BY KEVIN HETMANSKI PHOTOS BY JOEL NAVARRO

I recently got my hands on a Traxxas Nitro Slash and love this truck for its scale look, nitro power, and who can complain about a top speed of 50+ mph? Of course, no one can leave an RC vehicle stock for long and that’s what happened with my Nitro Slash. I wanted to be able to take my truck to the local RC track to get some laps in during practice and maybe even race it in the modified electric 2WD Short Course class on race day. I had planned on making some minor modifications such as changing the body and using tires that are better for the track surface to help improve the truck’s performance, but I ended up with a little more. The modifications made will not only help with on-track performance, but they will also greatly improve how my truck performs while playing around the yard.

RACE-READY BODY
On my project truck I went with a Pro-Line Flo-Tek body because its design allows air flow through the body and reduces the parachute effect that we see with Short Course Bodies. Basically, the truck will jump better and be faster in the straight sections of the track. Again, Pro-Line going a little quicker from bench to dirt by having bodies that are already painted and trimmed. A few different color variations (Yellow/Red/Blue/Green) are available from Pro-Line and for my project I went with blue, black, and white because it does a great job of matching my chassis. Not only is the body trimmed and ready to be mounted, but Pro-Line helps you out by opening up some of the main vents too and the other vents can be opened up if necessary later.

This Flo-Tek body from Pro-Line improves track performance by allow air to flow through the body to eliminate the parachute effect caused by short course bodies. This will make my truck faster and let it jump better.

HEAVY-DUTY AXLES
I swapped the stock plastic driveshafts with Pro-Line’s ProTrac axle kit and its steel construction does two things for my truck. Steel is much stronger and has less flex than plastic and because of that these axles will handle all the power I can put to them.

SMOOTH SHOCKS
To top off my new suspension, I bolted on a set of Pro-Line Pro-Spec shocks, which are very smooth and come built. The shocks feature threaded aluminum body, 12mm bore, an X-ring seal, Delrin piston and shaft guide and a hard chrome-coated 3.5mm-thick shock shaft. All this makes these shocks smoother and more efficient than the stock shocks and the threaded bodies make ride height adjustment much easier and more precise. When installing them I simply added shock oil and bolted them on before setting the truck’s ride height.

PROTRAC SUSPENSION
The Pro-Line ProTrac suspension isn’t designed to fit the Nitro Slash but with some simple modifications to the rear suspension arms, it pretty much bolted on.

Pro-Line’s ProTrac suspension is a popular hop-up option for electric Slash owners and definitely improves the truck’s handling. The biggest thing for me is that your tuning options are also increased. Now, the Pro-Line ProTrac suspension wasn’t designed for the Nitro Slash, but after a little research I found that the front suspension arms, turnbuckles, rear hubs and front shock tower will bolt on. In the rear the shock tower won’t bolt on and I had to modify the suspension arms slightly to get them to work. Since they are designed for the Slash, the left and right arms are made to have the shock mounts facing the front of the truck. However, the shocks on the Nitro Slash are mounted in the rear of the arm. This meant that I had to drill mounting holes for the shocks on the opposite side of the suspension arm. I also added Pro-Line’s front aluminum castor blocks to increase durability and enhance the look of my chassis.

Be sure to read the article (2014 October Edition Page 76) for the full review!

PRO-LINE Parts Used:
ProTrac suspension kit 6062-00, $62
Pro-Spec shocks (rear) 6308-31, $68
Pro-Spec Shocks (front) 6308-30, $68
Aluminum caster blocks 6255-00, $21
Front clamping hubs 6097-00, $11
Rear clamping hubs 6098-00, $11
ProTrac axle kit 6099-00, $27.00
4mm serrated wheel lock nuts 6100-00, $8 set of 4
Ram 1500 true scale clear body 3420-00, $37
Extended front and rear body mounts 6070-00, $14 pair
Painted Flo-Tek body 3355-14, $85
Interco TSL SX Super Swamper SC 10103-11, $37 pair
Blockade SC tires 1183-25, $36 pair