Finally some legal offroading in Central New Jersey!

It's an Enduro Trailrunner. A radio controlled crawler. It's not a fully licensed 5th gen 4Runner, but they got pretty close. There are some third party aftermarket parts that attempt to give this body a more authentic look. It's my first RC vehicle like this. My previous one, a Kyosho Mini Z, was good but would require a lot of shopping visits to build a track for it. With the Trailrunner, the world is my track! It gives me an excuse to get off my butt, too.

I waited for the ready to run set with the charger and battery to come into stock. It came with a "shorty" LiPo battery. I don't know how long it lasts, but I haven't drained it yet. I'll probably charge it again tomorrow night and take the truck out over the weekend.

I've got more photos and even some videos here. I'll be adding more as time goes on, but here are some from around my yard. I put together some offroading videos right here in my back yard. I wasn't the most elegant in handling the truck in those videos because I was trying to use the controller one handed, but I got the job done.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/69205803@N04/albums/72157715126277931

 

That is pretty awesome. Got a link to where you got it? Did find this. https://www.hobbytown.com/element-r...rm=4585100930901205&utm_content=rock crawlers

 

That is until Enduro releases their scale model NJ conservation officer RC, LOL.

 

This is where I got it. This is the pack that contains a battery and charger, too. The one you found doesn't include that stuff. You'd have to buy it separately. The included battery in mine must go for a while. I think I drove it 90 minutes over two days, and it didn't run out of charge. It's a "shorty" battery. I don't know how long a bigger battery would last. The truck does come with a replacement tray for a larger battery. You have to swap it out yourself, but it shouldn't be a big deal.

https://www.amainhobbies.com/elemen...tr-1-10-rock-crawler-combo-asc40104c/p1220502

 

I'm just lost, officer. I swear!

 

Think of the gas you are saving!! I like it.

 

I did some more off roading this week. I took my little Trailrunner out last Sunday night after installing a new bumper and lights. It was fun to do some off roading at night.




The light does bleed backwards into the body of the truck, so I'm going to have to seal that off one day.

I didn't do much Monday through Friday, but I went big this morning in Milltown at the Mill Pond Park. There's a walking trail there, and there are some nice off road opportunities off the trail.








I also took a couple videos today. One of them has a climb up an incline. You can see all of my pics and videos here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/69205803@N04/albums/72157715126277931

This was pretty fun! It got me off my butt, and I got to go off roading not far from home. I think I'm going to hit up parks for some off roading more often. My Trailrunner is getting me some exercise!

 

You are having way too much fun with that outfit. Do you have it insured???

 

No, but it's pretty tough! I think it's going to be okay for a while

 

Love the new bumper.

 

I'm enjoying it, too. I've heard some people say that it gets caught up on things, but it doesn't seem so bad. No worse than the original bumper.

The ready to run kit comes with loads of accessories, including the bumper, so I didn't have to buy anything extra. I did have to snip part of the bumper mounts off, though. They can go in so deep that they interfere with the steering.

 

Have you put sliders on? If so did you build them?

 

Look closely. You can see them coming from the sides. They're a stock part of the chassis. There are also skid plates of sorts, but they're of arguable utility. There's a big front skid plate, but it seems to sometimes be more of a stopper because it's angled way too high. There's also a kind of skid plate behind it, but it goes upwards. I was having some issues with things like branches and vines creeping up into the underside, so I might make some kind of flatter, wider plate to help alleviate that in the future. The lower control arms on the front don't have skid plates, but they do have small holes for adding skid plates. Unfortunately, there aren't any official skid plates to put on there. They can get bashed up, so I'm trying to be extra careful on them in my back yard with all of the bricks. I may try to fashion something to put into those lower control arm holes, but we'll see. I'm not a metal worker of any kind.

 

I just now saw in your post #7 the sliders. Looks mighty fine!

 

I went to Keystone Park in East Brunswick, NJ this morning. I don't think it's a very popular place. I must have passed by it a couple hundred times when I was a teenager going to MC Comics and never realized it was there. I didn't see anyone else there at all.

It was a far less interesting off road challenge than Mill Pond Park, but there was no pavement whatsoever. There's a little dirt road that's unfortunately gated off to vehicles that makes up most of the park. It goes towards a power substation or a water thing or something. I don't know. Towards the end of the road is a huge field. Someone must come over this way to cut the grass, but I can't imagine who. There's not really much to this place. It was still a nice walk, though. I went through the entire length of the place twice.

Even though it wasn't a big off road challenge, my little Trailrunner never got dirtier. I took it to the back yard, took the body off, and hosed it off. I then tried to hose some of the chassis without hitting the electronics and the motor too much. It's outside drying now.

 

You are going to wear that bad boy out!

 

Well, I'll just have to fix it up when it stops going

 

Awesome! You should paint the shocks to look like Kings.

 

I went to Raritan Bay Waterfront Park with my Trailrunner this afternoon. I mostly did the south end of the park (that I think is technically beyond the park) by the sports fields. It was easier to socially distance that way, and there was a lot of beach and other rough terrain to enjoy. I tried a little bit of rocky stuff at the end of my run today.

