2021 WL Toys 104001 Comparison with the 2018 XRay XB4

[@athens7818]

Hello ! really appreciate this type of ``tip`s video`` !!so are we ok that all the front end (all front of car goes on the wltoys 104002? im searching a full front and rear set for it,if the xray xb4 is totally a copy 100%,for me beginner its totally perfect. thank you in advance for the answer(and sorry for my pretty basic english!!)

[@justaddafan]

I can't promise that it's drop-in. Also be aware that the 2021 and newer XB4 has many changes to the dog bones and hole pattern in the transmission that make it different from the WLToys. Truthfully, it would not make sense to put anything XRay onto a WLToys car, the XRay parts are far too expensive to use on a cheap car.

[@chowettgoes]

Have to say I’m bowled over by the out and out copying by WLTOYS! Super useful to watch, thanks for taking the time to compare the two. I noticed you where giving very rounded advise in the other comments 👏. I do think that the WLTOYS route is probably almost as expensive if you stick at it for racing. You’ll just end up pouring money in to upgrading a not great but cheap at first platform. The LC Racing seems a far better starting point as it way better from the box (I don’t own one). With that said a second hand Xray has my money on it. Over time I think its the best option and will be similar costs but a way better experience.

[@billy3650]

Excellent compareson.

[@justaddafan]

Thanks! The WLToys is a good car for it's price point. However, the quality different is huge and obvious.

[@faithfirst9775]

What kind of battery I need for mines I’m upgrading this my first RC I’m doing everything over

[@zeurdozeurdo5409]

Thank you for this video

[@TheRoflcopter84]

Any possibility that WLToys just bought up some old molds from Xray/Xray supplier as opposed to reverse engineering parts? When stuff is identical, I’m thinking same molds instead of someone going to the trouble of copying a design. Molds aren’t cheap to make, especially when you need many to make all the parts for a car.

[@orangeorange9353]

Do the Xray shells fit the wl toys car ?

[@justaddafan]

Yes

[@jayhow997]

I thought wltoys based their stuff of the LC racing brand. The 144001 is exact copy of the emb 1 the 124019 is the same as the LC racing lc12b1 and the 104001 is direct copy of lc10b5. With just small differences like slipper clutch systems to direct drives .

[@justaddafan]

I'd love to see a compatibility comparison with the LC Racing car.

[@jayhow997]

@@justaddafan I know the 144001 and 124019 and the LC emb 1 an 12lb have exactly the same arms, 100% identical in shape design an size bracings. The hub carriers are exactly 100% the same the hub is visually the same with a bigger bearing needed for the CVD on the LC, same on the rear bigger bearing on the LC. The quality of plastic is better on the LC. Even if you Google 144001 arms and LC emb 1 arms you'll see how identical they are.

[@justaddafan]

@@jayhow997 I'm referring to the 1/10th scale cars.

[@jayhow997]

@@justaddafan thought you meant all of them compared together with all 6 lined up .

[@beachinrc101]

I think the mat finished is graphite in the nylon great comparison

[@justaddafan]

Yes, I agree.

[@DipeshHinduja]

Which parts would you swap out on the WLToys to actually make it track worthy? Reviews on the 104001 have been pretty mediocre, especially when compared to the 124019 so wondering if getting the 1/10 and chaning a few things is actually worth the money.

[@justaddafan]

I think the luke warm reviews compared to the smaller cars are just the inherent issues with going to 1/10 scale from 1/12. The bigger car will be less agile and slower compared to a smaller, lighter car with the same power. I think the WLToys car is a tremendous value considering it's nature as a clone. You'd have to decide what track worthy means to you. Out of the box you can drive it on any track. You don't need to change anything, although I would grease and oil the suspension and transmission. But as stock, it's heavy, underpowered, and is made of materials that won't sustain heavy abuse. If you look at the construction of the XRay, it uses graphite reinforced plastics in the suspension components and gearing, all much more robust and lighter than the WLToys. The carbon fiber parts for the chassis significantly reduce weight. The XRay uses spring steel for driveshaft components, which are light and very resilient. The most obvious also being the spur gear. That big, heavy, metal spur gear on the WLToys acts as a huge flywheel that reduces acceleration and deceleration and it provides no shock relief to the drivetrain which is why it and the bevel gears break. So without replacing just about everything, it's not going to be fast, reliable and competitive, but you can choose which of these aspects you want to get from the car and target those areas for upgrades. But the old adage really holds true here, you get what you pay for. This is a $125-$200 car. It will take alot of money to make it competitive with a $800 car and by the time it is, you may as well have bought the $800 car in the beginning.

[@MrJFlipflop]

@@justaddafan So what you would say if a beginner want to be a bit more competitive and reliable with the WLToys, bought already a 13.5T Brushless System and wants so spend another 100 to 200 Bucks? What would you replace?

