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

I just gotta some transformers from like 84 I had when I was little. I think I smashed them or something. I’m not sure what happened to to them. I got Soundwave with falcon, Devastator, and I’m waiting for my Insecticons.

 

And Ravage and Rumble.

 

I gave my Trailrunner a light overhaul over the weekend. I thought I chipped a gear in one of the diff housings, but I was able to get it rolling smoothly without having to take everything apart. I just did some work on the pinion and spur and oiled some easily accessible bearings. I then went out for a little outing this morning. I was going to go to Jamesburg Park Conservation Area, and I did for about a minute, but the bugs were too aggressive, even with my insect repellent on. I went to NJ Devils Way instead and had some fun there. Even in the one pic where it's really tight with foliage, the bugs weren't nearly as bad. Yes, I know, you might see some poison ivy in the pics. I was pretty well covered up.

 

Today was an Ireland Brook day. I took my Trailrunner there this afternoon. I went to the bigger part of Ireland Brook, of course. It was hot but not too hot. You can see the temperature was showing as 100 when I got back to my truck, but you know how those things aren't really accurate. It went down below 90 after driving for a while. Ireland Brook was still rather dry, though. It made utilizing alternative lines a lot easier. The *gasp* illegal ATV tracks were really useful since I couldn't always get the Trailrunner up onto the wood foot paths.

I also saw a few *gasp* illegal dirt bikes. Honestly, I can't get upset about them. The people I see on ATVs or dirt bikes are always riding responsibly. That means keeping it slow enough to not endanger pedestrians and wearing safety equipment of their own. I see more than enough people riding bicycles when out and about that aren't wearing at least a helmet. Even some people on motorcycles on the street that are wearing shorts and stuff. These guys on the trails are suited up properly, and that's better than I see anywhere else. They're not very noisy, and they go away fast enough. Anyone complaining about these guys ruining their hikes is a whiner. They're not seriously tearing up the trails, and it's not like the trails are exactly natural constructs to begin with. Any tracks you see in my pics are adjacent to the trails, so people who are just walking don't have to worry about a rutted out trail.

 

Got out today!

Flew the carbon cub and the UMX Timber X

 

That looks like a beautiful day for a flight!

 

Got a little windy for my intermediate skills haha. No crashes though so all in all a success!

 

I finally got out with my Trailrunner again after last weekend's scorchiness. I went to John A. Phillips Preserve and planned on doing the more southern trails. I got a decent ways in, but the bugs are really aggressive this year. When I breathed in a bug by accident, I did a U-turn and went back. Granted, it took a while to get back since I was already so far, but I did wrap things up a bit early.

 

Yesterday's dirt oval racing in Jackson, NJ got rained out, so I decided to go to The Hobby Shop in Aberdeen, NJ to turn some laps with my Mini Z cars this morning. Word is the 70 comp class is gaining some momentum, so I'm bringing back my 70 comp chassis.

The Calsonic Nissan Skyline GTR R34 JGTC is using my 70 comp chassis right now. I'm using a KT432PT transmitter with this car, and I have some upgrades done to the chassis in line with 70 comp rules. I'm running a PN 70 turn ball bearing motor, a Nexx Racing low center of gravity rear mount motor pod that's actually not prone to traction rolls, softer springs, a softer T-plate, Acer Racing ceramic bearings, a Kyosho official ball differential, and a metal 4th servo gear. I'm very happy with my 70 comp car. I'm super comfortable with it. I just had to make a minor adjustment to the center of the steering. I already had steering and throttle expos set from the last time I used it. This chassis actually used to be the standard Nissan GTR R35, but I switched the R34 body over to it since it's wider and hopefully more stable. I hope that this 70 comp class takes off because I like these upgrades, and I really like that I can finally use this transmitter in competition.

The Corvette ZR1 is my box stock which I've been using for the past couple races. It's good, but it's challenging. Turning is very responsive. It's more than I'm used to. There are no expos in the box stock class, so it's 100% finger control on the transmitter. I have the KT531 since it's the newest Mini Z FHSS protocol. I actually like the transmitter, but I like it the least with the Corvette. I think it was good when I was running the R34 as a box stock and on my AWD cars and the 4X4 4Runner.

I might go to Unreal RC down in Toms River, NJ tomorrow morning. It's a trip, and I might regret it with shore traffic being what it is. I haven't been to Unreal in months, though, and it's a great store with a small Mini Z track, an extremely challenging 4X4 course, and the most fun atmosphere at any hobby shop I've been to. I have only good things to say about all of the shops I've been to, but somehow Unreal is extra FUN!

