OFNA Monster Pirate

Radio Control Car Action, Sep 2000 by Hetmanski, Kevin

Big horsepower, big tires, big fun

The nitro-powered monster truck scene has been surging ahead with a good supply of RTR and kit models. It's easy to see their appeal; the big trucks can go just about anywhere, and they have a sound that makes you want to get on the gas constantly. The OFNA Monster Pirate is the newest nitro-burning monster on the market, and it looks very impressive right out of the box. The truck is based on a Pirate %-scale buggy chassis, but it has been massaged into a monster truck. I couldn't wait to do a full-blown track test on it; here's how it went down.

KIT FEATURES

Chassis. The Pirate's backbone is a thick, blueanodized, countersunk aluminum plate. The slots for the engine mounting screws have also been countersunk. As they are on most irk-scale buggies, the engine and fuel tank are on the left-hand side of the chassis; the servo tray and receiver box are on the right. The engine is securely attached to the chassis by two finned adjustable mounts. Huge front and rear braces have been added to reduce chassis flex.

Suspension. Upper and lower A-arms are used on the truck's front end to hold a cast steering knuckle. To adjust front caster, the short upper A-arm can be shifted back and forth on its hinge pin. In the rear of the truck are lower H-type suspension arms with a threaded-rod upper link. Aluminum braces prevent the lower arms' inboard hinge pins from spreading when the truck takes a hard hit, and front and rear swaybars help minimize chassis rollthat's something you don't usually see on these big monsters. Large, aluminum, blue-anodized, oilfilled coil-over shocks are mounted on thick aluminum shock towers. There are plenty of adjustment options; each shock tower has two upper mounting positions, and the front lower arms also have two shock positions. The rear upper link has two inboard mounting positions on the rear shock tower, and the lower rear arm has three mounting positions for the shocks.

Drive train. Unlike the OFNA Monster Blazer, which has tall gearing intended for a buggy, the Pirate has an oversize spur gear that considerably lowers the truck's gear ratio. The Pirate has huge, heavy tires, and the low ratio spares the engine from being overstressed. The large center gear rides on a solid steel shaft instead of on a center differential as do most I-scale buggies. The shaft is also home to a large, vented steel disc brake that gets squeezed by a padded caliper, and tiny springs keep the pads away from the disc when on the throttle. Since there is no center diff, only one disc is required for 4-wheel braking. The center drive/brake assembly transfers power from the engine to the front and rear diffs through dogbones. A set of helical-cut steel gears spins the differentials at the front and rear of the truck. You will find a set of planetary gears inside the differential housings. Dogbones drive the tires in the rear while CVA joints drive the front tires.

Steering. Twin-bellcrank steering with a built-in servo-saver turns the truck. The two bellcranks pivot on bronze bushings and are connected by a drag link constructed of plate aluminum. The steering arm on the servo-saver has three mounting positions to choose from; using the outer hole will make it easier for your servo to turn the big tires. The threaded steering tie rods are adjustable, but they are not turnbuckles, so toe adjustments require minor disassembly. Since this is not a racetruck, however, toe-in should be a set-it-andforget-it affair.

Engine and accessories. The Monster Pirate does not include an engine, so I installed a Picco .21 (see "Test Gear" for details). The rest of the support items required for the engine are part of the kit. A cast pipe and manifold, manifold spring and exhaust coupler save you an expensive trip to the hobby shop, and a 3-shoe clutch is also part of the engine hardware package. A plastic, foam-element air filter with silicone snorkel-type extension is included to keep the engine breathing easy. Fuel is carried in a large-capacity, flip-top tank (thankfully primer-less, for less chance of air leaks), and attractive finned engine mounts complete the power delivery system.

Body wheels and tires. The truck's body is similar to the one used on the smaller Pirate 10 truck. The extended-cab design features a sunroof, antenna, roll bar with lights, side mirrors and windshield wipers. OFNA supplied its only sample of the body for our test, and it was too "precious" for me to beat on. To get the job done, I mounted a Pro-Line* Chevy Silverado body custom-painted by Motion Graphics.* The real star of the show is the tires; this truck has some mighty big shoes. Most monster trucks go with scale bar treads, but the Pirate's have a unique block-tread design. Each tire's carcass is supported by a large foam tire insert that comes standard in the kit. The tires are mounted on large white rims and are mounted on buggy-type l7mm hex hubs.

PERFORMANCE

I had never run an OFNA/Picco engine, and I didn't know what to expect. I set the low- and high-speed needles to the recommended settings and turned the engine over. It immediately roared to life. When it had been properly broken in, I headed down to Xtreme R/C in New Milford, CT, for some fun. I gave the engine a little tweaking and put it down on the track. Just looking at the truck and knowing its weight, I didn't expect it to be very nimble. I nabbed the throttle and was very impressed with the truck's acceleration; it spun all four tires easily and took off down the track.