Finally some legal offroading in Central New Jersey!

Oh, I didn't know. Thanks!

 

https://bit.ly/2MjTSV9

 

Daaaaaaang. If I wasn't a bit spendy this month, I'd be jumping on this. That's a good price and I've seen it on youtube. It looks pretty good.

I've been slacking off with outdoor stuff. Too cold for me lately. I should do something with my Mini Z 4Runner inside, but I got a couple new video games

 

I haven't gone outside with my larger Trailrunner for a while since it's been so snowy, but I got my Mini Z 4Runner out last night and set up some obstacles.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/69205803@N04/50963863492/in/dateposted/

 

I finally got out with my Trailrunner after a month! Woo hoo! Conditions weren't perfect, but I was able to have a lot of fun. The snow, when it wasn't too deep, did make for some challenging situations. I didn't get to go everywhere I wanted to go, but I did get to go to a couple spots I don't usually go to since they were clear of snow.










I also took a short video right at the beginning of my run: https://www.flickr.com/photos/69205803@N04/50985956543/in/photostream/

 

I went back to NJ Devils Way this weekend, and it was a whole lot more fun this time than last weekend! A lot more snow melted while some snow remained for some small spots of fun. The big snowy part on the south end of the park was manageable for my Enduro Trailrunner this time since what remained was more frozen solid this time, and I even trekked my way over to the hidden pond and did a little bit of Tokyo Drifting!









Here's my Tokyo Drift: https://www.flickr.com/photos/69205803@N04/51012415513/in/photostream/

 

I went back to NJ Devils Way this weekend. Nearly all of the snow is gone, so everything's opened up for the little Trailrunner! I went to an area of the woods that I hadn't previously explored. You can see me living on the edge in a couple photos. Beyond that was some downed branches that I originally thought I couldn't pass but found that I could today. There were also other branches further down that I actually couldn't pass. I thought about coming back another day with an axe to clear out the spot, but I decided to see if I could get the truck to go around the branches while I stepped over them. I almost got the truck stuck in one spot, but I successfully pulled it off! This truck is super rugged! It was also high tide at the river, so I got a photo of the truck by the river at the same spot as last week but looking different. I think the only two places I got stuck were the branches that I took the wide path to get around, I tried attacking them head on my first pass, and going down the curb into the parking lot. There was loose, sandy dirt behind the curb, so when I eased down on the skid plates to get my front wheels down, they actually got stuck up in the air while the rear wheels just spun in the sand. I had to give it a little kick to get it going. So embarrassing! Just a little way over is some grass, so I'll have to remember to hit the grass next time.

I also used my 3S lipo again this time. I actually can't remember the last time I used the 2S. The 3S is great. It doesn't go too fast if I remember to exercise throttle control, and I get a bit of extra speed in case I need it where the 2S would fail to climb or get over obstacles. It's also a larger 3S, and I have aluminum hub adapters. I don't know if I can get the weight any better. I'm so happy with my current setup. And while the hub adapters are aluminum, they're not too heavy, so the rotating weight concerns are a lot less.

I think I'm going to go somewhere else next weekend since I've gone to NJ Devils Way two or three times in a row since the weather started getting nicer, but I'm looking forward to going back in the future. It's a lot of fun here.

 

Great picture!! Good composition, action, texture! That's a keeper!

 

Thanks! I almost didn't take it since I originally drove the Trailrunner through the low road, but while I was passing by I noticed that I should have climbed the hill. I turned the Trailrunner around and sent it back to climb the hill. I hoped to do an equally good job capturing the rock sliding action with the articulation and the front wheel in the air in the first pic in my post, but the shadow was not on my side.

 

I went to PFC Walter Faith Memorial Field for the first time today. Well, I went to the woods behind it. This spot had some of the most challenging inclines I've encountered so far. There were lots of leaves going down a steep hill, and I slipped and fell on my butt in one spot. Most of it was decently easy trails, though. Still, it wasn't hard to find extracurricular fun. I want to come back on a bike. I'm sure I'll be back with my Trailrunner, though.

