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

For my Trailrunner and Bronco, I run about 5000mAh 35c batteries typically, though I do have one 5200mAh 50c battery and one really old 4500mAh 35c battery. All 3S lipos.

For Mini Z cars and the Mini Z 4Runner, it's either 750mAh or 900mAh NIMH AAA batteries.

For Redcat Lightning STK racing, it's a 2000mAH NIMH stick style battery.

For Traxxas Latrax Rally racing, the NIMH ones that Traxxas sells for them. They're one cell more than the one that comes in the box with the car itself. You can't buy the ones that come with the car separately. I forget all of the details.

For everything else, whatever the vehicles came with. Usually some kind of lipo.

 

Yesterday was a nice day, but I decided to read comic books and watch anime. Well, at least it was relaxing. I took my Enduro Trailrunner out today. It was a Julian L. Capik Nature Preserve kind of day. I started in the later Sunday morning, and a baseball game was being played. I passed by the baseball field and went to the trails. Of course, just a few feet into the trails, I pulled my right front tire off of the bead. There was a lot of grass or something. I guess it's an IFS thing. The grass gets caught in the front end, and things want to pull themselves apart. I don't get the problems of the control arms popping off anymore since I sturdied those up, but now the tires are susceptible. I could've just changed tires to my spare, but I decided to take a few extra minutes to redo the beadlock on the wheel. I got the tire straightened out and put everything back together. I used the battery cover from my transmitter as a little tray for all of the screws. It worked nicely. I didn't lose anything. Besides that, it was a fairly uneventful but fun outing. There's a lot more greenery, though the bugs aren't overly annoying yet. It's a really nice time to go out and do RC truck stuff. I'm happy I went out today.

I have to remember to take my TRX4 Bronco out next time. If I remembered that I got one of those aftermarket Mark Santa Maria one hand steering adapters but didn't get a chance to try it out last weekend since it was raining too much, I would've taken the Bronco out today. Oh well.

 

How many airplanes can you fit in a 4Runner?



The answer is: not enough. A utility trailer is in my future But for now me and my son are having a lot of fun.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8uph_aYqiaA

 

^ Makes me miss flying! Great flying by Joey. I don't have a picture of it, but I built a PVC rack to go in the back of my old 4Runner. Fuselage would go on the floor. Wings would go above it on the PVC rack. Cleared up some room on the floor for stuff.

Funny story- My friend and I were invited to fly at a new field on a military base. We were unpacking and in comes a guy in an old 4-door sedan... He had a plane (small biplane if I remember correctly) strapped to the roof! Apparently, "The Colonel" does this all the time and hasn't had any issues. Crazy sight to see.

 

Picked up this 22$ drone to train my son. Not bad at all.

 

I went to Jamesburg Park Conservation Area with my Traxxas TRX4 2021 Ford Bronco today. I went around the big loop towards the west and worked my way east to the smallest loop there and ended up back where I parked. I used this outing as an opportunity to try out my new Mark Santa Maria steering wheel thumb adapter for my Traxxas remote. It was easy to install. It's decent to use, too. I'd rather have it than not have it. I think it could use a bit more thickness in the area where your thumb controls the steering, though. I saw a guy there who was taking photos of all of the plants in bloom. We had a nice little conversation and then I went off and drove my Bronco around. It was a beautiful morning for going out and enjoying the hike.

 

Took out the old wings today.

 

Yesterday was rainy, but today turned out to be very nice. I went to Frost Woods in the afternoon with my Trailrunner. It continued to perform nicely. It's still very dependable. Frost Woods has seen a lot of plant growth since the last time I went there. The nice scents of the spring in the New Jersey woods were a pleasant addition to today's outing.

 

I get to sniff some paint.

 

This buggy is already painted!

 

Today was a nice mid/late spring TRX4 Bronco outing. It was actually hot for a while, but it wasn't too bad. I think the Bronco's motor is beginning to go. I had to gas it soon after turning it on or else it wouldn't stay on. It was fine after that, though. Considering how most people don't have good luck with the stock motor and I put a whole bunch of miles on the thing, I guess I can't complain too much.

