Vaterra Ascender Thoughts?

[Tech-7]

What's everyone's thoughts on the Vaterra Ascender for my second rock crawler? Good or Bad? Just put it out there. Thanks

[ferp420]

they seem to have a cult like following the people who run then seem to really like them
but there extremely old tech now days
there also discontinued and i could be wrong but it seems like parts are drying up
that dosent mean you cant upgrade with parts.by other brands it will take a bit more work but it can be done
i dont see any reason not to get one if the price is right and you like the rig

[meatmonkey]

I've had one since it was first released. It's been a great truck, requiring minimal maintenance while offering decent performance.

At this point Vaterra is dead, so long term parts availability will inevitably become an issue.

[durok]

Originally Posted by meatmonkey

I've had one since it was first released. It's been a great truck, requiring minimal maintenance while offering decent performance.

At this point Vaterra is dead, so long term parts availability will inevitably become an issue.

Same here - my Chevy K10 was the first crawler I really drove a lot - then I added most all of the SSD upgrades and some parts from other manufacturers, I finally cracked a front CV joint, and then broke the front plastic shock tower - probably stressed from nose-diving from obstacles with SSD brass knuckles installed. Brass can increase performance and also contribute to other parts breaking!

I have aluminum shock towers that I scored from Atomik RC (a division of Venom R/C) as they were on closeout that I need to install. I'm going to give the truck an overhaul as I also have a spare unpainted K10 cab and a new caged back half, and a new set of 1.7" wheels and tires for it.

It's gonna be like brand new when I'm done, swapping in some TRX-4 take-off shocks while I'm at it.

But, yeah - I'm going to go easy on it (relatively speaking) as replacement parts are basically gone from the shelves...

A pic of it in action:

[smog]

The Ascender was decent when it came out but had issues. Rather than address them and release a V2, Horizon killed the truck(the entire Vaterra brand in fact) and bought Axial. The transmission/diff gearing is not the best for crawling (the torque twist is legendary).

I wouldn't recommend it in todays market, but well upgraded and tuned it will keep up. Make sure if you buy one you get a smoking deal

I have 3 of them collecting dust but have a soft spot for them because it was the platform that got me into crawling

[Tech-7]

You have some nice ones. Bronco I really like.

[soze]

I've got one with upgrade parts and stuff that I'm going to sell. I'll post it up soon. It's not that I don't like it. I just have too many trucks now.

[smog]

Originally Posted by Tech-7

You have some nice ones. Bronco I really like.

Thanks. I always thought Vaterra did a great job on their body designs. They were big, but had great proportions

[Tech-7]

soze don't have enough post to see sale board. But good luck on selling it.