xx4 review

[jimmy]

agh!!! lol... I fixed all the other pages and forgot the index.html

thanks chris! vicky was beta testing !!

[tyreman]

Great review Jimmy, nice and clear.

[barnyard]

Spot on mate

Very clear and objective.

I have to agree it is a shame the instructions and some components ie ball joints and front driveshafts haven't been upgraded for the re-release. But hey changing parts would hike up the cost of the kit for little gain and being cheaper than what i paid for a xx4 some 9 years ago i aint complaining.

[Micha_MX4]

Thanks for this great review!

Very fair and objektive again I think, so you have to go for the longer or shorter
wheelbase? how much is it btw? Did I overread it?

Greets,
Micha

[ApexSpeed]

Nice work, Jimmy. It sounds like many people have had parts missing or unusable in their newly re-released kits. The QC for Losi isn't very good, these days. I'm still waiting to find replacement parts that were missing in the main diff/thrust assembly.

It's too bad there isn't a US option for the outdrive savers. Maybe Chris will sell me a bulk load of them and I can be his US distributor.


d

[jimmy]

Im sure he would mate, give him an email chrisl@trumeter.com

Thanks for the kind comments.
I thought it was quite well done, the shock tower with the missing holes was really odd though

[Northy]

I saw Stuart (can't remember his last name, Dammo's mate) fit a replacement at York reg that had no holes for the wing mounts at all!

[jimmy]

Shocking! haha


Weird how no one noticed and they sell loads of them with the same flaw ? I have 2 of them myself, I at least have some holes tho! ooer.

[BluesFan]

ApexSpeed, I swore I saw the same outdrive savers Jimmy used in his review for sale on ebay. They were listed from somewhere in the UK, so I just assumed they were from the same manufacturer Jimmy was using. I'll check later to see if I can find them.

Jimmy, once again you've written up an excellent review. You have quickly become my favorite R/C magazine! Seriously, I've longed for the days that r/c mags would just write ONE REVIEW that was honest and objective! Too bad its gotta come out of your own pocket, but I guess that's what it takes to get an honest review.

Few things I thought were worth mentioning:
1. The 'graphite' or plastic wrench included in each losi kit is usually pretty good for the wheels. I have three losi kits and those wrenches never give me problems.... for the wheels. The 1/4" size strips out quite easily and won't work very well for the 1/4" nut on the top of the shocks or front wheels on a 2WD buggy. I suggest just buying Dynamite's 5-piece nut driver set. It's only 15$ here in the states so I figure it would be some comparable price in the UK. The setup you have for your wheels on the XX4 right now should be the 3/8" size. The CVD setup should be 11/32". All these sizes are included in that set. I know its a pain to own two different sets of wrenches and nut drivers (I know, I feel the same way), but there's no changing it anytime soon. I wish everything here was just metric. It'd make things a lot easier.

2. I'm amazed you were given UJs in your kit! The new released kits over here are packed with doggies (or so I'm told)! It's mentioned on the 4wdrc.com site and other friends of mine that have picked up the new re-released kits..... hmmm... Maybe they meant 'UJs' when they said dog bones? I'll have to check. When I originally heard dogbones I thought they meant the old sliders (like what is on the rear of the ZX-5). Anyways, I just thought of that when I was reading your review. If the kits over here are packed with the UJs, I don't understand why people would complain using them over CVDs.

3. Taper pins are the bomb! lol. Hopefully sometime in your life you'll get an opportunity to run on a track where Losi taper pins are useful..... much the same as I hope to run a track someday where I get to use Schumacher mini spikes. We don't even have those for sale over here in the states. I've never seen them. Just curious, does Schumacher make them for the front too or are you guys cutting and gluing rear ones to fit the front? Also, what other tires do you guys use on your tracks? Does Schumacher make a wide variety of other tires?

[Northy]

Chris (the same person)was selling the outdrive savers on EBay recently. They will be the same ones.

G

[jimmy]

Hi bluesfan

Thanks for the kind comments like, makes it worthwhile.

There is a plastic nut wrench ? I didnt have one in my kit, unless I somehow missed it, and I did look. Thats a shame If I missed out on that as I ended up using pliars and scratching the nuts and rims..

