Mini-z 4x4 4Runner

[CrawlingSF]

Hey guys,

After years of owning a a couple miniz including Overlands and 4WD Xmods, dreams have come true and a 4x4 miniz has released just recently. Good timing for me since I’ve been working from home and staying indoors as much as possible during this pandemic. I wanted to post this to see how other mini-z 4x4s are sitting today.

After about a week of daily use, I'm surprised Kyosho didn't charge more for this thing. The tight steering is amazing since the drivetrain is fully locked like most if not all 1/24 4x4s. Overall, I think Kyosho perfected the balance in scaling parts and realistic performance with suspension play. The low speed control is amazing for its size. I haven't played with gearing since it came with the smallest/lowest gear ratio. The box described a slipper clutch that's suppose to save the drivetrain from shock but I don't notice and slip when going full speed reverse then full throttle forward. Anyway, here is how mine sits today:

First thing done was I removed the rear spare and mount to climb up steeper inclines and balance the body/chassis.





Hot racing 9.5 wheel weights helped a lot since the body seems pretty heaving. I also have HR's 9g weights that I need to trim to fit around the front hub and trim to avoid contact with the front track bar. A little putty or modeling clay can be used in between the wheel and weight to secure it.


With the wheel weights and lower center of gravity and doesn't flip as much. Instead it would lay on its back and I can go reverse from there to get it back on 4 wheels.


Picked up some M2x8mm "set screws" off ebay to get rid of the stock screws that secure the wheels. Now I can use lock nuts and the hub thread won't wear from continuous removal. You can also see the grease leaking from the suspension. I need to figure out a better solution since the shocks oil filled gets rid of most of the bounce and weight transfer and looks more realistic crawling around.


Though, I probably won't be removing the wheels too often until I can find a better tire/wheel combo. Ideally, I can mount a wider and heavier wheels and grippier tires. Don't think I can mount taller tires since the current tire fits nicely when suspension is fully compressed. Also, can't go with a wider tire since the from track bar gets within a mm or so at full lock either direction.


At some point, when I have my soldering gun on me, I'd like to remove the windows from the frame to trim these parts on the top of the shell.

[distress]

Awesome info! Just got mine and I haven’t messed with it too much but that low end control and precision really shocked me. The body detail is incredible. So fun to drive. I may have to pick up some of those wheel weights.

[MattTheGenus]

I'm in the same boat with xmods and the overland. Haven't pulled the trigger on one yet but I'm definitely going to take your set screw idea for the wheel nuts.


Does the body need to be that high or do you think it can be lowered?

[CrawlingSF]

They’re currently back instock at Amainhobbies FYI.

Originally Posted by distress

Awesome info! Just got mine and I haven’t messed with it too much but that low end control and precision really shocked me. The body detail is incredible. So fun to drive. I may have to pick up some of those wheel weights.

Low end control is unbelievable. I didn’t see this in any competitor. It’s as slow as the old xmod truck or overland using servos as motors for low gearing!

Originally Posted by MattTheGenus

I'm in the same boat with xmods and the overland. Haven't pulled the trigger on one yet but I'm definitely going to take your set screw idea for the wheel nuts.


Does the body need to be that high or do you think it can be lowered?

It can’t be lowered out of the box. Adding grease to the stock shocks lowered it about a millimeter. If you did lower it, the tires would rub. The tires fit perfectly in the wheel well at full compression.

You can either cut a head of a 8-10mm screw and clean the thread. I don’t have many tools available so I ordered these for $6:



You can either go finger tight or use a hex key to tighten. I ordered a .9mm hex key to make sure they’re snug since I can’t feel if the m2 is spinning or not when snuggling up in the thread before installing the lock nut.

[CrawlingSF]

Got a couple things in the mail today. I think the next move is more grip, maybe shave off the tire mold seam.

Small hex wrench for the “wheel studs” 0.89 or .9mm is what you would need. My fingers were sore trying to tighten with bare fingers.


Got another set of Hot Racing wheel weights that I trimmed and shaved to fit around the front hub and steering. Seems to be pushing instead of climbing up over objects on my coffee table like it use. I think this is due to the lack of grip. Also, going down steep inclines, it seems to flip over on itself instead of rolling on the front two wheels and balancing for a fraction of a second then landing in the rear. I’m probably going to remove the front weights to confirm performance is worse, until I get grippier tires or lower battery weight. I’d rather not fabricate the actual chassis though. I may trim the body I crossed out in my very first post. https://ibb.co/VSh4XFY

They’re now 5g so I removed 4.5g each. Now it says 5g instead of 9.5g. Kinda worked out aesthetically.





