ website and spent more than a few hundred dollars for all the bits and pieces to convert the Jeep into a new Honcho. Another much-appreciated update was their new rear-hinged body system, making battery changes much easier. |
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With some rattle can magic and a few stickers, we got the new Honcho body painted up and installed with the rear roll-cage.
The Honcho RTR from Axial comes with a spare tire mounted in the rear cage, but I didn’t want to fool with picking up an additional tire nor deal with the unnecessary weight mounted high at the rear of the truck. The spare tire looks cool mounted on the cage, but it being there does you no favors on the climbs. I also skipped the interior decorations and just tinted the windows. |
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Out on the trail with our new SCX-6 Honcho, the improved approach angles and tucked rear cage made transitioning through tight spaces much easier.
Between the Landmine tires and the new Honcho parts, the SCX-6 has really come into its ideal self as a versatile and highly capable trail truck and rock crawler. |
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Here is a look at the Landmine tire and CI foam setup on the Honcho, running a slick and steep side-hill section at Badrock.
Excellent control all the way though this line as we drop into another funky climb. |
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Great view from the top with our SCX-6.
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Closing Thoughts
The new Landmine tires from JConcepts are a long overdue upgrade for the highly capable Axial SCX-6. I feel that this crawling-specific tire is a bit of a leap of faith by JConcepts, testing the market to see if there is a demand for such a tire. It’s our hope the market does support this product because the performance improvement on the trail is unquestionable. It’s been our goal to maximize the low-speed crawling performance of the SCX-6, and now having a high-quality rock crawling tire has taken our truck to the next level. Pairing them with the CI foams creates about as good of a crawling tire setup as one could hope for, and without a doubt these will be the go-to tire of choice for our desert landscape. |
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Could they be used for the high-speed driving that the SCX-6 is capable of? I think so, but the soft green rubber compound will have a much shorter life span when compared on the other SCX-6 tires on the market.
In this aspect, they are somewhat crawler-focused and not the “all around” tire for the SCX-6. That said, you should already have a set of the BFG tires when you purchased the SCX-6, so the Landmines are a nice option for the days you want to focus on crawling. |
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I also I think it’s a good idea that JConcepts included wheels with the Landmines. This way you can switch tires without changing wheels.
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The new heavy-duty open-cell OEM foams should be adequate for basic driving, but to really see these tires come to life, I think a good two-stage foam is essential.
We didn’t have the chance to test out their new heavy-duty foams, but I was told these will be coming with every set of Landmines once they are released to the market. With the new Honcho body, Landmine tires, and CI foams, the SCX-6 Honcho is one of our most favored trucks in the fleet. |
JConcepts Landmine 2.9” Evaluation Results
Technical Rock: 29/30
Large Slab ( Slick Rock ): 20/20
Tire Construction Quality and Appearance: 19/20
Rubber Compound: 20/20
Tread Life: 4/5
Versatility: 4/5
Total Score: 96/100
Technical Rock: 29/30
- It was hard to find a technical rock surface where these tires couldn’t perform. There were just a few spots where the front tires struggled to find purchase, but it’s really nit-picking for the sake of finding a fault. Picking the right foams for this tire will have a significant impact on this category, and the CI foams were perfectly suited for Technical Rock. Plenty of carcass flex and soft, tire-wrinkling traction was on full display throughout the testing.
Large Slab ( Slick Rock ): 20/20
- Considering the heavy weight of the SCX-6, the Landmines provide a stunning level of traction on large, slick blocks of sandstone. So much that the front tires would lift before the SCX-6 would slide down the rock. The Landmines exceeded the capabilities of the crawler on this surface, resulting in a perfect score for this category.
Tire Construction Quality and Appearance: 19/20
- As usual, JConcepts get all the details right with this tire. Excellent beads, proper carcass thickness, and clean, crisp molding continues to be a hallmark of JConcepts tire quality. There is a scale look to the tire, leaving behind some of the “bro-dozer” looks commonly found with other tires.
Rubber Compound: 20/20
- JConcepts green rubber compound is one of the very best we have tested. It’s sticky, pliable, and performs well under a wide range of temperatures, making it perfectly suited for rock crawling.
Tread Life: 4/5
- Out on the trail, we were pleased with an even wear rate of the tires. As expected, the squared corners were the first to round off, and then the middle sections of the tire began to show some wear as well. Surprisingly, the sidewalls remained intact and we encountered no chipping or chunking of the treads on crown of the tire, even when ground hard against the rock’s surface.
Versatility: 4/5
- Landmines in their various sizes have proven to be a well-rounded off-road trail and crawler tire. The soft rubber compound will give a shorter tread life on concrete or asphalt, and we note this because there are more than a few videos of SCX-6 Jeeps zooming around parking lots. If bashing is part of your game for the SCX-6, just know the Landmines will wear faster than the OEM tires.
Total Score: 96/100
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Product Details
JConcepts SCX-6 Landmine Trail & Crawler Tire
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