FEATURES
Designed and tested by Jay Halsey and the Jammin' team, the X1CRT earned a reputation for performing at the highest levels even before its release due to its 2005 ROAR National championship. Halsey and his team want the X1CRT to be fully race-ready out of the box, and hit the mark by including a full set of genuine Pro-Line Crime Fighter MT tires, a set of rubber-sealed ball bearings, carbon fiber radio tray and steering plate, thick fiber brake disks, front and rear sway bars and fuel filter all in the box.

7075 Hard Anodized Parts • The X1CRT's vital support plates and aluminum pieces are all milled from 7075-grade, hard-anodized aluminum. 7075 aluminum, while more expensive than 6061, is more durable and less prone to bend. The 4mm-thick front and rear shock towers feature two rows of mounting holes for increased tuning capability. More importantly, the 4mm front suspension pin holders and 4mm rear anti-squat plate, and 3-degree rear toe-in plate are all hard anodized 7075 aluminum. Not to be left out, the front and rear chassis braces and front steering knuckles (with t-bolt kingpins) are--you guessed it--7075 hard anodized aluminum.

17mm Hubs and Wheels • In tradition with keeping MT'ers on their toes with a variety of wheel hex sizes, the X1CRT uses proprietary 17mm hex wheels with a custom offset made specifically for the truck. The 17mm hex size, which is smaller than the new 23mm hex wheels but larger than the T-Maxx 13mm hex, is identical to the industry standard buggy wheel hex, allowing you to share aluminum hex hubs between buggies and this truck. Unfortunately, only the OFNA/Jammin's 17mm hex monster-truck wheels fit the X1CRT, making it crucial to keep a decent stock of wheels at all times.

Captured Hingepins • Thank you Jammin', as we hate E-clips as much as you do. All of the X1CRT's hingepins are hardened steel "screw-type" captured hingepins, with nylon locknut fasteners capping off the ends. No more Shoe-Goo, no more e-clip projectiles to the eyeballs, no more hingepins falling out during a race. Bueno!

Big Bore Shocks • Considering the X1CRT's deep suspension throw, a highly durable shock is required to keep up. Jammin' upgraded their X1CR buggy's standard bore shocks to high volume, big bore oil-filled shocks (approx. 15.2mm in diameter versus the buggy's 14.2mm diameter shocks) to improve suspension action. The shocks feature threaded bodies, 3.5mm thick shock shafts, reinforced shock bladders, and push-on shock booties.

Ultra Long Suspension/Chassis • The X1CRT's long suspension arm, stretched chassis design is at the heart of its performance capabilities. Unlike converted buggies with wheel hub extenders or massively offset wheels, the X1CRT's long suspension arms provide better steering geometry and suspension action throughout the entire range of motion to create more stable handling. The chassis itself is 17 inches long (which is 1.5 inches longer than the stock X1CR buggy chassis), wider than any other buggy chassis on the market, and hard anodized for increased durability. In theory, the wider suspension/longer chassis design should provide increased stability and allow you to drive the truck harder without getting loose.

Building, Instructions, and Setup
My X1CRT is fully production, but an instruction manual was not available at the time I built my truck. Still, the truck went together smoothly, and everything fit together well without any extra grinding required. I followed Jay Halsey's basic team set up by filling the diffs with 5/10/3 diff oils, and going slightly thicker than suggested with 55 wt./45 wt. oil front/rear after a weekend of testing where I found that 45/35 wt. oils were too light for my liking.

Testing
I tested the X1CRT over three weekends, at a variety of tracks in the Southern California area including Revelation Raceway, A.R.C. Raceway in Murietta, and The Dirt at Hemet. I began testing with the basic set up I received from Jay Halsey, and tweaked it to my liking as the weekends progressed, ending up with 5/10/3 diff oils and 55/45 shock oils.

Acceleration and Speed • Take a generous pull of the throttle trigger and hang on; the X1CRT shoots off the line like a slingshot. The OS V-Spec engine has tons of grunt, and when combined with the OFNA aluminum clutch and smooth CRT drivetrain, the truck feels much lighter than it really is. Jammin' chose the truck's gearing well, as it provides plenty of yank with more than enough top-speed for all but the longest tracks. During my club racing outings, I was never once pulled by any other truck.
Rating: 9.5/10

Braking • When it's time to hit the binders, the X1CRT comes to a screeching halt. The oversize, thick fiber brake disks take a tank to break-in (you'll know they're broken in when the disk surfaces are scraped to a dull finish) and after that they're all grab. I set up the truck to just slightly lock up the rear wheels at full brake, with the front wheels a few clicks away from full lock. This set up allows the truck to brake into a turn when necessary without locking the wheels, and prevents spin outs when you hammer the brakes. Overall, the CRT's brakes remained fade-free after hours of use and did not go away even when splashed with small amounts of fuel during pit stops.
Rating: 10

