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Old 2020.05.12, 04:30 PM   #1
pfcparts
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Mini Z 4x4

Anyone lucky enough to get one of these?

Two questions:

1. Slipper clutch looks interesting, but no way to adjust it seemingly. I have a feeling the spring will wear fast. How do they hold up?

2. Did Kyosho ever take care of the reverse or does it still require a full stop? I ask because batteries are high and in the front and stopping on an incline is probably a flip. I picked up a FWD type r last year and if I recall correctly a full stop was still required for reverse.

We've been wanting an overland 4x4 for about the last 10 years lol. This looks great but I worry about it being more of a basher a la the xmod evolution truck than an actual crawler.

4th gen Toyota pickups are great classics (my first vehicle was a 4th gen longbed) and this being a hilux in almost the same color was a no brainer.
Pre-ordered one from Amain yesterday as they had a free ship and $15 off. Hopefully they get in stock soon.

Cheers.
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Old 2020.05.13, 10:17 AM   #2
arch2b
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No deliveries from KYO USA to all of my local LHS, I know of 1 that has them. I want one out of sheer curiosity as crawling really isn’t my thing. I loved Overlands but like most, wished they were 4wd. I’m fine with being patient, no need for me to rush to buy one but will end up with one. Can’t avoid the temptation to paint bodies as well . Really want to get some Dakar livery’s done.
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Old 2020.05.14, 12:06 AM   #3
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That's actually pretty cool. Regular painting or airbrush?

These 4x4 bodies are supposed to be sturdier so maybe they will be the thickness of the glosscoat days as opposed to fine hand polish crap.

Horizon told me they were getting them in mid month so hopefully shops will get them in sometime this week or next, but again Amain has coupons and free shipping right now.

Kind of wish they went with worm gears and some slower options but this seems like a weird hybrid of racing and crawling. If I recall kyosho already has some sort of awd buggy for racing when I left a few years back...

If anything the hilux will look pretty nice on my desk or one of my displays.

Not expecting much, but we'll see how the slip diff works when I get it in.
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Old 2020.05.14, 10:09 AM   #4
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From the FB reviews, the gearing seems to be getting highly marks, as well as speed and controllability of speed.
Lots of complaints about battery choice but that’s to be expected for Mini-Z. I don’t mind really, I personally prefer cells that don’t have the potential to Burma my house down and require storage and use of specialized fire-resistant containment.
Crawlers note the high CG particularly with the 4Runner due to spare tire and batteries. I’m not part of the crawler community so not really a concern for me as I really just wanted a capable 4wd Overland really.

The 4Runner chop jobs being shown on FB are intriguing as well, making pickups out of them which I’m sure also helps with CG. Just so much modding potential with these, that aspect that I enjoyed so much with Overlands. No need to work in brass anymore though . So much easier to work with 3d printing like Brian Swayney who is making all kinds of scale gear.
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Old 2020.05.14, 03:39 PM   #5
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I had a friend who called the LHS, which doesn't carry much K items, but they happened to get some on the initial order a few weeks back. Luckily the LHS was doing phone orders and curbside pickups, so my friend also got one (Red Toyota)) for me and the Silver Toyota for his son. It's been a great addition to my other mini-z vehicles. So far it's been fairly durable, even though i've been sharing it with a Kindergardener. After quite a bit of abuse from younger drivers, a front steering knuckle eventially broke, but it still works in 3wheel-drive Just an $6 part to repair.

It's definately more of a crawler, than a bash vehicle like the mini-z Monster, or Overland, and much, much more capable on outdoor terrain. I've taken it up fairly steep hard packed dirt trails and was amazed how easily it was able to go up, as well as descend. To the point about the AAA batts up front, there will be some rolls once you get past a certain degree of incline, but i don't notice it being a major issue on the outside terrain i've been on so far. The stock gearing at 10t, like Arch said works very well out of the box, and braking down inclines has actually worked fine for me, but most of the time the gearing is such that you can just ease off to creep slowly.

The slipper seems to being doing it's job for me so far. Looks like there's a little tear-down to get to the slipper nut to loosen/tighten, but have had no need to wrench on this yet.

Body is very durable, and the new clip system works great after you get used to it. My body. I ended up taking the back tire/mount off, and I like the handling better with the extra weight removed. I may further modify the canopy to a pickup, but still thinking thru the process so I don't butcher it.

