Pro-Line Supplies the Goods For RC racers

Pro-Line is a nationally and internationally known after-market manufacturer of car and truck bodies, parts and accessories for radio controlled (RC) race cars based in Banning.

Pro-Line started manufacturing wheels and tires for RC cars in 1982. It has a wide variety of two-wheel drive and 4x4 sizes and styles of street and off-road race car equipment to meet any RC racers needs.

RC cars are scale models of real vehicles that come in several sizes, 1/8 Buggy/Truck; 1/10 Electric, Rock Crawling, Short Course; 1/5 Off Road and Nitro classes.

Design Engineer Matt Wallace said, “The hottest sellers are our short course products. People want their cars to look as real as possible.”

The short course RC racers are true scale models of the trucks used in the Lucas Oil Regional Off-Road Series that races on the Glen Helen Raceway  short course.

Pro-Line is a sponsor for the local Grass Roots 2 Racing Series that started on February 12. The eight race series will be split between race tracks in Palm Desert, Hemet and Beaumont, with the finals at Thunder Valley RC Raceway in Beaumont on Saturday July 16.

In the company’s 28-year history it has won 11 IFMAR World Championship Awards, one of the international governing bodies for model car racing. It has also won hundreds of national and European championships with its racing products and numerous magazine Reader’s Choice awards.

The manufacturer has everything from shocks and tires to a wide assortment of bodies and adaptors kits for race-car improvements and equipment updates, all made in the United States. Many of the after-market products made at the facility are for the popular Traxxas trucks that are manufactured in Texas. Some of the Pro-Line bodies include Ford, Chevy, VW and even a Hummer.

Pro-Line sells its bodies in clear plastic. The purchaser then paints the inside of the car in their own colors, that keeps the paint from getting damaged. Each racer then can affix their choice of decals and stickers on the outside to reflect their choice of brand loyalty.

Pro-Line also has a working relationship with PROTOform race bodies for marketing on-road and indoor touring car race bodies.

It primarily sells its products at hobby-shop retailers nationwide. Products can be ordered online also. It has a shop locator program on its website that is handy when traveling to unfamiliar race locations and your in need of replacement parts.

Wallace took me through the manufacturing facility where I saw a new short course truck mold being finished. Toua Yang makes each prototype mold by hand using a three-step process. Yang starts with wood and then makes a rubber replica from the wood that is used to cast an aluminum epoxy production mold that will be used to thermo mold the plastic race bodies.

After that, we toured the machine shop that makes dies for the many lines of off-road and street tires that Pro-line manufactures. The tires use foam inserts instead of air to maintain a proper profile during every-day fun and for racing events.

Its M2 and M3 tires have a different rubber hardness. The M2 has a medium hardness that gives the tire longevity. The M3 is a softer compound that won’t last as long as the M2, but it adds additional traction during off-road racing at dirt tracks.

Most RC cars used to be electric vehicles until the “nitro explosion” 10-years ago,  Research and Development Director Tim Clark said. With new technology in batteries and electric motors, the electric cars are more economical than ever.

“The new polymer batteries are cheaper to run and the motors only have two bearings to worry about when compared to the old brush motors that used to frequently need the brushes replaced,”  Clark added.

It sounds like electric RC cars are the wave of the future. Pro-Line can help keep them in top shape with its race bodies, accessories, tires and parts. 

 Pro-Line’s manufacturing facility is located at 201 W. Lincoln St., Banning.