Flat side that sits inside the wheel.

[CrawlingSF]

Trying these out to get rid of some battery weight.

Amazon basics at 52 grams for 4 nimh.
A LiPo pack would be around 18 grams from what I’ve read.

These are 28 grams for 4 li-ions rated at 1.5V each.

[txbart]

Originally Posted by CrawlingSF

Trying these out to get rid of some battery weight.

Amazon basics at 52 grams for 4 nimh.
A LiPo pack would be around 18 grams from what I’ve read.

These are 28 grams for 4 li-ions rated at 1.5V each.

What’s the mAh on those?

[CrawlingSF]

They’re only rated at 400mAh. I can probably get around 30 mins of crawling around the living room. I wanted light so I had to get the lowest mAh which is fine since I only run it around 10-15mins a session.

They’re advertised to charge to full capacity within an hour.

After a couple runs with the lighter batteries, I noticed a bit more punch, likely due to the continuous 1.5V. Because of this, I’m hesitant to run these li-ons often. I’ll have to check voltage with a multimeter when they’re fully charged.

With less 24 less grams in the high mounted battery holder, it’s well balanced now. Instead of rolling forward, it will now balance on the front bumper slowly rolling down a steep decline.


Without the top heavy body, it can climb up about 80 degrees up. I used the my phones app to measure these grades. With the body, it climbed up and down about 70 degrees.

[NevetsG]

They are going fast, and I was lucky to find one. I was hoping to add some things to make it look even more realistic, but it tends to roll over. Wheel weights are a must, and if I add more weight to the shell, it is going to be difficult to find a good balance to keep in grounded. I may make my own weights using my 3d printer, and as I model up stuff I put the file out there for other folks to use.

Pic I took on the shakedown run:

[CrawlingSF]

Nice pic! Skid plates would add some weight and protective the underbody. Anyone interested in designing and printing some? Hehe

[NevetsG]

Originally Posted by CrawlingSF

Nice pic! Skid plates would add some weight and protective the underbody. Any interested in designing and printing some? Hehe

I was going to do it, but they have a set built into the mounting bracket, not sure if I can improve on it.

I've already done some designs for the WPL C44 and put them on Thingiverse:

https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:4151593

I used brass rod in that project, and I could do possibly work on something for smaller rods.

I'm currently working on a jerry can rack to mount next to the tire, so that is further down the list.

[CrawlingSF]

I was most interested in protection for the differentials. If I had those protected, I’d take it crawling outdoors lol

[CrawlingSF]

Spaced out the wheels about 1.5mm



Had to flip the rear wheels weights to avoid hub contact so it looks like this now. Not sure if I’m into it, might spray black. You can also see the 12mm set screws I installed to act as “wheel studs”. Hopefully, these are long enough when I use wheel hub adapters to run the more common hex wheels like the scx24.


I wouldn’t have had to shave the front wheel weight lips as much if I had these spacers at the time.

[CrawlingSF]

1M team associated diff oil is way to thick but doesn’t leak. Going to try 100k diff oil next.

Suspension not compressing as much as I’d like it to. So it wants to flex the axles before compressing the springs.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1on5...OiHVa8-3WmsXxs

Looking at existing RC shielding for inspiration haha

[CrawlingSF]

Need a better printer to redo this. Maybe I’ll get this printed on photo paper.



Apparently, letting the printer cool down for about an hour will give you better prints after some use.

[NevetsG]

Bone stock:



Current mods:

[CrawlingSF]

Looking good NevetzG! What kind of paint do you use to paint the faux wheel bolts and tow hooks?


Small update on my end: definitely print on photo paper if you make a license plate:

[CrawlingSF]

Found an exhaust tip. Might keep it on..

[CrawlingSF]

Scx24 c10 wheels and tires are too big for my taste. Anyone looking for a set?

[CrawlingSF]

Went back to stock wheels and tires. I added 2mm spacers. The best thing about spacers is you can fit the HR wheel weights without any trimming. Here’s slow motion clips showing the stability with greased shocks.

https://streamable.com/xsc7p2

https://streamable.com/w01vd5