Low-Speed Handling • Of the few handling drawbacks to the long wheelbase, super-wide unlimited-style monster trucks, a lack steering seems to be the most common. It's not fair to compare a monster-truck's steering to a smaller, lighter 1/8 buggy, but that's still the standard most people have in mind. Having seen Jammin' trucks steer inside the two popular "truggies" currently available at big races, I'm not surprised to report that our CRT's steering is incredibly reactive and tight for such a large vehicle. While other trucks may require a "drift" driving style on tight tracks, the CRT cuts tight lines and hugs the pipes on even the sharpest turns. I did tap the brakes on certain tracks to bring the rear end around even more, but this is more of a driving style issue. The CRT's steering will
not disappoint.
Rating: 10

High-Speed Handling • The truck's stability at high speeds inspires confidence on nearly any surface. Before I swapped out the lighter 7,000 center diff oil for 10,000 weight oil and heavier shock oils, the truck did want to unload power to the front wheels and fishtail occasionally on slicker areas. After the thicker oil swap, the truck settled in and felt rock solid. I did notice the servo saver unloading frequently on heavily rutted areas even with the spring cinched down nearly all the way, but it didn't seem to affect the truck's steering
very much.
Rating: 9

Rough-Track Handling • Bumps? What bumps? One of the reasons the Unlimited MT class's lap times are generally close to or faster than the 1/8 buggy class's lap times is that monster trucks simply glide over ruts that would trip up a smaller, lighter vehicle. The CRT is no exception; its long suspension arms and deep-throw big-bore shocks absorb the ruts and allow the truck to keep on truckin' without slowing down much at all. It's tough to find a "truggy" that doesn't glide through the rough stuff, but the CRT's long suspension arm geometry places it at the head of the pack in this category.
Rating: 10

Jumping • Again, I've yet to find a truggy MT that doesn't fly well, and the CRT flies with the best of them. Revelation Raceway's big-air single jump makes quick work of any vehicle that jumps poorly, but the CRT eats it for lunch as it launches smoothly, flies with a level attitude, and soaks up the landing every time. Mid-air corrections are simple with the stab of the throttle or brakes to bring the nose up or down, and the deep throw suspension absorbs all but the most hideous landings. The CRT's ability to remain stable, recover quickly
and accelerate from a bad landing makes it easy to jump and drive even on heavily rutted tracks.
Rating: 9.5

Wrenching
Maintenance • You gotta' love the Jammin's full hex-head screw set, as it makes wrenching much easier compared to wrenching with Phillips-head screws. Because the CRT is based on an 1/8-scale buggy, access to the front and rear diffs is fairly straightforward by removing the bulkhead caps and 6 screws. The split center diff mount also speeds access to the center diff and brakes. If you can work on an 1/8-scale buggy, you'll have no problems wrenching on the CRT truck.
Rating: 9

Wear and Tear • After several weekends of racing, the CRT walked away unscathed with the exception of a loose screw that fell off the steering plate--which, I'm proud to say, was entirely my fault. The hard-anodized chassis coating resists gouging, the captured hingepins prevents loose E-clips, and the diff outdrives show no signs of wallowing or wear. Like any RC vehicle, it's impossible to build a perfectly bulletproof truck if you beat on it hard enough, but unlike smaller and lighter vehicles, the CRT can take a striking amount of abuse before something lets loose.
Rating: 9.5

Tuning • The CRT retains all of the Jammin' buggy's suspension and chassis adjustments, including adjustable upper roll center, wheelbase, and camber, caster, and toe with threaded steel turnbuckles. The big bore shocks' threaded bodies eliminate pre-load clips, and a multitude of shock mounting positions on the shock towers makes tuning the CRT to nearly any track a breeze. I'm hoping that the instruction manual will include a tuning section that details all of the truck's adjustments as well.
Rating: 9

Conclusion
The unlimited MT/truggy class just got a lot more interesting. Until now, the converted buggies, Mugen MSR, and the Hot Bodies truck have ruled the roost, but I'm predicting we'll see a ton of these Jammin' trucks at the tracks from here on out. The CRT's stability, tunability, and most of all, its impressive steering (for a truck of its size) places it atop the "most wanted MT" list at this time. There's never been a better time to be a truggy racer, with loads of vehicles on the verge of release, because you'll soon have many trucks available to you. Jammin' seems to have hit the bullseye earlier than anyone else though, with its fully loaded chassis, 99% of the available option parts in the box (including Pro-Line Crime Fighter MT tires), and its impressive performance on nearly any track surface. Like it or not, the "truggy" class grows by leaps and bounds every day, and the Jammin' X1CRT is, as of now, leading the charge.