Ok...

I froze the hair off of my nuts to take these photos! Some water has collected on the cover of the pool, so I took my Mini Z 4Runner out for an ice run when it was frozen at night and early in the morning. I went out last night when it was dark, and I took a bunch of pics. I then went out again this morning and took a bunch more pics as the sun was coming up. I could have probably stood to have gotten out there just a little earlier, but oh well. I was hoping to have some slip and slide action while driving it, but the 4Runner was super grippy on the ice! I guess it's all the brass that I have in it. At least I had some climbing fun going up the cover onto the top of the side of the pool and back down again.

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I went to NJ Devils Way early this morning hoping that the hidden pond would be frozen enough for my Trailrunner to do some ice drifting, but it wasn't frozen enough. I left real soon after that, but a section of the big lake there was frozen. You can see that not all of it was frozen, but it was frozen enough in the spot I ran my Trailrunner. I couldn't hear any cracking, and I know that the water is shallow enough at that spot that I could recover my truck myself since I wasn't going far from the land. Video here: Enduro Trailrunner - NJ Devils Way - 12/30/2020 | Gamma'='Ray | Flickr I hope to do some ice drifting at the hidden pond in January or February. I'll need a few sustained below freezing days, I think.

So I left NJ Devils way and went to Ireland Brook at the Riva Avenue entrance. I didn't realize it at the time, but the Riva Avenue end of Ireland Brook is separated from the other end of the conservation area and is the smaller portion of the area. I still took my Trailrunner onto the hiking trail. I went off the trail at a couple spots, but I mostly stayed on it. It was pretty easy. The woods at NJ Devils Way are more challenging for my truck and myself, but it was still a nice walk.

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The forecast a few days ago was wrong. It was supposed to be rain, rain, rain this morning, but it wasn't! So I charged up a battery last night and hit Julian L. Capik Nature Preserve in Sayreville, NJ this morning. It looks like there are some areas off the main trails that would be good for my Trailrunner, but you've got to be careful about going into places you shouldn't be going there. There's a police firing range in the area. I did have a nice walk. There were some people out walking their dogs. That seems to be the popular thing to do there. The dogs found the truck amusing.

I did a little bit of four wheel drive drifting as you can see in the video: Enduro Trailrunner - Julian L. Capik Nature Preserve | Flickr I unfortunately lost a screw in the front driveshaft, and I lost four wheel drive just before the halfway point. It was really challenging to drive it back home in rear wheel drive only, but the truck only had to be rescued once. I already ordered the part I'll need to fix it. Heads up for Enduro owners: You might want to check your 42022 screws on the driveshafts. They might not have been threadlocked at the factory. Two of my four appear to have not been. One fell out today, one I could feel was loose when I checked it after I got home, and the two nearest to the motor seemed tight enough. In any case, four wheel drive drifting on ice is way more fun than rear wheel drive drifting on ice. I can't wait to fix 4WD. I'm going to make sure everything's properly threadlocked this time, too.

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I got the pin screw for my Trailrunner late last week. I installed it and redid all of the pin screws as well as my steering servo and servo horn screws with threadlock last Friday. Everything held up on today's outing. I'm happy about that. I went to Ireland Brook again today, but I entered from the Beekman Drive entrance. It has an entirely different hiking trail from the one I went to late last year. It was mostly a walk of solitude, but I did some people riding ATVs and a couple other people walking. We maintained distance, of course. It was a lot of dry winter sights while walking, but I also had a bit of an adventure finding the parking spots. I didn't realize it, but they're right next to the road. I was like "no, that can't be parking. This looks like a dirt road. Let me drive up there and find the parking spots." But nope, those were the parking spots. My real 4Runner got some pinstripes while on the search, though! My Trailrunner fared well. I was driving it for about 90 minutes. The 3S lipo held up great the entire run, and I only had to rescue it a few times. I'm glad I brought the 3S with me because I had the extra bit of speed for when I needed it.

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I also saw some weird crap that I don't understand!

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Bottom picture is of beehives.

Thanks! I didn't know.

I went out to Tamarack Hollow Preserve and went all over the place there. I didn't get a chance to take every trail, but I did spend some time on one of the unmarked trails. I wonder if it was actually part of a farm, though. I mainly did the Tamarack trail which led into the Fresh Ponds Spur. The whole hike was a muddy fun time!

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A gas powered RC truck would be sick. You could go all mental in the woods with one of those.

Look up videos on Youtube of the X-Maxx. While something like that, no matter the power source, can go stupidly fast, it wouldn't be great in places I like to go. Even with the 3S lipo I've been using, it sometimes still goes too fast for the uneven ground, so I've got to exercise throttle control. The plus side of a crawler like mine is that it doesn't take as much of a beating that a super speed vehicle like the X-Maxx does, so things break far less often!

I went back to Tamarack Hollow Preserve today. I spent a lot of time on an unmarked trail. Also, the unmarked trail I went on last time might not have been one of the official unmarked trails after all. This unmarked trail I went on today appears to have passed by another farm and ended at a no dumping sign. It was so cold that it wasn't muddy. The ground was hard, and I didn't even have to do much cleanup. I also spent a little time on the other official unmarked trail, but it was covered thick in leaves. It wasn't fun to drive through, and then I encountered a fallen tree which the Trailrunner couldn't pass. I could have just picked it up and walked over, but I needed to take a human pit stop, so I decided to call it a day and head back home.

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I haven't gone outside with my larger Trailrunner for a while since it's been so snowy, but I got my Mini Z 4Runner out last night and set up some obstacles.

Kyosho Mini Z 4X4 4Runner - 02/19/2021 - The Rising | Flickr

I finally got out with my Trailrunner after a month! Woo hoo! Conditions weren't perfect, but I was able to have a lot of fun. The snow, when it wasn't too deep, did make for some challenging situations. I didn't get to go everywhere I wanted to go, but I did get to go to a couple spots I don't usually go to since they were clear of snow.

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I also took a short video right at the beginning of my run: https://www.flickr.com/photos/692058...n/photostream/

You know you can actually take your 4Runner out to the Pine Barrens and Offroad in a state forest right?

"Off-Roading has become increasingly popular in NJ's Pine Barrens. Wharton State Forest alone has over 500 miles of unpaved roads in its hundred thousand-plus acres of forests! ..."

Off-Roading in the Pine Barrens of NJ

Yeah, I know. I'm hoping to do some of that this spring. Rausch Creek, too. But this is legal off roading in Central New Jersey! :bounce: