Radio Control! RC trucks, cars, planes, boats, whatever tickles your pickle!

I figured I'd start a new RC topic in the new year in order to be more inclusive of everybody's RC hobby.

My first RC outing of the year was at John A. Phillips Preserve. I was out for a couple hours. My battery ran out at the end, so I had to carry my Enduro Trailrunner for about 10 minutes. No big deal. I might have made it back to my real 4Runner if I didn't take a wrong turn towards the end of my outing.

I also redid the front end yesterday. I replaced the ball studs in the lower arms with hex cap screws last spring or summer. I eventually had to replace the ball studs on the upper arms in the same way but with additional springs and washers. This made my IFS more sturdy, but it also threw my steering geometry way out of whack. The lowers didn't affect it too badly, but the tops were a mod too far. I looked at what the plastic rod ends were doing in other parts of the truck, and I saw that they used little plastic balls that had holes for M3 screws. I was using M4 screws in my mod, so I took my pack of extra balls (giggity) and bored out the holes with the standard Dremel drill bit and a slightly larger drill bit in a regular drill. It took some doing, but I got the M4 screws in place with the balls and the balls in the rod ends. Nuts and threadlocker completed the mod. I also replaced the screws and nuts on the lower arms with stainless steel. Today's outing was good. However, I also found that I have a busted bearing in the right front steering knuckle. It was an expensive Fast Eddy sealed ceramic bearing, too. I may replace it with another sealed ceramic, but if it's going to be so prone to breaking then maybe I'll just use cheaper bearings in that spot. There's no use using sealed ceramics where they'll just break before regular bearings would rust. The matching bearing on the other side appears to be okay, though. In any case, the wheel's okay in the meantime. There's a dual bearing setup in the steering knuckle, so it rides well enough on the inner bearing.

 

A little late I know. I slept in until three today. Still waiting on paint, remote, and receiver. I couldn’t get the cheap Tamiya electronics so I got an off brand coming from Amazon. Not happy with the servo, haven’t tested it but, it’s supposed to be a 180’ but, it will spin completely around by hand.

 

Tires stink. Usually I keep these things in the garage. Where it will end up anyway.

 

Looking good so far! Enjoy the work in progress!

You know, none of my tires have given me that stinky feeling. My Trailrunner tires especially never stank. Even extra ones that I bought. My Redcat Lightning STK doesn't have stinky tires either. Mini Z seems to do its own thing with tires.

 

Well, maybe I can smell them because my neighbors haven’t burned trash lately with the warmer weather.

 

You look a little young to be driving a 4Runner

 

I have a SCX24 Wrangler, it's a lot of fun. I really would like to get a 1:10th scale, but not sure what to get & don't really want to spend a ton of money. I've seen the Enduro Trail Runners on sale right now at Horizon Hobbies for like 350 ish with the battery and charger, which I think is a good deal. But I don't know, the more I look at it, the goofier I think the body looks. It almost looks like a 4Runner, but every proportion is off, especially the rear. That Knightrunner "Tacoma" body looks way better, but it's much more money.

The other one I like is the Redcat gen8 Scout, but it doesn't come with the battery or charger, and I'm not really having much luck figuring out exactly which ones to buy for it.

 

I've heard great things about the SCX24. I thought about getting my dad an SCX24 Wrangler for Christmas, but I know he'd rather have tools instead. I still might pick one up at some point. They seem to have a great price to performance ratio. I have a Mini Z 4Runner, and it's not the most fantastic performer.

I have both a real 5th gen and an Enduro Trailrunner, and I like them just fine. The proportions don't bother me in real life. Just heads up on that IFS that comes with the Trailrunner. The upper and especially the lower arms become problematic after a while. The ball studs pop out of the rod ends. I described my most recent fix, but I'll probably end up taking photos of it at some point. I hope this is the final IFS fix I have to do.

I have a Redcat car. I'm actually impressed by its build quality. It's probably for the best that the Gen8 Scout doesn't come with a battery, though. The car's included battery was a tragedy. It's the only part of the car that I didn't like. If you want to look at a way that you can get a 1/10 but won't break the bank, check out Mark Santa Maria's videos on the Redcat Everest. He just recently got it, so it's still a work in progress. The standard version is about $200. It might end up being a good option.

Looking at the Scout's accessories and replacement parts page, it looks like it uses a T style battery connector. I'm not sure about the Everest. I wouldn't be surprised if it's banana 4.0 which is what my car has. You can always change the connectors, though.

 

I went to Julian L. Capik Nature Preserve today. It was supposed to be an epic snow day. Instead I broke a driveshaft. I already got an upgraded replacement. Besides that, there's not much to say. The pics aren't anything new. After the front driveshaft broke, driving the truck back was a pain. It also started snowing a tiny bit for just a minute. I just hope these upgraded driveshafts are better. They're pretty heavy. I got Hot Racing driveshafts. I had to grind down the tips to get them to fit, but they fit well after grinding.

And now I'm going back to work tomorrow. No more off roading until Saturday. Mini Z racing is Sunday.

 

Coming together well.

#Tamiya Models

 

Last time I checked I think this was $1500….

 

Thanks for the info! I did see the Everest, I was actually just looking at a little while ago and it's on backorder. Redcat makes one other a little bit above that, it's got an unlicensed body that to me looks like a cross between a Cherokee XJ and an Excursion. I think that one's around 2:50. I really do like the Gen8, I really love the look of it, and I like the details such as portal tires, Super Swamper tires, and the inner fender liners.

I really, really like the scx24. Obviously I'm no expert here, but I'm very impressed with the way this thing performs. There's a bunch of videos on these, RCSparks did a great series last winter with these 24th scale crawlers, there's all kind of mods available for them, and they're fun to play around with in the house. He had some minis Zs along with the SCX's and yeah, the mini Z's didn't do too well until he started moding them.