I went to Julian L. Capik Nature Preserve today. A lot of growth has occurred. There were some parts where I was up to my armpits in growth and couldn't see my Bronco as I was driving it. At least the bugs aren't too bad yet. I also experimented with holding my camera upside down while taking a few photos which gave me a better perspective. I think I'm going to do that more often. I was going to explore the trails across from the power lines, and I did a bit, but I ended up taking this interesting looking trail that sent me right to the power lines. Oh well. I just went with it.

I also saw some people on horses. The horses were blindfolded! I guess they can handle it as long as someone is riding them. I guess it calms them down so beginners can ride them more safely, too.

 

Today turned into a late Enduro Trailrunner day on Memorial Day. I wanted to get out earlier, but I've been having a bad neck day... actually few weeks. I didn't do yesterday's Mini Z race because of it. It took me a morning of resting and stretching to get my neck feeling comfortable enough to hit the trails. I'll have to see how things go.

I did a little outing at the woods behind Walter D. Faith Memorial Field this afternoon. I took two batteries and changed them at the halfway point, but I think the new Holmes Hobbies motor is too efficient for that. I could've gotten away with charging one battery and running only that one today. I'm storage charging my batteries right now, and they both have a long way to go. It's unlike the Bronco yesterday where I got them to storage pretty much immediately.

Walter D. Faith was fun. There was some challenging terrain. I didn't spot the entrance to the one trail leading to the power lines at first, so I ended up going down the danger downhill and crossing some rough terrain to get to the power lines through an alternate trail. I was surprised that my Trailrunner didn't get stuck at all.

 

Tamiya builds a great kit. This is a shaft drive compared to kyosho’s optima belt drive.

 

Looks like fun! I have to get myself a buggy. I doubt I'll ever race it, but it'll be fun to whip around somewhere.

 

Thanks, I got a lot done. My Yorkie absolutely loves RC’s. Im going to run my Frog a couple times then use the radio, receiver, and servo from it. I think this came out in 1985.

 

I got that metal windshield piece to lock under better. And antennas are up

 

Sooooooo.... I brought this home yesterday. Going to start an airplane hauler build

 

I got out to John A. Phillips Open Space Preserve with my Enduro Trailrunner today. I was/still am having some health issues, but I think I'm going to be OK. I was perhaps sweating more than I'd like, but it was about mid 80s and kind of humid. I'm feeling pretty good, and I made it through about an hour and a half long outing without too much trouble. The Trailrunner did OK, too. It didn't want to run at first. It was a radio receiver problem. I opened up the receiver box, disconnected the servo and ESC cables, sprayed everything with WD40, and got everything running again. I'll have to hit the receiver box with some fresh dielectric grease later.

 

Is that skunk cabbage?

 

I have no idea!

 

Did someone say 4S?

 

Akio Toyoda could not possibly satisfy me as much as this truck would.

 

I had a couple hours out at Jamesburg Park Conservation Area and then NJ Devils Way. I had to call off Jamesburg Park early because the bugs are just too aggressive. Off! is not cutting it there. The bugs especially liked my bald spot. I was slapping myself in the head and usually getting a bug squished under my head every few seconds. It was madness. I need to up my insect repellent game and get a hat that has flaps that come down the sides. I've seen outdoorsy hats like that. I should go to REI and see what they have. Anyway, I went to NJ Devils Way afterwards and had a much less buggy outing. I looped around the main trail area a few times and had fun. My Trailrunner had a good time climbing up obstacles.

I did have problems with the radio system again that required WD40. I'm going to have to strip out the receiver box, blow out the receiver with hot air, and clean the electrical contacts. I also lost my Maxtrax boards right before leaving. I backtracked to try to find them, but I couldn't find them. I'm a bit miffed about it. Not because I lost them, but because I didn't want to litter. I'm not too broken up about not having them anymore. I never used them, and they were a pain to reposition. I probably won't get any more of them.

 

I took the ol' Trailrunner out for a late morning outing at the woods behind Walter D. Faith Memorial Field. I did not install my upgrades this weekend since I've been sore from exercising during the week. I'm doing OK, but my doctor said to get some more exercise and lose a few pounds. I've started with Fitness Boxing for Nintendo Switch.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5s46efcroQ0

Anyway, the Trailrunner. It's running nicely. I had a nice outing. I was out for about 90 minutes, I think. I didn't want to overdo it out in the woods since I'm so sore, but I was OK today. I also used my new hat with neck and face protection. I think I actually have the face portion on backwards, but I think I'm going to leave it this way. If it ain't broke, you know? It wasn't upsetting my face. I actually didn't even use any of the new insect repellent today. I just used the old Off! stuff, and I didn't apply anything to the hat. Most areas of the woods at these trails aren't too terribly buggy, but the hat and shielding did a decent job of protecting my head from bugs all on its own. The porous portion on the front was also decent with airflow, and my glasses didn't fog up. I also didn't get too hot with the hat on my head. It was only about 80 degrees, but it was very humid.