[@justaddafan]

@@MrJFlipflop First, there's a LOT of bind in the suspension and the gearing needs lubrication. Fix these things first, they're cheap. I would go for weight. I'd get rid of all the gold colored steel parts. Buy the WLToys carbon kit, $35 is a no-brainer. You could go with the 5mm thick carbon chassis, but I just left the aluminum chassis and replaced everything else. I haven't tried it, but I suspect you could replace the spur with an LC Racing slipper and CVDs to the gearboxes. That would run about $100 for parts. This would make a huge difference to your acceleration and longevity. I'd then put some money into good tires. Tires are key and people don't take them seriously enough. That should spend the $200. With more $$, I'd start looking at reliability, replacing the soft, heavy drive shafts with spring steel CVDs and probably going to a pin style pivot for the suspension arms instead of the soft long screws. And every time a suspension arm broke, I'd replace it with a part from LC Racing so it wouldn't happen again. I'd also say that while the shocks are OK, on this car. The XRay's shocks are a magic carpet ride for the car. If the WLToys was ever to be truly competitive, it would need better shocks.

[@MrJFlipflop]

​@@justaddafan Wow, thank you for the long and good reply. Didnt expect that. Very nice and informative! Yeah, I figured carbon kit is indeed a no brainer. I will look into LC Racing slipper, does it make a "feelable" difference for a beginner? Also looking for ways to put "normal" shorty LIPOS. For Tires I thought about Schumacher Cactus EOS. My long time goal ist actually to run this buggy several times on carpet so see if I like a 4wd "competive" and then buy the newest xray xb4....I just want to make sure I really love it before spending 800+ .

[@justaddafan]

@@MrJFlipflop To see if you like it, you might just want to do the carbon fiber kit and drive the car around. It's going to give you a decent idea of what it's like without too much investment. Fitting a shorty is easy. I just cut the side walls from the little U-shaped battery holder until they were short enough for a shorty to fit between them. You can kind of see it on my car at about 11:08 and 16:43. Make sure to put some plastic or stiff foam against the inside chassis support (the plastic beam that bolts to the chassis and sits under the rear shaft) to make sure the dog bone doesn't cut into the battery, that would be a bad day.

[@nickvledder]

Would you think Chinese companies copy designs from well-established companies?

[@justaddafan]

I don't think there's any question of that in any industry you can think of.

[@albertopalos8326]

Los chinos no hacen eso

[@nealstarling5422]

Not reverse engineering, (one manufacturer) many brand names, like a record producer who has a song they would like an artist to record they pitch the song to (many artists) one makes it a hit others copy. Xray may have designed it and hold the copy rights, but divvy out the design to the one they know will not quite do as good a job and the one who will not even be a contender, just good economics, hit your three price points 1. Those who must have the very best=high price, 2. those like me who go the middle route=in between price, and 3. low budget=… well low budget folks. So no they are not copying but selecting what is out there offered to them, you can do the same thing , get an office here in the states, literally call someone in China and ask what do the have that you can sell or send them a design and they will work it up for you. Why this house gone bad for us in the states I don’t know, seams to me someone could setup manufacturing here and sell knock-offs as well. 🤷

[@justaddafan]

That's a plausible theory.

[@nealstarling5422]

I just subscribed 👍 Never had some respond on there one year old video within a few hours, you deserve it, I really like this type of comparison video, thanks for that. In the late 80s shopping for a quality DVR I found that there were only 3 manufacturers-all in Japan but seven brands names, three of those being long standing American brand names. As I under stand it there is only one manufacturer of magnetrons for all the microwaves. I think there called magnetrons 🤔

[@justaddafan]

@@nealstarling5422 Sharing parts through common suppliers is, of course, extremely common in many industries. It's fascinating to me to see that the movement on almost every wall clock you can buy, no mater what the price is, is exactly the same. Then there's the appliance industry where there are only a couple corporations who own 90% of the brands so much of the product is just simply the same with different labels on them. Your supposition on the WLToys is, of course, a bit different because it suggests that there's design sharing by the designer to recoup some of the development cost. Similar to the way Lotus sold the designs of the Seven and the Elan to other manufacturers (albeit after they had completed the product runs themselves in that case). It's not out of the realm of possibility. However, blatant copying of intellectual property is not culturally frowned on in China as it is in the west, so we often see that things are just replicated.

[@Applinglingling]

Every time someone does it here they get sued.... China gets away because they pay the import taxes and give shit wages. It's politics.

[@BuildaPC4life]

what wheels are those

[@justaddafan]

Cheapo EBay wheels and tires. Great for tarmac but they'll crack at the rim or axle if you try to use them on jumps and impacts.

[@BuildaPC4life]

Can they handle 100mph?

[@justaddafan]

@@BuildaPC4life No idea. But don't you want foam for that speed?

[@rodricochecitos]

Wow el wltoys es como un rolex chino...

[@MrSnowman6869]

😂

[@hangdogdaddy38]

Amazing. So except for the slipper diff in the center, you're basically getting a seven hundred dollar car for a hundred and fifty bucks, minus the quality.

[@justaddafan]

More or less. The quality and weight are a big deal though.

[@hangdogdaddy38]

But the cool thing is little by little you could basically end up with a WLtoys 104001 or 2 running some nice parts. Thanks for the video. Cheers.​@@justaddafan