 

I went back to PFC Walter D. Faith Memorial Field last weekend, but I didn't take any pictures. I did get around, though. I went deep into the woods and saw some weird stuff! However, this weekend I went to the spot across the street just to the south. There are trails back there past the big mounds of dirt. If you go straight on the main trail, it's not so great, but there's a place you can turn right and after a while things get more interesting. I already spent a lot of time at the boring section, so I didn't spend as much time at the interesting spot as I would have liked, but I'll definitely be going back. There's even one part that's totally rutted out longways that my truck slipped into and looked totally awesome doing so. I eventually stopped at this one part where the trails separated three or four ways and called it a day there.

 

I went back to Mill Pond Park for the first time since it was freezing cold. I went off trail into the woods and got stuck way more than I'd like to admit. It was fun, but I've got to try to get there when it's a lot less wet. I think I'll be able to get to more places that I was able to get to last summer if it's less wet. I also went to the comic book store in Milltown then took a drive down to Englishtown for a burrito from the Antojitos Mexicanos food truck at the flea market.

 

Nice.... make sure you take a small shovel with you and extra TP...,

 

And traction boards! They actually make miniatures of that stuff.

Two RC offroad outings in one weekend! Woo hoo! It was NJ Devils Way again this time. Things are changing with the season. We're getting leaves on some trees, the lilypad ponds are coming back, and there are bugs! Yay! Someone decided to move this one downed branch that made my Trailrunner need to go around in a challenging spot. Well, something else will come down in the future. It was a pretty uneventful run until it got towards the end. I accidentally rolled it into the water, and I drove it directly into a log that I couldn't see. I think that's where I lost a body clip, but I'm lucky there wasn't more damage. However, right before it was time to go, I did discover a new area. I did a brief run there, but I'll have to go back and see what else I can do.

 

Gamma Ray -

Nice thread! It is a hard shell body. I bought a separate RC4WD camper & body then did all the painting and detail work. Growing up, my father had a Hilux that looked exactly like my RC. I replied here so I did not highjack the 4Runner thread.

 

Thanks! I'm new to RC, but I'm enjoying my cars and trucks! Check out my Mini Z first gen 4Runner, too. I don't use it as much as I thought I would, but it's still fun. I mostly get out with my Trailrunner. It's the most practical one I've got, and it gives me a bit of a workout.

Nice work on the body. It's good to have a little something to remind you of a past vehicle, and you can actually drive this little something

 

I went to the baseball field on the south end of PFC Walter D. Faith Memorial Field today. I actually went last weekend, but my steering servo died a mile into the woods. Today was my first big day for running the servo, and it was fine. Hopefully it lasts twice as long as the previous one. It cost twice as much! I did the full fun area today. It was a blast. I think I actually ended up on land of the horse riding place, so I'm going to have to turn back next time I get to that area. It's not a big deal to turn back. If you go straight through that area, it's just boring flat land anyway. I'd have had even more of a blast if I turned around! There was so much variety. Dirt, sand, small rocks, medium rocks, large rocks, HUGE rocks. There were lots of rutted out places I might have broken an ankle in! But I survived, and so did my Trailrunner!

 

I went to NJ Devils Way this morning. I got a little bit more than an hour of offroad time in with my Trailrunner before it started raining. The chance of rain was in single digit percentage, and it still ended up raining anyway. I was at pretty much the deepest part of the woods when it started coming down, and I thanked my stars that I had the 3S lipo today. I sprinted back to my 4Runner through the woods with my 4Runner. I haven't done this much running in a long time. It was especially fun navigating the way through the most tree cover once I got to the parking lot. Thankfully it wasn't doing thunder and lightning. But before all that, I had a good time doing some usual NJ Devils Way stuff. I accidentally got my Trailrunner too close to a momma bird. She popped up out of nowhere, spread her wings, and hissed at the Trailrunner. Sorry, momma bird. I'll avoid that spot next time. Unfortunately, I couldn't find this one new spot that I found last time. It should have been easy to spot, but I couldn't find it. Maybe it's been grown over already. I did try another new spot, and it was intense! I'm surprised I didn't die! It was up the hill and through all sorts of branches. I unfortunately didn't take any pics because I was trying to survive so much. It required one Hand of God, but I eventually made it up the hill and to the road where some woman walking by must have been wondering what the heck was going on. I also had to fix a tire along the way. It got pulled out of the beadlock, probably by a branch. Thank goodness it didn't tear the tire. I was able to fix it within minutes in the back of my 4Runner. Anyway, it was a good time that was unfortunately cut short by the rain.

