PLEASE Help me with this Kyosho...aaaahhhhh!

[klavy69]

Need help finding out some info on this particular buggy. Looks to be mostly stock. Came from an old rc10 racer that must've decided to give 4wd buggy a shot but doesn't look like he went far. Looks pretty much complete to me minus the wing which isn't a biggie for me. Mostly I've been wanting a b44 since the first ad I've seen but still haven't found one affordable for my budget yet so thought why not give this thing a shot...then realized when I got it home its a saddlepack setup which I have no real interest in more battery setups. Anyway, I know some kyosho guru out there can help me out with some info. What it is, how it handled, what its worth, etc. Thanx in advance.
Todd

kyosho 4wd buggy.JPG (89.77 KiB) Viewed 2496 times

kyosho 4wd buggy.JPG (89.77 KiB) Viewed 2496 times

kyosho 4wd buggy2.JPG (91.28 KiB) Viewed 2495 times

kyosho 4wd buggy2.JPG (91.28 KiB) Viewed 2495 times

kyosho 4wd buggy3.JPG (90.38 KiB) Viewed 2495 times

kyosho 4wd buggy3.JPG (90.38 KiB) Viewed 2495 times

kyosho 4wd buggy4.JPG (83.9 KiB) Viewed 2491 times

kyosho 4wd buggy4.JPG (83.9 KiB) Viewed 2491 times

[kenooze]

That's look to be a LAZER !

[terry.sc]

More specifically it's a Kyosho Lazer ZX-R Mark2, which was a halfway between the ZX-R and the ZX-RR. The manual for the ZX-R with ZX-RR supplement is available here and you can work out which parts are which.

[Mr. ED]

It's a pretty good car that can easily take the stickpack. At least give it a good try before you decide on selling it on.

Wheels are easy to get from the Lazer ZX5 and the arms are pretty tough but would you break 'm I found some tamiya arms that are very close in dimensions.

[klavy69]

Thanx for the info and manual guys. Yeah, hard to figure it out when one side says r-xz and the other side is zx-r. Figured the latter one but no tellin with my limited knowledge of these. Tryin to print off the manual now(Thanx Terry) but its my pc is fighting my printer .
If I get it figured out for stick packs I'll pry be getting ahold of you for those tamiya arms part numbers Mr.Ed .

Anyone have any particular ideas of what something like this is worth? Wanting to figure if I got a good deal or not...
Todd

[klavy69]

Ok,
Got a couple more questions about this kyosho. Got it running even though it was before I tore it apart , put a different motor in it and it took a stick pack shoved thru widthways but this thing isn't really 4wd to me...unless the belt is slipping so bad. I hold it in the air and 4 wheels spin but if I even lightly touch one or both the front wheels they stop but the rest doesn't.
1. Is this common (I'm used to gas shaft drive 4wd)?
2. Is there a belt tensioner I should be using or an easy way to mod one on it?
3. What tires would you guys recommend for offroad clay/dirt track?
Thanx for the read and hope someone can turn me onto this kyosho before it ends up in the 'longterm' project pile.
Todd

[Mr. ED]

Are both front wheels stopping together?
when you stop the both front wheels, does the belt still run?

reverse the moter leads and check if it is the same. If not: you have a one-way mounted the wrong way round: can be different places: athe the wheel axles, in hte front diff or orn the center pulley.

track back till you find the parts that still spin.

also possible: the conical hexes could be loose on the axles. Look a bit deeper into it before you give up. I'll try to help you further then.

[adam lancia]

What you're seeing is the center and front one-way bearings allowing the front wheels to free wheel independantly of each other. It gives the car more steering which allows it to carry higher corner speeds. Don't panic, it's working exactly the way it's supposed to be working

[klavy69]

Mr.Ed,
I can stop one wheel and the other wheel still spins and vice versa or I can stop both wheels at once and the belt still spins. This is my first belt drive electric. I've had several ntc3 cars which of course are a completely different animal but its the only thing I guess I am used to so wasn't expecting it to act this way. I can't even get the thing 1/3 throttle without it doing a full on donut. It really acts like a 2wd in that respects. I know those bald tires are not helping but didn't think it should act like that with full spin action even with slicks.

Adam,
After reading this above is it still sounding like what you mentioned?

I'll tear into it further if its not sounding like it should run but this is just not what I expected I guess. Would really like to have something like this be a good thing but if an Associated B44 works the same way I'm glad I didn't go that route with the expense of it all.

[adam lancia]

So you can stop the front wheels from turning when you are on the throttle? It's possible that the one-way bearing is installed backwards in the front diff. Or that the one-way bearing is shot. Can you spin the front wheels forward freely or do they cause the belt to turn when you do that? If you spin the front wheels backward it should cause the belt and rear wheels to spin backwards too. If that doesn't happen then something is not right.

[klavy69]

Yes, I can stop the front wheels when the throttle is on like stated above but when the throttle is on.

Without throttle on I can spin the front wheels forward/backward without the belt moving. They of course spin opposite ways when I do one wheel at time. If I move both front wheels forward they also move the belt but do not move the rear wheels. If I move both rear wheels forward they move the front wheels forward also moving the whole drivetrain. Now if I spin both front wheels backward nothing moves. If I spin the rear wheels backwards the belt wants to backspin the fronts but skips/slips.
Is this enuf info to diagnose a problem without seeing it? Sorry for the newbie questions...
Todd

[adam lancia]

Sounds like you have a ball or gear differential in the front. I would pull the front end apart and see if the pulley isn't toast. Also, pull apart the upper rear gear box on the driver's side and see if everything looks ok there. There is a one way bearing inside the gray part that fits over the spur gear lay shaft and it's possible that it's not working properly.

[terry.sc]

It needs the front diff looking at. The Kyosho ball diffs weren't the best in the world and the design is such that if the thrust bearing breaks, or if the screw is loose there is nothing holding the diff outdrives to the diff washer mounts as it uses a tapered location just the same as the hex drives on the axles. Take out the bumper screws from below and the two lower front shock mount screws and the gearbox front will come off to examine the diff. Remove the four front screws on the top deck and you should be able to push the gearbox back enough to slip the belt off the diff and remove it. If the belt is too tight undo the nut on the end of the layshaft opposite the drive gear and pull the one way out of the gearbox to give you more slack.

Nothing wrong with the one way as the belt is being driven fine.

And no there isn't a belt tensioner. Kyosho used small rollers to keep the belt on the pulleys, although most racers removed them anyway and ran with the belts slack.

[klavy69]

Have gotten it into the lineup to get this thing looked at...maybe this coming weekend...but in the meantime I got skunked by an ebayseller stating that yokomo wheels would fit on this kyosho . So now I have got a new set of panther tires glued very well to yokomo wheels along with a spair lightly used pair of fronts glued just as well as the others. Might get a chance tomorrow now that I think about it to get the front pulled apart and looked at along with any and all the suggestions that were pmd to me too. Thanx again for all the help guys. I'm sure I'll be back with more questions about this thing soon so theres your warning
Todd

[highwayracer]

If you're concerned about the pulling the tires from the yokomo wheels to put on a pair of kyosho wheels, you just put them in acetone and they will come off without any problems. I recently tried this and I wish I took before and after pictures. The results are amazing.

As for your front diff problem, I think the first thing to do is to determine what type of front diff you have. If you see set screws in the differental outdrives, then you do not have a ball diff. If it isn't a ball diff, it's either a Kyosho one way diff or a planetary diff.

Regards,
highwayracer