In other scale offroad news, I saw RC Review's video about the FMS Mashigan coming back. That's the Jeep Wrangler TJ knockoff that came out a while back but got pulled, seemingly after they got a cease and desist. I'll have to see if it's still available next month. I might be a bit bad and get a couple of them. One for running, one to keep nice and for parts in the underpinnings of the chassis and whatnot. I was going to get a Traxxas TRX4 Sport unassembled kit and put an Injora Jeep Wrangler hard body on top of it, but I want the Mashigan's shorter wheelbase more. Who knows? I might end up putting a TRX4 Sport chassis under the Mashigan body one day.

 

I took my Traxxas TRX4 Bronco out last Saturday. It was a good outing. I was out for a solid two hours of hiking. I did take a break at the middle, but that time didn't factor into my hiking time. I went all over the place and still didn't see everything. I spent some time on the power line trails and went further with them than I ever did before. The Bronco also had a little obstacle going in the middle of and up a crevasse. The old wheels and tires are gone, but now there's a toilet in the woods. I don't know.









This morning, I put some new stuff on my Enduro Trailrunner. I didn't take pics except for one. I put on the Bowhouse steering parts for the first Enduro IFS system. I put on the Bowhouse bell cranks and steering rack. I have the Bowhouse IFS aluminum mounting plate, but I didn't put it on today. All in all, I'm feeling like I could take or leave it. I know I didn't do every little thing, especially not using the mounting plate, but I still don't know if it was worth the effort. I also put on the Artful Dodgers IFS stainless steel skid plate. That thing is a hoot to put on, but once you get it on it seems decent. I took it out for a brief outing, and it seemed to do okay. The stock skid plate is actually a very bad angle and has a section that's a hard, almost completely vertical edge that can get caught on things. This new skid plate has a better angle and no hard edge. I found myself getting caught less on things like tree roots. I even intentionally tried sliding over things, and I was more able to do it now with the Artful Dodgers skid plate. So, while it's a pain, it might be worth it.

One more thing, while I was out at NJ Devils Way doing my testing, I caught something in the IFS and stretched the rod end on the upper control arm. The steering linkage also popped. The steering linkage might have popped no matter what due to the nature of the stuff getting caught, but it was still interesting how I never had the steering linkage pop before, and now that I have the Bowhouse steering rack it popped on its first outing. The Bowhouse steering setup is such that the linkages are attached lower than they used to be, so maybe that had something to do with it. Anyway, I was able to pop the steering linkage back together easily, and I swapped out the stretched rod end on the upper control arm without too much trouble. I brought extra tools and parts with me so I could do some repairs in the back of my 4Runner if I needed to.

It was supposed to be rainpocalypse for the extended holiday weekend, but we've had a lack of rain. I've got a couple batteries charging so I can challenge the 6 mile run at Jamesburg Park Conservation Area early tomorrow morning. If it rains, it rains. I'm not going to just stay inside wishing I had charged batteries when I thought it was going to be rainy. Today's outing was with my oldest battery pack that I keep for testing purposes. I keep it charged even if it's not good for the battery.

 

Today was an Enduro Trailrunner day at Jamesburg Park Conservation area. The new skid plate from Artful Dodgers seems to be doing a good job. My front shocks need work, though. The lower o-rings must've given out again. I already ordered some new o-rings, this time from HPI. I hear they're better and will have less problems with leaking shock fluid. The big thing today was that it was a six mile or so hike. At least it wasn't too hot and humid. It began raining right after I got home, so I lucked out. I prepped a lot with insect repellent and my hat, but the bugs weren't too bad today. I saw a turtle and a snake as well as the usual birds and squirrels. I didn't see any deer, but I've seen deer there in the past.

 

Warning for language, but here's an RC Toyota conquering a big obstacle course.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GXLlDb-BdQQ