 

I went to Tamarack Hollow Preserve today. It's the first time since I went there right before we started getting the heavy snow last winter. I decided to hit the Hidden Holly Trail mostly today, but I think the map's outdated or something. That trail was a pain in my butt. I don't think it actually loops like it should according to the map, and I ended up going to a different area that just took me to power lines at one point. It was still a nice walk, though. I think I might have to rebuild my shocks. They don't spring up evenly anymore. It'll be my first time rebuilding shocks. Yay!

 

Today's outing was weird. I ran into a couple problems with the lower control arms on my Trailrunner's IFS. The first one seemed to pop out because the curved rod end seemed to be worn out. It wasn't holding the ballstud properly after driving into a ditch. I didn't drive it so crazy. It just decided to give way. I don't think a branch got into it, but I'm sure all of the times branches got into the IFS in the past didn't help. I took it home and used a spare curved rod end included with the truck to fix it. I used a hair dryer to help loosen things up so they didn't break upon first assembly. That fixed the passenger side, but then in my second outing today the driver side popped in the same way. Luckily it didn't seem like the curved rod end was broken this time. A branch just got in there and caused everything to get separated. It snapped back together solidly this time. I think I'm going to see about using some alternative hardware on the curved rod ends because the ballstuds just snap in there. They're fairly tight in there, but if something happens it's just down to a snap to snap it out. I'm actually beginning to think about making the conversion to SFA, but I just bought ceramic bearings for it. I'm pretty sure the bearings in the IFS are different than the bearings in an axle, so I'm facing a little bit of a dilemma now. I'll be down by Hobbytown for my second vaccine shot soon, so I'll at least see if they have a pack of curved rod ends that I can keep for spares. Thank goodness the outdrives didn't fall out. I might not have ever found them again.

Anyway, I went to Frost Woods in East Brunswick for the first time today. It was kind of interesting, but I had my first bit of damage there just a few minutes into the outing. I kind of nursed it all the way around the main loop. I was going to check some of the unmarked trails after going around the main loop, but I couldn't come up with a proper fix once I got back to my 4Runner and got my tools out, so I went home. The main loop took about an hour to do, and it was mostly a nice walk with some elevation changes. There were a few interesting challenge areas that were few and far between, but I couldn't really enjoy them too much since I was trying to take it easy. It smelled nice there, though. I also saw a deer! And a baby squirrel!




After fixing my Trailrunner, I went to PFC Walter D. Faith Memorial Field and hit the trails back there. Aside from popping my drivers side IFS one time, everything went well. It was my first time there with the flora growing, so things looked different than my previous visits there. All in all, it was a nice walk.

 

A bit more green than in your winter pics. Looks nice and shady.

 

Yep, I'm going to be getting into the green stuff for the next few months

 

I went back to Frost Woods after repairing my Trailrunner yesterday. It's holding up well so far. No damage today. I spent a lot more time there than yesterday. I hit the main loop again to start. The west end is scenic and still smells nice, but it's not so challenging for the Trailrunner. The west end of the main loop is where you start getting some challenge areas for bikes, and that's where I had much of my fun today. I didn't have to worry about my front end falling apart, so I took it easy and took a lot of videos of me conquering the terrain and even some fails. I took a few pics, too. I saw a lot of deer today! They were running around Frost Woods all over the place. It was nice. After completing the loop, I hit some of the unmarked trails on the central to west end. It was nice. There were some more bike challenge spots that my Trailrunner tried and sometimes succeeded on. I think when I go back next time, I'm going to go directly east. I didn't go on the unmarked trails on the east end, but looking at them they seem like they have potential for RC fun. If the east side doesn't have as much fun on the unmarked trails as I think it will, then I think Frost Woods is still a nice place, but I wouldn't go there for RC very often. There were long distances between the challenge areas. It was a very nice walk, though. It looks like a great place to rid a bike, too.





And here are some videos.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/69205803@N04/51182385437/in/dateposted/
https://www.flickr.com/photos/69205803@N04/51183798484/in/dateposted/
https://www.flickr.com/photos/69205803@N04/51183010301/in/dateposted/
https://www.flickr.com/photos/69205803@N04/51182993021/in/dateposted/
https://www.flickr.com/photos/69205803@N04/51182233762/in/dateposted/

 

Did your 4Runner spook that deer?

