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- Team Losi Racing 22X-4 Elite Build -
By Markus Schmidt
When Gil Losi Jr. returned to Team Losi Racing, a project that 1/10th scale off-road racing fans had waited for almost a decade was in its final stages. The 22X-4 had been a well-kept secret and took the world by surprise at the 2019 IFMAR Worlds in Trencin/Slovakia, and almost the coveted title. Although Bruno Coelho eventually won, Dakotah Phend did not make it easy for him and clearly had the speed for the top spot on the podium. The Phenom went on and won numerous major races with his new ride, including the 2021 ROAR Championship, proving the potential of Team Losi Racing's fist shaft-drive wheeler.
Approximately two years after the first release, TLR gave the 22X-4 their Elite treatment, that is considerable more bang for a little more bucks. Owners of the standard kit will be happy to hear they can easily upgrade to Elite specifications and may already own some of the parts that are now included in the kit. Speaking of which...
Here it is!
Although the Elite kit comes with a ton of previous option parts and revised carbon fiber items, I bought a couple of accessories for running with a mild modified motor on Astroturf: composite crown gears and pinions, composite diff gears, LCD drive shafts, stiff sway bars, and a 25T aluminum servo horn.
TLR's kit bearings are packed with grease, and instead of degreasing and oiling them, I took the easy route and bought a couple of RDRP's economically priced bearings. Team Associated V2 springs have become very popular on many cars and feature in Dakotah Phend's RC Madness turf set-up, which I used as a basis. On the electronics side, Ruddog Racing's super smooth RXS electronic speed control and RP542 10.5 turns motor (not shown) will be complemented by the RCL1706 servo.
One more option part I had prepared before building is the JConcepts F2 lightweight body. Unfortunately, the S2 lightweight was not available on this side of the Atlantic when I ordered my kit. There is nothing wrong with the precut TLR body, I just prefer the styling of the JConcepts classics.
As usual, the actual kit is organized in a number of bags lettered from A to J, plus one hardware and tuning parts bag each..
The bag with the manual includes a decal sheet, a vinyl sticker, the aforementioned hardware bag, an antenna tube, window masks and some basic tools. A colored leaflet is included for more information on optional items, and TLR provide you with double-sided tape for installing your ESC and receiver.
Let's get started! As every TLR kit I had the joy to build in recent years, the 22X-4 Elite begins with the "dirty" parts, i.e. parts requiring oils, grease and the like. Accordingly Bag A includes the front and rear differentials, fluids for the clay set-up, and a tube of thread lock. Very nice!
As you can see in the picture, I installed the optional composite gears, but chose the metal cross pins for extra precision. Thanks to machined flat spots, installation is a piece of cake.
One of the drawbacks of the black plastics is that it is hard to read the black Sharpie I used for noting down the diff fluids - as suggested in the manual. No trimming was needed on the crown gears, but I sanded down the internals just in case to remove any flashing left from the spurs.
Bag B includes the center diff and a small bottle of 500K silicon fluid. While I run mostly on rather smooth Astroturf tracks, I love the feel of a center diff and would not have bought another wheeler with a slipper. The slipper clutch may be faster in more gifted hands, but it seems I am getting old and prefer the more balanced handling a center diff offers.
The outdrive was a little tight inside the plastic diff cover, but nothing too serious. After I ran a 5 mm drill bit through the hole with my fingers, everything was spot on. For the 10.5 motor I am going to run, I chose the 78T spur gear; for faster motors, a larger spur gear is also included.
Speaking of the spur gear, make sure not to mount it backwards. When the size numbers can be seen on the outdrive side, everything is ok.
Titanium turnbuckles and ball cups are included in Bag C. When building a TLR kit, I always proceed as recommended by senior designer Frank Root: fill the ball cups with black grease and screw in the turnbuckles until the black grease pops out.
There are various helpful tools for assembly, my favorite being the Associated ball cup tool and an MIP 4.0 mm turnbuckle wrench. As I built my kit with another set-up in mind, I cannot say if the measurements stated in the manual were correct, but you should check your toe and camber settings anyway before hitting the track.
The infamous D bag includes one of the best sets of shocks on the market. Unlike other manufacturers, TLR offers only one specification shock housings and shock shafts and includes machined cartridge parts. In the Elite kit, even the aluminum domed shock caps are included for super smooth landings.
As expected, there were no issues whatsoever with the shocks. If you intend to replicate a certain set-up, pay attention to the number of internal limiters. Due to my smooth home track, I stuck to the kit rear pistons instead of the 1.8x2 used by Dakotah Phend at RC Madness, but am eager to try the new 2.3 mm thick items.
