I drove it today for probably close to an hour, after cutting even more lugs off the front tires. There are still a handful of obstacles it just absolutely cannot do-- but man is it fun trying.
Through you I relived "the process" with my lil j3 MST CMX with this series. I had to... I bought another (j4) Jimny RT"W"... I get the feeling, we won't see those prices again at amain... what the heck. There's certainly a level of sadism that runs in this hobby! Great job on that little guy! I look forward to the rest of the journey!
Amain's pricing for "clearance" items is bonkers-- the J4s are still in stock but no longer on clearance, so back to 300 bucks. Meanwhile, you can still get a silver J3 for $197. Damn good deal at 200. At 300? I would quite likely look elsewhere.
@@CrawlerCanyon agreed! I think I could get behind it at 225 ish as a kit, with bearings, no radio gear or motor... I do like the painted body option. Tamiya gets away with it around that price point for the cc-kits. But $300 is too much . $200 is probably a little cheap as an rtr in this market. $250 is the sweet spot for this rig out of the box. If I sell the radio gear, esc, motor, tires on ebay ($40-50 all day) we're talking $150ish out the door with a little effort, and then (as most hobbyists would agree) you can justify a $150 budget building it the way it should have come in the first place for $300 🤣
Loving this series. That 80t looks super smooth and the whole car looks like it's working better on the rocks 👍. Before clicking, I thought we might be seeing some of your custom links on this :). Those bent rod ends look perfect to fix the binding with the straight ends
I'm still not ruling out brass for the lowers, especially as I would have to make 4 identical links. I can't bring myself to make delrin uppers though, as I think they would weigh exactly the same as the plastic uppers, if not a little more. I'm justifying my laziness by acknowledging that I don't know if the link lengths and mounting positions are final. Still fiddling with the binding in the front.
Very cool. I would say replace the links, maybe stretch the wheelbase a 1/4” front and a 1/4 to 3/8 in the rear. Trim the fenders ever so slightly, should make it pretty good.
I think I'm gonna go ever so slightly wider (SSD style steel beadlocks in "deep dish" mode) as the clearances in the front are TIGHT. The SOA just barely fits in the "hole" between the bumper mount and the main chassis brace. A low-profile servo could help with a clearance a little, but I think it's just less invasive to add more track than it is to add wheelbase on this lil' guy.
@@CrawlerCanyon By looking at the profile, it looks like the wheelbase doesn’t fit the body, maybe its the camera. I will stay tuned for the progression. 🤙🏽
Well, it fit a lot better with the OE 90mm tires. 100mm tires (which are what's on there now) are about the absolute maximum, and they still rub quite a lot. The knock-off tires are definitely not final, but now that they're cut up they're pretty fun.
Impeccable timing on the narration to the running video. What’s the name on the little guy? Maybe Thomas…. As in Thomas the Tank “I think I can I think I can”……
Rocking some RC4WD 1.9 Dick Cepek FC-II's on my J4 and they are the perfect size, real sticky, decent tread pattern but kind of narrow. Best I've found so far, might try some of their wider 1.7's soon.
I personally have better luck with heavier shock oil myself personally too! Light weight oil doesn't absorb spring rate. Very nice number 1 & 2 Very Awesome looking like proformence plus 10! Very cool!
I mean, I love a challenge as much as the next guy, but I think that might be like the Little League World Series MVP taking pitches from Jacob DeGrom. A VP Phoenix couldn't beat Lil' Yella.
I think the overall amount of travel only increased a tiny bit-- the amount of flex is understandably limited by the 70mm shocks. But now the front end doesn't bind, so it far more capable as an actual rock crawler. Like, it was noticeable hitting the first obstacle. Much better suspension action.
great info and overview of the rc
From ZERO to HERO! Amazing.
I drove it today for probably close to an hour, after cutting even more lugs off the front tires. There are still a handful of obstacles it just absolutely cannot do-- but man is it fun trying.