 

I got a Traxxas Latrax Rally car after doing my Mini Z practice and tuning this morning. This is one of the cars that's popular at Friday night racing in Aberdeen, NJ in the fall and winter. I watched people racing these cars last season, and they're small and nimble and look like a lot of fun. I wanted to get it now in order to get ahead of the fall season. This one is still 100% box stock right now. Limited upgrades are legal for the class. One of them is the steering servo. The stock servo's perhaps the slowest servo I've ever owned, so that will be getting upgraded. Everything seems to be in proper working order, though. I'll slowly get it up to racing spec as November comes closer.



I'm thinking about selling my street stock car for the dirt oval. I like racing outdoors at the Jackson, NJ track. It is a great place with great people, but I don't think it works out well for me. The big thing is that it turns Friday into a LONG day, and it encroaches into Saturday. I wake up at 5:30AM on Friday morning, and sometimes I don't get home until almost 1:00AM Saturday morning. I end up waking up late and feeling beat up Saturday. I usually don't make it out with my Trailrunner on Saturdays after racing on Friday. On the other hand, Friday nights indoors in the indoor season are much better for me. It doesn't take nearly as long to complete the whole event, it's a lot closer to home, I'm usually home well before midnight, and I oftentimes am able to take my Trailrunner out early Saturday morning and then prep it later in the day to go out again on Sunday. I'm not going to be able to do much racing at the dirt oval this month, too. We already lost one Friday to rain, I'm not going to make it next week since I have a doll meet on the following Saturday, and I'll be away the last weekend of August. I'm thinking about selling the street stock car to fund a Traxxas 2021 Ford Bronco. I'll get loads of use out of that. It'll be a nice alternative to my Trailrunner, and I'll have a backup truck in case one of them is damaged. You could say that hitting the trails with my truck is my first RC love. It's my favorite thing to do with RCs. I'm not going to stop racing, though. I'm going to continue racing Mini Z even if I'm not great at it because I enjoy race days and the cars themselves, and I'm excited for the upcoming fall Friday night season. Those Friday nights last winter were so much fun. The only reason I stopped was because I broke my thumb.

 

I went to Unreal RC in Toms River, NJ this morning, and it was as fun as it always is! I mostly focused on getting my box stock Corvette Mini Z dialed in. I think it's doing well. I may go back to Aberdeen in the evening during the week, but I'm a little more confident in my Corvette. Rich, the owner of the store, got his Audi out and drove with me when I was the only person in the store. I finally beat him in a race today, too Later on in the morning I got my 70 comp Skyline out and turned a bunch of laps. I had to dial in my expos for the smaller track at Unreal, but once I got everything set up, I was able to drive really well. I also picked up a handful of Mini Z parts while I was there. And after lunch, I stopped by Hobbytown and picked up some Latrax Rally parts. Rally parts are pretty cheap. I think this will be a great class to get into

 

I went to Walter D. Faith Memorial Field this morning. It is my first time out with my Trailrunner since the end of July. It wasn't too hot, and the bugs weren't too bad. Hiking the woods was fun. I think someone cleared out a section that always gets overgrown in the summer, but I didn't take that area. I took some alternate routes instead. I went down a steep downhill, and I hit some of the hills on the side of the power line trail behind the schools. It was a fun little outing, but after I got home I found a big rock in a pocket of the chassis that was probably affecting my drivetrain. I thought I was losing a little power, and that was probably it. The woods behind the field are more fun starting in late fall because all sorts of additional routes open up.

 

I had the day off, so I went to Julian L. Capik Nature Preserve. I started out having a good outing. It was still foggy, and the sun wasn't overbearing. My Trailrunner's motor died at one point, though. I had to carry it back. I'll have to replace the motor this afternoon. I have extras.

 

Looks like a neat place. It’s a shame that you had to carry it back out.

 

It is a lot of fun. The good news is that this is the first time I've had to carry my Trailrunner out in a very long time. Probably more than a year. I went back this morning with a new motor, and it was great. I'll have pics up later.

 

I went back to Julian L. Capik Nature Preserve this morning. The sun was out more, but it was a lot less humid than yesterday. Overall, it was a much more pleasant day. Not that we do this RC stuff because it's easy, but the better weather was appreciated. My new motor's working great. The gear mesh might be a little on the tight side. It's a little noisy at low speed, but it's not too bad. I ran a similar but modified route to the one that I ran yesterday until my motor died, and then I went further and further. It was a good day for challenging the terrain alongside the trails. There was even one part of the trail that was overgrown, but I just went for it and carried on through the growth. I got stuck in the sand a couple times, but I just had to kick the Trailrunner out. It also got stuck on its side in one spot, and there was one more spot where a small stump of a tiny tree or bush or whatever was sticking up out of the ground and caught deep up inside the front end and wouldn't let go.

 

This was my first time going to Frost Woods in a while. I think I last went there when I had a broken thumb. I had noted in the past that it smells nice. It must have been in the spring because as we're getting closer to fall it's not smelling as nice anymore. I mostly stayed in the unmarked trails on the west portion of the area. The ramps for bikes can be fun, but I'm looking forward to trying them with my new Bronco. I think the Bronco's capable of going faster, so it might be able to handle catching some air. My Trailrunner just nosedives off of jumps.








