xx4 review

[ApexSpeed]

Originally Posted by barnyard

The biggest problem with the turnbuckles is losi have had the pitch of the thread increased meaning they have a tendancy to be ripped out of the ball joints.

Nice catch. The stock t-buckles are standard 5-40 threads, and the Lunsford t-buckles are metric, IIRC.

how many people are having problems with the front wishbones snapping at the wheel end have 1 broken and 2 cracked.

Funny, I am chasing down an odd problem I am having with the car surging and shutting down on hard launches from a dead stop, and while I was running around the basement last night, I tore the right front corner off in a test of Newton's first law of physics with the couch. I just ordered a couple packs of front A-arms about 10 minutes ago.

They are a bit frail, in my opinion. Then again, I don't think many parts would have won in the car vs. couch confrontation.

[DCM]

Jim, yet another great reveiw.

Sweet paint job, your colour blends around the cockpit are ace.... want a source for cheap Faskolor??

[jimmy]

Cheers steve!
And yes, I do want a cheap source of faskolor! I do need a bigger range of colours like.

[Northy]

Makes the QC of the Pred sound good guys!

[ApexSpeed]

Originally Posted by jimmy

Cheers steve!
And yes, I do want a cheap source of faskolor! I do need a bigger range of colours like.

Jimmy, check the arts & crafts stores for Creatix brand water-based paints. Creatix paints are re-labled and sold for more money as "special" R/C paints as Parma FasKolor. Same exact paint, all of the colors.

Also, when you find the art store, you can also find those same little plastic bottles for paint, empty (and they are cheap, too). I use them for mixing new colors and creating new hues.



doug

[jimmy]

Originally Posted by Northy

Makes the QC of the Pred sound good guys!

I want my free plastic wheel nut wrench !!

[jimmy]

Cant find Createx over here, I asked at a shop that had some in a kit with an airbrush and they reckoned it wasnt imported any more..
I got some in canada on my honeymoon, good stuff.. wish i had got more.

not been able to find any suitable pots / bottles for mixed paints either yet..

[DCM]

Jim, PM me and I will give yo ua link for sealed jars and for createx, you can get the same size bottle for about £1.50 cheaper than Faskolor, and twice as much for about £1.50 more, plus there is lighteners and all sorts of stuff.

[jimmy]

Added a few big photos to the XX4 Review (in a seperate gallery linked from the review). Shame it was a dull overcast day!

[tyreman]

Originally Posted by jimmy

I want my free plastic wheel nut wrench !!

Think they only come in the truck kits so you will have to review one of those to get your plastic wheel nut wrench

[jimmy]

ah I dont feel so bad now!.. need to buy some nut drivers anyway, all I have is the AE plastic ones and a couple of tamiya jobs!

[GAZ]

Hey Jimmy how did you get your servo horn's so white cause they are normally a dirty yellow white color.

[jimmy]

Drove the XX4 in anger yesterday, I was surprised how much steering it had, (cells forward), once I got used to the car it was really quick. I was on the wrong tyres but the car was easy to drive fast- felt a bit distant, not sure how to describe it but even though it was going over the bumps and where I pointed it, it was almost driving its self, the zx5 was a lot more direct and felt like it needed a lot more 'driving'.
A rear belt broke, not sure if this was slipper tension or just an old belt (this was my other XX4, older worlds edition).


Looking forward to driving it again, apart from the old belt breaking, the car held up well, I was sure I would need a one way in the front but it felt good with just the clicker.

[ApexSpeed]

How heavy did you have the clicker/slipper, Jimmy?

I've been patiently waiting for the announcement that DCRacing has released their front one-way, but it never comes.

[jimmy]

It was quite tight, but still had a decent one way effect. The car had plenty of steering and was fast without a one way diff.
I would like to try it with a one way diff but the front drive shafts need upgrading so its an expensive proposition.

[Oscar]

Why not just use the Losi one way? It fits without modification and if you build them correctly, I have found them more than up to the job. I'd be happy to let you know how I build mine. Plus they are cheaper to buy [if you know where to shop ]

[ApexSpeed]

Yeah, I built the car with CVDs up front planning ahead, so that's one thing I don't need.

I've thought about the Losi one-way, but the prices that I have found were less than good with the kind of reputation they have for breaking. I haven't heard a lot of good things about the sturdiness of the Losi part, at all. What are you doing differently, Oscar?

[Oscar]

Basically what i have found , is the reason the Losi 1-way fails is due to the outdrive cup moving partially out of the one way roller bearing (which is quite small). If you can prevent this they should run fine.
The way I run mine is, firstly glue the alu saver rings in place on the outdrive cups. Secondly (possibly most important) grind down the pins on the driveshafts until they pass easily under the saver rings at all levels of suspension travel. Thirdly take a scalpel (or xacto knife or similar) to all the plastic faces which come into contact with a bearing including the outdrive cup. By scribing a cross hatch pattern or similar to all the surfaces, this will effectively raise some of the material slightly and make everything a tight push fit.
Should the worst still happen (possibly after a heavy collision) rather than replace the whole "diff" half at a cost of $27, simply dissasemble and push out the one way roller. This small bearing can be purchased quite cheaply from any good bearing supplier (approx £4 localy here).
I would post some pictures to illustrate this, but Jimmy has my 1-way at the moment for an upcoming review. If this description is not easy to understand let me know, and I'll see if I can arrange some photo's.

[Chris Doughty]

a pictoral version of the 'scoring' method

http://www.doughtyuk.net/index.php?pid=13

[Oscar]

Originally Posted by DoughtyUK.net

a pictoral version of the 'scoring' method

http://www.doughtyuk.net/index.php?pid=13

I wish I'd known Chris, you could have saved me all that typing...........