 

I finally took my Trailrunner out again today. This time the main attraction was the park that NJ Devils Way takes you to in South River, NJ. It's right by the river. The big obvious part is the lake, but to the north, to the east behind the baseball field, and around the lake there are trails that go into the woods and to the river. I only had to use the Hand of God a couple times.



The above is one of the only times I used the Hand of God. Maybe bigger tires would have gotten me up there.





Here's a video of my truck going down steps in the woods: https://www.flickr.com/photos/69205803@N04/50276683162/in/album-72157715126277931/

There are some other photos in a couple other parks I went to, but this was the best park. I'm going to go back because there are trails that I didn't even explore this time.

 

OMG are those dinosaurs?! They're like three times the size of your T4R! Did they attack?!

 

LOL! I don't have a Jeep! No, they didn't attack. I just snuck up on them very, very slowly. They moved away slightly, but they weren't too afraid. My controller has a throttle trim dial, so I can set the maximum speed. I set it very low before driving in for this shot.

 

I went back to the park at NJ Devils Way in South River today. I went further into the woods than I did last time. It was a lot of fun with the challenging off roading, and I got to get off my butt and do a little hiking. I didn't take many photos since I just wanted to enjoy myself and enjoy the challenge today, but I did take a few. The first one was a kind of hidden lake. It was too mucky to get the truck back up the hill, so I had to get down there and grab it. The second was just some graffiti that I liked. And the third shows how dirty my Trailrunner got today!

 

Maybe if you lowered the tire pressure you could made that ferocious sand hill!

 

Maybe, if there was tire pressure to begin with. They're filled with foam, not air. They do squish pretty nicely, so I guess the tire pressure equivalent isn't too far off from ideal already.

 

I went to a 4X4 gathering at Pep Boys in East Brunswick today, and then I went back to the park at NJ Devils Way today. I did more crazy off roading with my little Trailrunner than I ever did before. I didn't take pics earlier in my outing, but I did after I started trying going to new places and off the paths that I've been on before. I even crossed the gap between paths with the ditch that has old broken railroad tracks in and over it. Getting my truck down into the ditch wasn't so bad, but then I had to get down and in it! I scurried myself under one of the tracks suspended in the air. It was nuts! Unfortunately, I couldn't get my Trailrunner all the way up the other side. I had to pick it up and skip a couple feet before I could put it down again. I ran into an older gentleman with a cane out there on one of the paths who was amused by my Trailrunner. He took a bunch of pics and videos of my truck doing stuff. I caught up with him shortly before I left, and I nearly gave him a heart attack when I drove the truck up alongside him. He loved it, though. Good times!

 

I went back to Mill Pond Park today. I went far off the main walking trail this time. It was a lot of fun, and I've got to go back and explore this one area some more. There are multiple elevations to it, and I spent much of my time down as far as I could go. I've got to try the middle elevation next time. Lots of leaves were on the ground since we're deep into fall. There were lots of thorns in the area, so that took some maneuvering on my part to avoid. I only had to pick up my truck a couple times to pass things it couldn't get through, and it only flipped once. I could have avoided the flipping, but oh well. I think I'm losing my steering servo. It began being unresponsive or sticking to the right at the very end of my time out today. I'll have to give it a look later. Maybe I'll have to buy a new one.

 

So, the steering servo was the problem with my Enduro Trailrunner in my last post. I bought a new servo last Monday and installed it the same day. I haven't taken it out for a serious adventure yet, but it is working well so far. I tested it inside and did a little bit of testing in my yard.

But I gave the Trailrunner a rest today because I went down to Toms River and got myself a Kyosho Mini Z 4X4 Toyota 4Runner! It's based on the first gen!







These pics were from Kennedy Park in Sayreville. I tested the new 4Runner at home a little bit, and then I took it out. While it is possible to have fun with it outside, it's harder to have fun with it outside than the larger Enduro Trailrunner It's a lot smaller, the ground clearance is low enough that regular grass is a problem, and it's pretty slow. While the Enduro Trailrunner isn't fast, it does get up to at least a brisk walking pace. Perhaps even a jogging pace. The Mini Z 4X4 is a slow walk. It's also not the greatest on looser surfaces. You can see in the last pic that the back wheels just dug into the dirt. It's also rather top and front heavy. Getting to the top of that concrete blob was a challenge, and coming down resulted in a roll. I've heard of people modifying these Mini Z 4X4s with a single cell lipo battery and a lipo saver to help reduce some of the weight from the four AAA batteries that would normally be in the front of the chassis. I think I'm going to be looking into that myself. The shocks are very bouncy, too. I've heard of people using marine grease to make them less bouncy.

Anyway, I think I'm going to retire the Mini Z 4X4 4Runner from outdoor duty, at least for now, and keep it for indoor use. It'll be good for the winter, that's for sure. I might go back to Kennedy Park with my Enduro Trailrunner soon. It's not going to be such a challenge as going into the woods in other places I've been to, but I think it'll still be fun. I'm looking forward to trying to tackle that huge dirt hill again with my larger truck.

 

The Mini Z appears to be quite a bit smaller than the TrailRunner.

 

It totally is. One day I'll get a shot of all three of my 4Runners together. It'll be like those Russian nesting dolls