Through you I relived "the process" with my lil j3 MST CMX with this series. I had to... I bought another (j4) Jimny RT"W"... I get the feeling, we won't see those prices again at amain... what the heck. There's certainly a level of sadism that runs in this hobby! Great job on that little guy! I look forward to the rest of the journey!
Amain's pricing for "clearance" items is bonkers-- the J4s are still in stock but no longer on clearance, so back to 300 bucks. Meanwhile, you can still get a silver J3 for $197. Damn good deal at 200. At 300? I would quite likely look elsewhere.
@@CrawlerCanyon agreed! I think I could get behind it at 225 ish as a kit, with bearings, no radio gear or motor... I do like the painted body option. Tamiya gets away with it around that price point for the cc-kits. But $300 is too much . $200 is probably a little cheap as an rtr in this market. $250 is the sweet spot for this rig out of the box. If I sell the radio gear, esc, motor, tires on ebay ($40-50 all day) we're talking $150ish out the door with a little effort, and then (as most hobbyists would agree) you can justify a $150 budget building it the way it should have come in the first place for $300 🤣
Loving this series. That 80t looks super smooth and the whole car looks like it's working better on the rocks 👍. Before clicking, I thought we might be seeing some of your custom links on this :). Those bent rod ends look perfect to fix the binding with the straight ends
I'm still not ruling out brass for the lowers, especially as I would have to make 4 identical links. I can't bring myself to make delrin uppers though, as I think they would weigh exactly the same as the plastic uppers, if not a little more. I'm justifying my laziness by acknowledging that I don't know if the link lengths and mounting positions are final. Still fiddling with the binding in the front.
Very cool. I would say replace the links, maybe stretch the wheelbase a 1/4” front and a 1/4 to 3/8 in the rear. Trim the fenders ever so slightly, should make it pretty good.
I think I'm gonna go ever so slightly wider (SSD style steel beadlocks in "deep dish" mode) as the clearances in the front are TIGHT. The SOA just barely fits in the "hole" between the bumper mount and the main chassis brace. A low-profile servo could help with a clearance a little, but I think it's just less invasive to add more track than it is to add wheelbase on this lil' guy.
@@CrawlerCanyon By looking at the profile, it looks like the wheelbase doesn’t fit the body, maybe its the camera. I will stay tuned for the progression. 🤙🏽
Well, it fit a lot better with the OE 90mm tires. 100mm tires (which are what's on there now) are about the absolute maximum, and they still rub quite a lot. The knock-off tires are definitely not final, but now that they're cut up they're pretty fun.
Some dark, misguided piece of my soul longs to see untold amounts of brass grace it's tiny undercarriage. I'm talkin ten pounds on that 8" wheel base.
Impeccable timing on the narration to the running video. What’s the name on the little guy?
Maybe Thomas…. As in Thomas the Tank “I think I can I think I can”……
Rocking some RC4WD 1.9 Dick Cepek FC-II's on my J4 and they are the perfect size, real sticky, decent tread pattern but kind of narrow. Best I've found so far, might try some of their wider 1.7's soon.
I think we’d be friends nice progress
I personally have better luck with heavier shock oil myself personally too! Light weight oil doesn't absorb spring rate. Very nice number 1 & 2 Very Awesome looking like proformence plus 10! Very cool!
Is it gonna have the sand to hang with Lil’ Yella in the 6-gate?
I mean, I love a challenge as much as the next guy, but I think that might be like the Little League World Series MVP taking pitches from Jacob DeGrom.
A VP Phoenix couldn't beat Lil' Yella.
Lolz
How much more travel/flex did you get with the RC4WD rod ends?
I think the overall amount of travel only increased a tiny bit-- the amount of flex is understandably limited by the 70mm shocks. But now the front end doesn't bind, so it far more capable as an actual rock crawler. Like, it was noticeable hitting the first obstacle. Much better suspension action.