Axial SMT10 USA-1 Project

I'm a sucker for monster trucks.  When Axial came out with the SMT10 I was interested, but it was intially only an RTR which kept me away.  When they announced the builder's kit I picked one up but it sat on my shelf for a long time.  I think that's because I have hard choosing bodies.  I finally built it and settled on a classic USA-1 body (which caused me plenty of trouble).

The SMT10 is a solid axle, full tube cage 4WD monster truck chassis.  The Grave Digger version was originally released in 2016 as AX90055 with a bright green cage, 2.2" BKT tires,  AR60 axles, the venerable AX10 transmission, and a 27T brushed motor.  In 2019 virtually the same model was released as AXI03019, this time with a much faster 12T motor and a Spektrum radio (due to the acquisition of Axial by Horizon Hobby).  The AXI03020 Raw Builder's Kit came slightly later in 2020 with no body, electronics, or tires and using a more generic black cage.  The use of a builder's kit allowed me to customize the truck to my liking, which I did to a great degree.  because of the somewhat extravagant power system I ended up putting in it coupled with the much larger than stock tires, I felt I needed a wide range of upgrades to cope with the power.  My goal was easy wheelies, a goal I achieved.  The problem was that this truck has no wheelie bar so all that happened was that I caught the rear of the body on the ground and shredded it.  I had spent a lot of time on the painting and it was pretty painful to have to start over.  On the other hand, getting a new body allowed me to spend a bit more time addressing another problem.  The wheelbase of the body is vastly shorter than the wheelbase of the chassis which means it didn't line up very well at all.  The cab also did not fit over the center of the cage, requiring me to cut a big hole in the body which further weakened it.  I improved my cut location on the second body.  The wheelbase is still all wrong, but I'm OK with the look.  I added an aftermarket wheelie bar to hopefully prevent the same thing from happening again.

This truck is now pretty fun to drive.  A comparison with the Losi LMT is inevitable given how closely the were released in time.  They are really quite different with the LMT being a much higher powered, heavier truck.  After my upgrades though, they are much closer to each other.

Update:  This model was destroyed in the 2022 fire.  It has not been replaced.