Harley's Vaterra Ascender Build

[ROLANDROCKSHOP]

Quick Q?

How wide is the top of the windshield/roofline?

Getting a list of parts together for mine..

Gonna add a rigid lightbar to the windshield.

[Rich Trujillo]

Originally Posted by ROLANDROCKSHOP

Quick Q?

How wide is the top of the windshield/roofline?

Getting a list of parts together for mine..

Gonna add a rigid lightbar to the windshield.

It's about 175mm.

[ROLANDROCKSHOP]

Thank you Rich!

[Harley]

Here is the driveshaft angle fix I was talking about before. I've been swamped and have been meaning to get this posted up but have been running short on time lately.

After assembling the truck I was bench testing everything to make sure I didn't have any issues. I was noticing an odd characteristic of the drivetrain. The wheels were spinning in a loping pattern, slow, fast, slow, fast, slow, fast...

It was late so I put the truck down and planned to tackle it the next day. When I got back to it, under further inspection we narrowed it down to the front axle. The issue specifically is the driveshaft angle. Now the angles are not steep, so it wasn't something I was expecting at all. The driveshaft at the input shaft side of the axle binds slightly during the cycle.



Now I'm not sure if this is a mismanufactured part, or something that was missed during design. I have spoken with Rich and they are going to look into it. They were able to repeat it with the other vehicles so it is something that will also be the case with the kits that at least the early versions will have.

There are several other people (7 or 8 I'm told) out there who have already been driving these. None of them noticed the issue while driving, I'm told. It is most noticeable when on the bench, fully drooped out.

This was something that I personally felt need addressed however. My fix was simple.

Here is a video showing what I am explaining




The fix was to first, add a 8mm spacer to the upper link.




This rotated the axle forward, causing a poor caster angle.




The nice part about the axles is, that you can easily rotate the C-hubs. So I rotated them until I had about 5° of positive caster at full droop. Now the problem with that is that you don't clear the existing C-hub mounting hole by enough to drill a new hole.




So instead, I drilled a single hole in the bottom of the C-hub and used a set screw to retain it. The C-hub fits the axle housing nicely so I think a single set screw will likely hold just fine.




The one downside to this fix is that the diff cover is just slightly pointed downward. My hope is that axle side driveshaft cup/pinion shaft is clearanced so that this isn't required.

[jdmguy760]

Dang this has me a lil eh not that it's a pita to do but I simply don't think I should have to modify a new rig like that


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[Harley]

Originally Posted by jdmguy760

Dang this has me a lil eh not that it's a pita to do but I simply don't think I should have to modify a new rig like that


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It's not something that would stop me from wanting to own this truck. And at normal ride height with the suspension preloaded more, it's not bad. I also hope that they look at a CV joint with more operating angle.

[jdmguy760]

Well I have a 1st batch preordered from my lhs I'm thinking if there is a fix to the issue maybe horizon will offer it to the 1st batch customers


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[Rich Trujillo]

Hi Guys,
We are looking into this but to be dead honest i had several drivers not only test it but build it and didn't notice any affect while driving let alone notice it while free wheeling. Granted i think the video shown by Harley shows the worse case scenario with it being off the ground

That being said, we will check into what is going on and make a running change. Please note that I"m not trying to discredit what Josh has to say about this but i think that most will not notice this issue when they are on the rocks.

Hope i don't get flamed to hard for being up front about this, I really think most will enjoy this kit.

Thanks,
Rich

[BigSki]

I'm looking forward to seeing this rig in the LHS soon, I'm curious to know if Vaterra plans to sell any of the components separately?

[Black n Blue]

Love the thread so far. I'm looking to use Pit Bull Growlers on mine. They're taller at 4.75". Do you think they're "tuckable" under that giant body?

[Harley]

Originally Posted by Black n Blue

Love the thread so far. I'm looking to use Pit Bull Growlers on mine. They're taller at 4.75". Do you think they're "tuckable" under that giant body?

I think they would fit but would require trimming of the body. I had to trim the fender openings of the body for these tires too.

[turboed13b]

I had that same binding problem with my twin hammers. I figured it out to be too much Loctite on the set screw which leak out a little and caused it to bind. Maybe you did the same?

[Harley]

Originally Posted by turboed13b

I had that same binding problem with my twin hammers. I figured it out to be too much Loctite on the set screw which leak out a little and caused it to bind. Maybe you did the same?

There is no set screw in the driveshaft that could cause any sort of binding with the joint.

The pins are retained by a coil.

[turboed13b]

Well I can see a future problem if it does not have a set screw. The twin hammers uses the exact same setup except the barrel that the pins goes through has a set screw. I had the coil on my twin hammer break multiple times from rubbing over rocks and things and without a set screw the pin just falls out that's why I had to loctite mine.

[crazydave]

It looks like the coil is on the transmission side, and on the axle end the pin is retained by the bearing. Should be fine. No worse than JunFac driveshafts.

Hey Harley, would limiting the shocks down travel fix the problem? And how much would it have to be limited before you saw results?

[Harley]

Originally Posted by crazydave

It looks like the coil is on the transmission side, and on the axle end the pin is retained by the bearing. Should be fine. No worse than JunFac driveshafts.

Hey Harley, would limiting the shocks down travel fix the problem? And how much would it have to be limited before you saw results?

It would fix the problem but it would likely be way more limiting than I would like to see. The video you can see it change through the suspension cycle.

It's a quick fix, requiring one spacer and a couple set screws. Without know exactly what I was going to do to fix it, it only took 15 minutes. With a little direction, I think you could knock it out in 10 minutes.

[squish72]

Any more trigger time with this rig?

[Harley]

Originally Posted by squish72

Any more trigger time with this rig?

Nope, work has me slammed until the end of this week. Spent all weekend in the office. Still here working late now actually.

I'm hoping to get it out this weekend though to Goat Hill.

[Absurd]

Hi Harley awesome write up, I have a few questions if you don't mind.
The rear caps on the axles are they easy to swap for a steering axle or are they completely different?

How thick is the axle tube for possible flattening for leaf springs?

the last question, The tire to hex pin is it as thick as axial, traxxas, or still the long skinny losi, like the other vaterras?

[Harley]

Originally Posted by Absurd

Hi Harley awesome write up, I have a few questions if you don't mind.
The rear caps on the axles are they easy to swap for a steering axle or are they completely different?

How thick is the axle tube for possible flattening for leaf springs?

the last question, The tire to hex pin is it as thick as axial, traxxas, or still the long skinny losi, like the other vaterras?

They are different axle housings, I'm not sure at all if the rear can be made rear steer.

The tube is VERY thick, you will have no issue making a nice flat spring perch.

Not sure what you mean on the last part.