 

Ya something wrong with that deer they always give me the tail.

 

No, it was way off to the side. We passed by without disturbing the deer in that pic.

 

I'd been misnaming it as the south end across the street area of PFC Walter D. Faith Memorial Field, but the trails in this area are actually part of the Julian L. Capik Nature Preserve, and that's where I went this morning. I decided to go left when I usually go right, and it wasn't as good as if I went right, but I was still out there for over an hour and a half and had a good time. My IFS held together, so that's good. I didn't take many photos, but that's okay. I also saw a bunch of little frogs and I think a snake. Fun!

 

It's time for some body modding! I got the Knight Customs Enduro Trailrunner rear bumper with jerry can and spare tire holders from their Shapeways 3D printing store. I also got body cutting scissors to cut my lexan body. It was my first time doing lexan body cutting. My cuts are still amateurish, but they turned out okay. I'm still not sure if I'm done trimming the body and the bumper.


The rear fender flares are still off. It's going to be a while until I put them back on permanently. I glued them in place because I was losing grommets, but gluing them made them hold super good. I wasn't able to loosen the glue, so I had to cut the grommets off while trying my best to keep as much as the pegs as I could. I plan on repainting this body, and that might be a problem with the rest of the body accessories. Especially the door handles. I might have to get a whole new body accessories kit. Yay.


For whatever reason, this inner corner part was originally solid and protruding inwards. I trimmed a lot of it out. Maybe I was meant to cut the body more upwards, but I didn't want to do that. Looking right below the license plate, I actually got the bottom of the trunk looking really good, especially right in that one spot below the license plate. I cut out two small grooves into the bumper to help the whole trunk area sit into the bumper more flush. That way any ugliness in my cuts gets hidden by the bumper.


I'm still not sure what I'm going to do here. I'll probably trim at least some of the body behind the bumper off from the side and the immediate corner.


Ditto on this side.


Here's the fender flare with some cut on the bottom towards the bumper. Obviously it will need to be cut more. I didn't bother cutting the other side, and I didn't take a photo of it, but it was definitely lower. I haven't glued the fender flare back in yet. This was only temporary.


Here it is with the rear "swingout" portion temporarily attached. I still need to screw it in. Unfortunately, it doesn't actually swing out. It just sits on two pegs and has that sort of look. However, that's not the most perplexing thing. There are in fact two things that perplex me. First, the little thing that protrudes towards the body. If you look closely, you can see two pieces hanging down from the swingout. That's a part you mount on the body. Apparently it's to stabilize the spare tire you're going to mount on the thing. It then secures with a body clip. I think it's silly, and I tried "hanging" a wheel from the spare tire portion. It seems stable enough. The second thing is how the spare tire mounts. The big center hole doesn't go all the way through, so you're obviously not going to stick a big screw through the back. I figured maybe it would be for a bolt with a hex head molding that would hold it in place so you could put a spare tire onto it and a wheel nut to hold it on. But there's no hole like that. Instead, there are three little holes surrounding the big hole. I guess that's for a 1/10 scale spare tire bracket? Does such a thing exist? I'll have to research it, but the page on the Shapeways store makes no mention of it. It does mention all of the screws you'll need to complete it, but it makes no mention of the spare tire holder hardware. Weird. Oh, I still have to paint the jerry can. Whatever.

 

I went to Frost Woods this morning. It was good. Not great, but good. The eastern unmarked trails were not quite the offroad paradise I hoped they would have been. I'll go back from time to time, but I'm not going to go so often. The new rear bumper did pretty good. I still don't have the additional accessories on it, but it was fine. The rear of the body did pop out of place in the back when I rolled the truck into the big hole in the pics, but that's not the bumper's fault. The sides of the body sometimes pop out from the sliders, too. The bumper looks good and works well, and I'm looking forward to completing it and the rest of my Trailrunner's look.

 

My Enduro Trailrunner has been taking a little bit of a break while I'm doing real life 5th gen Toyota 4Runner projects, but I got my Kyosho Mini Z 1st gen Toyota 4Runner/Hilux Surf fun on the rocks surrounding my pool this evening.