I saw they added two more colors to the Suzuki Jimny model, so hopefully well see some more Toyota colors, and new body offerings in the coming months.
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Old 2020.05.15, 12:11 AM   #6
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Brass knuckles wouldn't be too bad to keep the weight a little on wheels. A little reinforcement from them is a plus as well. Hopefully some oil shocks soon. I thought I saw a few brass pieces on some japanese sites already scouring for some old ascs. These ebay prices on ascs are unbelievable lol.

Bz, your review is making the wait even tougher lol. Thanks for the input. I can't wait to fully tear it down and see how the thing works. I've seen some vids on sites and it looks like the slipper hinders climbing on the rears. I may try to put another spring in the slipper for some dual action lol or at the least to make it grip more. I'm hoping they get some 80's truck ascs. Wouldn't mind a 4runner either.

****** seems to have them in stock, but they don't ship overseas right now (pick up only) because of the craziness going on. Being in where Zs are made, ****** usually gets things around two-three weeks ahead of US in the past, so hopefully we see them by the end of the month here.

With how things are who knows.
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Old 2020.06.18, 05:11 PM   #7
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Some thoughts.

Box came with like 3 different re-tapings from Kenon... A week to get to me... and also suspect. I'm thinking I should have just have paid extra and got an imported one.

I deal with transformers a lot so re-taping is no issue to me as sometimes they revise the item and may include fixes. Usually this involves re-taping but with the same tape used.

This item from Kenon was actually excessively taped and different tape was used... Also, one of the screws on the front left knuckle was completely mangled and hanging off of it lol. Whoever did it used a screwdriver that was larger than needed... since the other knuckle was fine, I have questions.

I am assuming Kenon doesn't ship out used/demo ****, but I have been sent crap before from some US sites. Makes me wary of buying from them from now on and from US sites in general. I suppose things haven't changed that much.

Other than that truck seems fine.

Autoscale is very detailed. Great paint, decals, and even chrome bits. Bumpers even have tow hooks which was a nice touch.

It is mounted by some steel wires which is pretty nice. The one thing bad about mounting autoscales is you have to flex the body to install/remove it. On older ascs sometimes the flex would cause cracking. You can shave off quite a bit of the clip to make it easier, but there will always be a need to flex the body to get it off.

The rest of the plastic chassis wise seems to have pretty bad flashing and sharp edges.

No lug nuts. The wheels are screwed on.

Shocks are pretty crap, but they look like the yellow oil shocks from the 02/03 option. I wonder if they are a direct swap. If not anyone who has rebuilt an oil shock would simply need an o-ring and diaphragm to make their own. I think it's possible here and kyosho even offers an oil shock rebuild option if I recall correctly. I'll check to see if I have any parts to mod it.

Well designed. Good articulation, but front heavy.

To be honest it feels like an updated xmod evo truck lol. Those things were pretty fun but they were 50 bucks as opposed to this 200 offering. I don't know if that comparison is praising xmods or insulting mini z...

Somewhat capable crawler to a point, but I don't get what they are trying to do. They already have a 4wd buggy so the dual focus of speed and crawling here doesn't make that much sense. No one is looking to race or jump these... They should have just simply focused on pure crawling here. I don't know how the slipper clutch will hold up due to its design but I may just lock it.

Will post some more thoughts after I get around to breaking it down but for now I'm pretty disappointed all around.
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Old 2020.06.19, 09:52 AM   #8
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I don’t think the 4x4 is meant to crossover into buggy territory at all. I interpret it to be their foray into the crawler market and or replace the Overland with what it should have been. Both the buggy and 4x4 do very different things and Fios different markets.

I don’t have the 4x4 yet but i did have the mods truck and see no real comparison as the chassis design and performance is entirely different. XMods platform was nothing like the 4x4 and more of just a jacked up mods racer with pivot rear end and the ability to gain more ground clearance.

I would be Leary as well with anything that clearly looked like it had been a open box purchase. I’ve have good experience with PN support so don’t hesitate to inquire. You should be able to find these now at just about any LHS that carries Kyosho.

I’m not to much into crawling really but lover the Overland and plan to use mine in similar fashion, which it doesn’t really seem to be intended for.
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Old 2020.06.19, 11:51 AM   #9
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There's about a decade of tech between the two lol. Of course they are different. I meant it feels similar because of the weird dual space they seem to occupy. They could be crawlers, but not quite there.

Overlands and monsters were not worth the money. I sourced a few, but gifted them as I was pretty disappointed.