I also took a couple videos, so click on these pics to view the videos.

 

I went to Jamesburg Park Conservation Area today. It was my first time there since I noped out of the place when the bugs were being ultra aggressive a month or two ago. The bugs weren't 100% calm, but they were far better behaved. I had a good time doing the big loop by Locust Ave. I've got to organize a group run of the northeastern portion of the place this fall. We'll probably be out for hours.

 

I went for a shorter outing at Mill Pond Park today. I also haven't been there in a while. It was kind of wet and not great for trekking through, but it was OK. I think my redneck engineering on the IFS is nearing the end of its usability. It looks like things are starting to wear down and throw off front end geometry. I'm not afraid of anything popping apart yet, but maintenance is going to need to be done. It's a good thing I'll have the new Bronco for active use for the next few weeks. I think I'm going to research rod ends that I might be able to use for the ends of the upper and lower arms. I have some plastic ones that should be better than the stock rod ends, but I'd like to use some metal rod ends and somehow pop the stock ballstuds into them and see how that goes. Do metal rod ends even exist? I'll have to research.

 

Here’s my collection minus mini-Zs and the Frog.

 

The green one is Nitro and has a two-speed transmission.

 

Silver is “brushless”.

 

And the Mad Crusher is a must have.

 

Top is original “Burns” from like 1983, and next to it is the current Kyosho model.

 

The Ferrari is a fun build.

 

Oh yeah! I can't wait to get this new Bronco dirty! It's my new Traxxas TRX4 2021 Ford Bronco.

 

I took my new Traxxas 2021 Bronco out to NJ Devils Way this afternoon for a brief shakedown to make sure it's working okay and to see if there's anything I'd want to change about it from an early test. It's going very well so far. I actually spent most of the time in low gear and with open differentials. It only got stuck when I was trying to test it getting stuck, and I was able to get it out with a combination of going full lock and going into high gear. I was stuck in a non-crawler mode. I couldn't figure out how to put it in crawler mode. It was pretty good with a brake, though. High speed open diffs in the grass field was also fun. I almost flipped the Bronco in a turn one time. I think it has a longer wheelbase than the Trailrunner which has effects for going over large downed branches. I looked at the links, and I don't think a high clearance link set would help. It's already pretty well clear. The driveshafts are pretty much in line with the links, unlike my Trailrunner when stock.

I was actually surprised by how much I was able to accomplish without locking the diffs. Even the sand hill that my Trailrunner had issues with on 2S was no problem with the Bronco. However, the sand might have been wetter which would have made the hill easier.

I'm going to take it out again tomorrow for what I hope will be a bigger outing.

 

I thought I wasn't going to be able to take my new Traxxas Bronco out today due to rain, but there was a lull between rain showers that I took advantage of to get some Bronco time this morning. I took it to NJ Devils Way again. It's a good spot to use in general for testing and trying things out, but it's also good in the way that you're never any more than a few minutes from your real car in case it starts raining. I mostly ran the Bronco locked today. Its off road performance was fantastic. I think I'm going to put brass hexes on the axles this week, but I'm not sure if I'm going to need them at all. Climbing and side hilling is way better than I expected it to be. You hear about other TRX4 trucks like the Land Rover being top heavy, but this Bronco body's not bad as far as weight goes. The body's not light. It's a lot heavier than my Trailrunner body since it has a lot more hard plastic parts and bracing than the Trailrunner body, but it's actually done in a way that maximizes performance. I'm quite impressed. I also put my ESC in full crawler mode. The drag brake is fierce! I'm glad I didn't immediately swap out this ESC. I thought about it, but it actually turned out to be pretty good. It and the controller control well. There's plenty of low speed control. The main thing I don't like about the controller is that the foam on the steering wheel is too hard and smooth. I'll have to replace that. I spent some time unlocked and in high, and that was fun. But the really great performance came when climbing the challenging hill past the old railroad tracks suspended in the air. I've gotten my Trailrunner up it once or twice, but it wasn't easy. It wasn't a piece of cake with the Bronco, but the Bronco did it much more easily than the Trailrunner. I was impressed. I might have to see what I can do for tires on my Trailrunner. I'm still running stock tires on that one. Or maybe it's the IFS and/or the lack of portals that's holding it back.

 

Dude! You are busy!!!!! Good on you!!!!!! I'm jelly!

 

So... Long story short, I acquired this little gem from a friend that moved... Not sure what to do with it... Guy at the hobby shop said it is "museum" quality. I wouldn't quite go that far, my buddy said he fired it up one time right when he got it. He ran it, but didn't drive it. The wheels and tread are perfect. No dirt on it or anything. Unfortunately, no radio. If there was a radio I'd probably just run it for fun but seems sacrilegious! What would you do?