I dont know why, but people call UJ's dogbones ? a dogbone is a single bone shaped shaft which floats between the outdrive and axle (like on the back of the zx5 like you say)..
The XX4 comes with UJ's, I think people are just confused when they say dogbone.
Shame it didnt come with the new LCD shafts really, if they are better.

hehe, to be fair with the tyres im sure they are good over there, I just cant imagine where anyone would use them over here, but yes, would love to race on more dirt tracks, cars look ace in photos on dirt also. The schumacher mini spikes are available in 4wd front yes. Outdoors at most tracks mini spikes are the only tyre to use, they work well on most surfaces with the occasional bit of spike-clipping to tame them down.

Oh, and yet, the out drive savers on ebay are being sold by chris long.

jimmy

[ApexSpeed]

Originally Posted by Northy

Chris (the same person)was selling the outdrive savers on EBay recently. They will be the same ones.

G

There is someone selling a truckload of them in titanium on eBay, too... and a painful $48 a pair.

[jimmy]

blimey!! wonder if they are old stock ? I had some Ti ones on my old XXX, very posh they were.
$48 tho! mad.

[ApexSpeed]

Yeah, it looks like the guy bought up some old hobby shop stock. He has 22 pairs to sell... at $48 a pair, he might be selling those for a LONG time. Gotta love people who are trying to get rich off of eBay.

[jimmy]

Im guessing he saw some maniac pay that much once, so thinks everyone will pay it!?
If they are that necesarry though, I cant understand why they aren't included.

[BluesFan]

Jimmy, when I get home from work this evening I'll take a pic of the Losi plastic wrench. Hopefully for the time being it isn't too difficult for you all to find US standard size nut drivers over there. I can't imagine trying to install those wheel nuts with pliers!

Secondly, I have a small request of you: If I recall you mentioned one of the updates to the re-released kits are new, stronger belts? If so, could you post the part #'s for them if they are listed in the manual? My friends that have the new re-released kits will not be racing this weekend and another friend of mine just bought a used 'old' XX4 with the older belts. He obviously would like to get the new ones so as to avoid opening that tunnel as little as possible.

Anyways, I look forward to your racing review of the buggy. I'm curious how you think it handles compared to the ZX-5. I'm also curious how you think the buggy handles once installing the new LCDs.

[Icey101]

He had 22 of them, now hes down to 15.

[ApexSpeed]

Originally Posted by Icey101

He had 22 of them, now hes down to 15.

Ugh. That's sick. :eek:

[BluesFan]

OH! I almost forgot to mention something else about your review. You mentioned something that I swear no one else has ever noticed except for you and I about Losi kits.... well, at least I never hear anyone else complain about this: Why, oh why doesn't Losi include a turnbuckle wrench that actually fits the turnbuckles?! At one point, Losi did make a turnbuckle wrench that fit, but they don't include it in the kits anymore. I've got one. It sez 'Team Losi Performance' down the side. I'll snap a pic of that too tonight. Also, the turnbuckles included are in fact Lunsford.... but Lunsford isn't too proud of 'em. Losi asked Lunsford to make them to Losi's specs. That is why if they bend Lunsford won't replace them under any sort of warranty. If you try to, they send you a letter that tells you Losi asked them to make them to a certain specification that Lunsford didn't approve, so that's why they bend so easily.

Lastly, I used to think the Losi UJs on the rear were difficult to put together as well, but I have a certain way that makes it a lot easier. First connect the ball joint to the axle. Next, screw the yoke to the drive bone. Take some needle nose pliers and pry up one end of the yoke while pushing one end of the pin (on the ball joint connected to the axle) into the other side of the yoke 'not' being pryed up. While keeping the yoke 'pryed up' angle the axle towards the pryed up end and push. It'll snap right in. Sorry if this sounds awkward, but I couldn't think of any other way to say it. Maybe I should make one of those short vids Jimmy puts in his reviews.

[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.

I have to agree about the losi QC it hes got worse in the last few years i now have a nice selection of 2 hole losi pistons ons even one without holes from this kit.

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