When the Decepticons got infected with Cosmic Rust, the Stunticons kidnapped the Autobot scientist Perceptor and took him to Megatron, who believed that Perceptor had a clue as to the cure of the ailment. Perceptor identified the cause of Megatron's woe as an energy-conducting "lightning bug" that the Decepticons picked up on the planet Antilla. He also provided an anti-corrosive solution called Element X that cured Megatron. The Autobots became infected with Cosmic Rust as well, but, after being informed that there was no more Element X remaining, they realized that there was some still left on the Statue of Liberty, and made an effort to retrieve it. Megatron found out and tried to prevent the Autobots from curing themselves. As Menasor, the Stunticons attempt to use the "lightning bug" weapon to eradicate the Autobots, but were defeated by Superion, who destroyed the weapon, and retreated, leaving the Autobots to cure themselves.
Menasor proved to be invaluable in helping Megatron defeat Starscream's new weapon, Bruticus , when he got out of hand. Megatron could not stop the Bruticus, not even with the help of Devastator. The Stunticons observed this and, partly due to their loyalty to Megatron, and partly due to their own fear of being taken over by Starscream and Bruticus if they were victorious, they formed Menasor and defeated Bruticus.
The Stunticons were next sent on a mission by Megatron to steal parts needed for a new Decepticon weapon. While on this mission, they were defeated and captured by the Autobots, who took them back to their headquarters, the Ark, and were held prisoner. Optimus Prime came up with the idea of disguising himself and Autobots Sideswipe, Mirage, Windcharger, and Jazz, as the Stunticons in order to infiltrate the Decepticon forces and find out what their new weapon is for. They managed to maintain their disguises well, despite Starscream's suspicions, and even fooled Megatron. Meanwhile, back at the Ark, Breakdown managed to escape (using his ability to cause malfunctions in nearby machines) and freed his fellow Stunticons from their prisons. They formed Menasor and escaped, and hurried to inform Megatron of the Autobot impostors. The Decepticons were confused when they saw there were two groups of Stunticons, and ordered the disguised Autobots to form Menasor, hoping to catch them in their own trick. However, they did so flawlessly (using Windcharger's magnetic abilities), which caused even more confusion. Then Menasor pulled out his special weapons, which the Autobots didn't have, and therefore were discovered. Megatron then tried to destroy them with his new laser, but it was destroyed and the Decepticons retreated as more Autobots came to help.
Megatron next used the Stunticons to wreck Autobots participating in a Trans-Europe race secretly set up by him with the purpose of attaining a metal to contain a powerful weather-controlling weapon, the Pearl of Bahoudin. The Stunticons were sent after the Autobots, wrecking most of them. Only three Autobots, Bluestreak, Tracks, and Bumblebee, and a human, Augie Canay, managed to escape. They went after Megatron, and were driven into battle with the Stunticons. Just as they were about to be destroyed by Menasor, Augie sacrificed his beloved car by driving it straight at Menasor, and the Autobots were saved.
The Stunticons managed to survive the hardships in 2005. At first they, like all their Decepticon comrades, were weak and low on energon, but they came back strong under the new leadership of Galvatron. Later, two of them, DeadEnd and Wildrider, got the new Autobot leader Rodimus Prime to crash down a mountainside while racing them. They managed to retrieve the Autobot Matrix of Leadership from him, and took it back to Galvatron. At first, it appeared to be broken, and Galvatron was furious at the two, but later it was shown to work, and caused much trouble for everyone before it finally returned to its rightful owner, Rodimus Prime.