The chassis seems to be the exact same beautifully machined item as on the standard 22X-4 I built some months ago. No worries, guys!
Bag E includes the soft mudguards, revised chassis braces (similar to the Avid RC option parts some of you might already have), a new upper front stiffener for more torsional flex, the proven motor mount and steering assemblies including the V1 aluminum rack. If you are using body clips or not, there is no need to cut and sand down the body mount; two options are included.
The chassis without...
...and with the motor mount and center diff.
Assembled steering assembly...
...installed on the chassis.
F is for front. Bag F includes the front gearbox, arms, and revised shock tower, which includes an additional upper hole for the camber link.
When installing the pinions in the 22X-4 gearboxes, having the right tools really pays off. Some 5.0 mm nut drivers may be too tight, but the MIP driver is just perfect!
The gear covers fit very nicely and can be easily removed for maintenance and set-up work. Make sure the bearings are properly seated on the diff. They are not going to fall off for sure!
The manual recommends black grease for CVA joints, but I prefer the red 1up CVA oil.
With their chamfered edges, TLR's carbon fiber parts just look phenomenal. Again, the third hole option reminded me of the Avid RC option parts, which is not a bad thing.
When I installed the front shocks, I noticed a little play and scooped out the shims included in Bag H. If you are using the Stiffezel arms, you may not need any shims here, they are a tad tighter.
 
Bag G includes the 9° aluminum caster blocks, clamping aluminum hexes, front spindles, CVAs, sway bar and hardware required for finishing the front end.
The sway bar is installed onto the front gear box and can be easily removed for set-up changes. Make sure you don't tighten down the set screws to much!
Similar to other manufacturers' CVAs and on the center shafts, the pins are secured by a plastic cover. Aluminum options are available for added durability and bling...
...but you won't need them on the Losi Constant Drive shafts aka LCDs. Spindle height can be adjusted with bushings, which are - of course - included in the tuning parts bag.
And the front end in all its glory. Everything spins freely, no surprise here!
Bag H includes the rear end parts: gearbox, shock tower, wing and body mounts, and suspension mounts and hardware.
As you would expect, the rear gearbox is very similar to the front one, within...
...and without. Again, make sure the bearings are fully seated before attempting to insert the diff.
It starts to look like a car!
Bag I includes the rear drive shafts, the highly adjustable VHA rear hubs, clamping rear hexes, sway bar, and hardware.
Rear view of the shock tower and wing mount. Install the wing mount before the body mount, otherwise the screw will seem to be too long. Ask me how I know... ;)
The stub axles of the rear CVAs have multiple holes for adjusting bone plunge to find the optimum amount of rear traction. This is one of the settings I have yet to play with, and as such I followed the RC Madness set-up sheet.
Here you can see where I added some optional red shims to replicate Dakotah Phend's set-up. I'll give it a try, but usually prefer longer camber links in the rear.
Coming together nicely!
Shocks installed.
Almost done! More carbon fiber and aluminum goodies are found in Bag J together with some clever plastic parts and miscellaneous other items.
As time had progressed to well after midnight, and I wanted to dismantle my photo equipment, I rushed through the last couple of steps. For my low-profile Orca battery, the smaller battery posts are a perfect fit, and no washers were needed. Various aluminum shims and larger posts provide many options for all sizes of shorty battery packs, and an adhesive foam strip is included for minimizing side-to-side play if required. The carbon trays keep both the ESC and the receiver in their spots when the chassis flexes, and can be easily removed for cleaning. I chose to install the top fan mount over the traditional version for improved cooling. As you can see, my motor and fan have not yet arrived, but you all know how a fan and motor look like, right? In case you have wondered, the Ruddog servo uses the 2 mm + 1 mm servo spacers. I used three optional servo mounting bushings together with M3x 10 mm countersunk screws to keep play to a minimum.
And that's a wrap! Everything went together as well as any kit I have built in my three decades of RC. I could hardly be any happier about the parts quality, fit and finish. Sure, the bearings are a tight fit on the diffs, but I'd rather have it this way than suffering a DNF because of a gearbox failure. As always after building a TLR kit, I am impressed by all the work of the development team and the clever details. Hopefully I am able to complete the electronics installation and hit the track of MAC Eifel Elos e. V. in Hellenthal later this week!
Finally, kudos to Larry Genova of Kustomrcgraphics for the original design of my body. I am but a hobby painter and eager to learn by trying to replicate the best out there. Is there anything I feel there is missing? Well, not really, but a 2WD Elite AC brother would be nice... :D |