For it's time the high lift xmods with a locked diff and alloy dogbones was pretty capable. I had some mod motors from a member here (shout out to flash) and the torque was enough for it to power up most objects it could clear, but the chassis would get stuck as it was too long and too low. I seem to get caught up on things as well with the 4x4, but I am assuming because the shocks are **** lol.

Again, it was in that weird space of two things. You can actually gear the 4x4 to make it speedier even... The 4x4 does seem to have quite a bit of potential though as it should. Granted I may be just frustrated with some of the shipping times from my other items lol.

Interestingly enough the alloy aftermarket knuckles on the xmods had three screws holding in the bearings as well, which I thought was pretty neat at that time.

---

I tend to be ocd with any boxes I get and remove the tape and also use packing ape to remove any residue from the box due to my TF collecting habits. Not surprisingly, good boxes can be in demand. I don't really pay that much attention at dual tape anymore so I didn't really think of "open box" or used electronic items.

When I was deep in the rabbit hole amassing parts, sourcing overseas contacts, and looking for a place to see if I could start an rc shop locally, I bought a bunch of stuff from Kenon. They always shipped fast and I had zero problems.

They kind of earned that trust.

If they are selling open box items at full retail now... that is total horse****.

I have contacted them and will see how they respond. Since I plan to break it down to see the innards and switch out most screws like I do to all my Zs, I'd be happy just with a replacement screw since everything else seems to be in order visually.

And for the dude who stripped this screw please get some JIS screwdrivers ffs.
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Old 2020.06.19, 01:24 PM   #10
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Let me know your impressions of just tooling around vs. crawling. I’m more os the scale rigger vs. rock crawler anyway.

Looks like aftermarket support is moving in quickly with parts but you only really see it on social media anymore. Kyosho already posted some things on what they are working on, oil shocks, allow bars, weight wheels. It’s of 3d parts out there as well for wheel hub adapters, spacers, etc.
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Old 2020.07.07, 09:25 PM   #11
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Something different to tool around with I guess. Whether it is worth the price is another question.

It is actually a decent crawler now. I ordered some 1mm o rings at 1mm thickness and converted the stock shocks into oil shocks so I'm not flipping as much. The climbing angle I assume has changed as well but the the rear of the hilux is too long and won't allow it over 45 degrees. I imagine the mod on the jiminy would really show the potential. The slip diff seems to be holding up well. With the shock mod it doesn't get stuck as much. When the foam tires and alloy oil shocks finally drop for this, it may become even better.

I never look at the manuals for anything and had to for this so kenon could send me the stripped screw part. (Shout out to them for sending me the screws to fix it.) The thing is incredibly complex and when my Ti screws get in I'll fully break it down and make any other changes needed.

I got the xtra brass pieces and they are decent I suppose, but the amount of metal shavings and debris in these things were ridiculous. I spent around 20 mins cleaning them before they even went on. Maybe brass is hard to machine, but the way they came was pretty damn unacceptable. Also, the front knuckles use a hex screw (M2 I believe) but the hex size was really small lol. I guess they didn't get the memo that Zs universally use a 1.5 head...

The xtra skid plate is laser cut... you can see the burns lol.

I am not sure I can recommend those parts.
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Old 2020.09.11, 08:11 PM   #12
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I've been holding off on breaking the mx down because the ti screws I sourced had heads that stripped easily. I also messed around with an old ma010 and the heads stripped there as well. For being so expensive, you'd expect the Ti screws to not have these issues. If you do pick up Ti screws try to find them with a flat or philips head and not using a hex.

Got some mx stuff from kenon and did an install today.

I couldn't figure out why the suspension was so stiff. The oil shock mod I did seemed to help but there was still a lot of binding elsewhere.

After taking it apart to put in some new goodies, I saw the balls in the links are cheap plastic lol... I thought they were a black steel ball but everything down there is plastic outside the rods themselves... I am surprised I didn't notice them when ****ing around with the shocks.

The drive yokes are plastic as well... I was planning on putting the weighted wheels on the jimminy I picked up to see if just weighted wheels were sufficient for crawling, but will have to wait until they release those steel options.

Pretty damn disappointing. I didn't expect kyosho to nickel and dime us like this, but I guess this is how businesses operate now.

I installed the brass balls and everything seems pretty free enough and I went back to the regular shocks as the oil ones I made were getting on my nerves.

If anything the balls on the linkages should be the first thing to upgrade. I believe they are a standard size so any cheap rc steel balls would be sufficient if you don't go the expensive kyosho brass route.

I also picked up the aluminum shafts to rice up my hilux, but the stock stuff is more than ok to use.
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