I'm thinking I might just pony up the money for the Gen8, or even go all in and buy the TRX4 with the K5 body, since I'm a square body nut.

 

Well it looks like my remote and receiver are lost in shipping. Will set me back a week. It may show up. And, I ordered Shrinky Dink sheets to make little 4R’s and bake them.

 

Hang in there, SR5 L! You'll get that amphibian ribbiting in due time.

Trail Runnah, yeah, I think that's the Everest Pro. I'd skip the Pro if saving the money is more important. I haven't seen any new videos about the Everest from MSM, so I don't know what's going on with it. I'm thinking about getting a TRX4 myself but with the new Bronco body. I'm not going to be getting rid of my real 4Runner for a new Bronco, but at least I can have both an RC 4Runner and an RC Bronco

So, my new Hot Racing driveshafts are great, but all this snow isn't so great! I decided to go to Raritan Bay Waterfront Park to see how much off roading I could get done. I got more done than I thought. There were some areas where the snow was just too deep, though. I also ended up messing up the motor again in a water crossing. I was able to revive the motor on the beach, but I don't know about this motor. It's rebuildable but not very hardy. The stock motor would have been able to take it.

 

This is a great looking set for under forty bucks shipped. It’s 2.4 ghz. The reciever is a lot smaller than I expected.

 

I always wanted the Grasshopper as a kid but my parents thought I’d trash it.

 

I got it for my dog. She doesn’t get much exercise (doesn’t chase balls) but follows the R/C around the yard. Gonna try and pull her wagon with it.

 

My Dad didn’t get me into hunting or fishing, but in 1983-1984 he got me into RC cars. We got 4 channel radios with the plan to get into RC planes in the future. We never did. But many years later he got into RTR helicopters.



The one in the middle here is a Marui Hunter that my Dad assembled for my middle school best friend.

 

In 1995 I ordered a Losi XX Buggy. Back when you had to find ads in RC Car Action and order over the phone, LoL.



I wanted to get into RC racing as bashing gets rather boring. But the nearest off-road track was a +2hr drive away. So it was hard to justify spending 4hrs driving on my weekend off. Needless to say I fell out of the hobby again.

 

Finally finished painting my TrailRunner.

Still not quite a perfect match, but getting closer.

 

Ooh! Very nice! Great job! I think it looks great. What did you use? A clear body? If you used one of the official white or red bodies, how did you remove the stock paint?

 

I went down to Toms River today. I stopped by Hobbytown for a bit first and picked up a few Mini Z parts. Nothing major. I just happened to be in the area. I also ran into the organizer of Jersey RC Racing Promotions who was setting up the Mini Z track there. I then went to Unreal RC and checked out the 1/10 scale crawler course there. It was very, very challenging for my Trailrunner with its still-stock tires, ride height, etc. I was able to get around much of the track without too much hands of god, though. It's a punishing track! That much is for sure! My truck was making all kinds of sounds. It's a good thing I got the upgraded driveshafts. I bet I snapped one of those wheel hex rod things at the course, though. I also briefly tried running my Mini Z 4Runner, and it was... It went as you'd expect. I want to try the course again with a Traxxas New Bronco if I ever get one. Maybe this spring. I also brought a couple Mini Z cars and drove around the track for a while. I actually ran into the same people I saw the last time I went there. We raced our cars a bunch. The one guy even picked up a Nismo Skyline R33 AWD while he was there. Really cool dude.

I then went to the nearby Cattus Island County Park in all of its freezingness today! A friend of mine said I was a madman! I just know that I have to get my Trailrunner time in when I can. Much of the snow has melted or washed away in the past week, so my Trailrunner was able to get around. The trails I took weren't super crazy or anything, but they were nice. There are plenty of trails that I didn't take, though. I'll have to get there again one day. I also had to change a tire while I was out. I think the busted bearing that I had been running was the main culprit, but there was a sharp point on my lower arm modification. I've since smoothed over the sharp point and inserted an older but functional bearing in place of the busted one. I'm glad I kept it after I made the switch to ceramics last spring.

 

well, so I did it wrong this first time. Next time, I’ll start with a fresh body, and strip the interior paint, then repaint inside. This time, I simply masked, primed and sprayed base, then clear. It turned out okay, but didn’t survive the night’s trip very well. It ended up with a handful of white scratches, lol

 

Oh, so you painted the outside? That'll not survive well for sure. I'm curious to find out what works well for you for stripping the stock paint when you try and hopefully succeed. I had no luck and trashed my original white body.

 

https://mfab4runner.mystrikingly.com/

so much but tempting

 

I saw that a while back but couldn't find it again! Dang, I'm going to buy this at some point, aren't I?

 

I went to Jamesburg Park Conservation Area for the first time today. I entered the trails at Locust Street. I didn't realize that the entry trail is actually a super tiny thing that you can barely see on the map, so I ended up being far less along in my hike than I thought I was, and I ended up taking a turn that took me to a dead end but I didn't realize it. It was super cold to be lost in the woods, no more than 20 degrees but it was all good. I had layers on, and I got myself back on track. I also ran into a weird sidewalk in the woods. It doesn't make any sense. I don't know why it was there. Maybe it was made in the very early 1900s. This is one of the bigger areas I've ever been to, and it's going to take many visits to see it all.

 

I was hoping to have it running by this snow. But, I forgot the receiver takes a separate battery. I figured I had a 6v battery pack already but my other receivers use the main battery for power. So set me back a week.

 

Also, you prob shouldn’t run it on a public road if your neighbor has a heart monitor. Last time I did he came running out of his house and my R/C was glitching.