I’ve already admitted my nerd side has taken hold, with my 4×4 obsession flowing over into the radio-controlled world and the good folks at RC4WD willing to supply the fuel for my scale off-road fire. As with full-size rigs, one of the jobs of RCs is modifying and upgrading the vehicles to see how changes improve and change the performance. After six months of running the RC4WD C2X basically stock, it was time for some upgrades.

Mini crawling, full-size fun

The unquestionable first upgrade for a four-wheel-drive rig should always be tires, and that was first on the docket here. To improve traction and ground clearance, I upgraded to the 1.9” RC4WD BFGoodrich KO2 tires, which not only look great and provide extra traction thanks to the X2S³ compound, and also align it with the tires on my GX460 build/daily. I dig the way they look on the C2X comp truck, and while I might not do any competitions with it (as of now; subject to change), it brings the scale feel up even further to make it even more like a truck I’d actually own.

With tires come wheels, and while I was in pursuit of a few other options from RC4WD, I simply couldn’t get the multicolor flair of Injora’s 1.9 Turbine beadlock wheels out of my heart and mind. We all know that feeling of something getting under our skin in a good way, and that fixation is insatiable without the real thing in hand. Needless to say, the rainbow-and-gray Turbines are perhaps my favorite wheel I’ve fitted to any vehicle, scale or otherwise. They not only look unlike anything else but have the right offset to get a little extra track width with the KO2s, all while having the strength and reputation of an Injora product backing them.

It’s impossible to hold back

Wheels and tires are great, and they help quite a bit with off-road capability, going hand-in-hand with approach, breakover, and departure angles. The first of these is an especially important one for RC rigs as it allows the vehicle to get on, into, and up obstacles that otherwise might render the small electric motor immobilized. The C2X comes with a large “stinger”-style bumper, so for my rock-heavy wheeling I wanted to bring the nose in while keeping protection a strong suit. I went with the Steel Tube bumper from RC4WD which looks great, effectively gives the truck a near-vertical approach angle, and bolts right onto the truck.

Ever the good guys, the team at RC4WD threw a few extra parts into the box when it was shipped over to me. One of these was an aluminum steering guard which sadly didn’t work with the new front bumper, so I’ll have to fab up a way for these to play nice. The other goodies were a bed-mounted roll bar and some imitation KC HiLites spotlights (which can become real lights with the addition of LEDs, but I’m keeping them simple in anticipation of inevitable rollovers). This is a form-over-function addition to the C2X, and it makes it look even more like the 1980s-era truck it seeks to emulate.

Emulating the real thing

So, how does it perform with the upgrades on board? Ignoring the aesthetic changes, the real improvements– wheels, tires, and front bumper– made a significant improvement in performance. Traction, stability, and the ability to climb onto and off of rocks have all been drastically improved. And, yes, it looks a lot cooler to my eye as well. A win all-around? Turns out that modifying the scale RCs is just like working on the full-size thing, and it represents a kind of fun all its own. Yes, a win all-around.