DrewHammer's Ascender

[DrewHammer]

My kit finally arrived today so I figure I might as well post up a build thread.

Specs will be as follows:
Castle SV3 and BEC
Novak T45HD
Hitec 7955tg
Futaba 4pl
3s lipo
Some kind of servo winch (undecided)
Proline Cherokee XJ
RC4wd 1.55's and mud slingers

[DrewHammer]

And a few hours later it's built on wb2. just need to finish electronics install, paint, narrow the bumpers and make a filler panel for my smaller 3s batteries.

Overall I'm very impressed with the quality. It's got some very cool features and I think it's a very good value for what you get with the truck. I can't wait to get it out on the trails

Don't mind the disaster on the work bench or bad quality pics.

[truckbob]

Nice job .Like the Cherokee body.I will running the Blazer on mine for now.Im thinking Axial is on the drawling board as we speak..

[DrewHammer]

Slight hangup on the steering. With the WB2 configuration I had to use the alternative servo mount to clear my battery tray and the link length isn't cooperating. I need either a longer servo arm or a different mounting configuration where the steering link meets the knuckle. You can see in these photos that when the steering is centered the arm is not, leading to less than maximum steering when the arm is maxed out fully left. I'm considering my options now while waiting on my LHS to open. I'm thinking about just making a new link and running it to the top side of the knuckle rather than in the middle of the drag link.

As of right now options appear to be.

1. longer servo arm, this however may be limited by the connection between the steering link and drag link, it's pretty close to maxing out the ball in it's arc right now anyways.
2. shorter steering link. Not sure how much bump steer I'll get, not sure how much it really matters either since I'm not driving this fast and I'm not actually in it.
3. longer steering link and mount it directly to the knuckle rather than the drag link. This may actually reduce bump steer since it may be closer to the length of the panhard. I also get caught up on rigs being "perfect" since I 1:1 fabbed for so long
4. Put the XJ body on hold and run it as WB4 with the blazer body.











*edit*

Thought I'd dig through the spare parts box for a minute and found a rod end, I took one of the stock spacers I'm not using and filed it to the correct length and mounted it up to the knuckle. Now it's really just a parallel issue between the steering and panhard rods but I think I can fix that mounting the servo to the other side of the mounts. Bump steer isn't even really bad enough for me to really even worry about it, it's no more noticeable than stock. The servo arm is still getting to be parallel with the steering arm but this is just barely before the bump stop. I can live with that.

[DrewHammer]

Taking a break for a few, thought it'd be interesting to see my 1.55's on it just in case I want to frustrate the crap out of myself out on the trails. I might have to do this anyways with some different tires. Or build it as a C1 rig. I also wound up mounting the servo up on top of the servo mount and it squared away the bump steer, while observing it under travel before moving it the bump steer was actually much worse than I originally thought. This also corrected the geometry and the servo arm no longer goes parallel to the steering link before it hits the stop.

[OSRC]

Looks great with the 1.55's imo!

[Crawl Space]

I think you should build it up as a sweet XJ C1 rig! You'll probably have to modify the battery tray though if you want to compete (depending on your local club rules).

I'd be interested to see how that extra diff housing clearance over an scx10 pans out with the 1.55's. I haven't seen too many 1.55 rigs with a WB >12"

[DrewHammer]

Thanks ya'll! It would be very cool to do a C1 rig and it's very tempting. Unfortunately no one else locally runs anything like that but we don't really care about rules anyways other than wheel size. While I think this would be a capable rig even with 1.55's I may wind up getting frustrated with it and running 1.9's later on. That being said I'm moving forward with it and ordered up some 1.55 mud thrashers, I think they'll at least work better than these desert kings. I'll have to ditch the cool hex pin setup in favor of a traditional one to go with wider hexes since It just barely interferes with the knuckle with these wheels.

Over the next few days I'll get my battery tray worked out as well as bumpers for this, no point in getting in a huge rush with this. Stay tuned for updates.

[Crawl Space]

You should consider some pitbull growlers or mickey thompsons instead since they are offered in 4.19" sizes (class 1 limit). My C1 bronco (with growlers) hangs with my buddies C2 chevy with rock beasts. Plus it would be rad if you placed in, or even won, a C2 comp with a C1 rig

BTW, traxxas slash front wheel hexes were the fix for my deep offset 1.55 UTEs since they didn't clear the VP 0* ackermann knuckles with axial or wider GPM hexes.

[ROLANDROCKSHOP]

wow...

cherokee looks right at home...

1.55's look right on it..

[DrewHammer]

Originally Posted by Crawl Space

You should consider some pitbull growlers or mickey thompsons instead since they are offered in 4.19" sizes (class 1 limit). My C1 bronco (with growlers) hangs with my buddies C2 chevy with rock beasts. Plus it would be rad if you placed in, or even won, a C2 comp with a C1 rig

BTW, traxxas slash front wheel hexes were the fix for my deep offset 1.55 UTEs since they didn't clear the VP 0* ackermann knuckles with axial or wider GPM hexes.

I've got some VTH pins coming that I believe are the right size to work. I've got some wider slash front wheel hexes in my parts box that should make up the bit of clearance that I need. I'm going to give these mud thrashers I ordered a try. It should be on par for a modified "street" truck. If needed I'll try shortening the stock shocks, it looks like this would be a pretty simple operation with how they designed this truck. Worst case I'll set up to some growlers when I sell the K5 body.

Originally Posted by Crawl Space

I'd be interested to see how that extra diff housing clearance over an scx10 pans out with the 1.55's. I haven't seen too many 1.55 rigs with a WB >12"

Thankfully this wheelbase comes in at 11.4" Hopefully I don't get hung up on too much. I'll just need to stay on top of the rocks. The loss in ground clearance should be easily made up by the smaller axle housings. This should put my axle ground clearance on par for a SCX10 with average 1.9 size tires.

Originally Posted by ROLANDROCKSHOP

wow...

cherokee looks right at home...

1.55's look right on it..

Thanks, I was a little shocked to see it fit together that well. I may wind up doing the axle narrowing like Rich was talking just to gain a few mm back for some good tire tuck under the fenders.



Goal for today is to 3d print a battery filler panel for the tray and start painting the body after mounting it. Hopefully if I have time I'll start designing new bumpers and sliders for when my nylon filament arrives.

[khj94704]

Darn, I had always assumed that the adjustable wheelbase on the chassis would only affect the rear axle/links and not the front but actually looking at the manual I guess the way they've done it moves the skidplate relative to the front axle which can affect the CMS. I'm also wondering how narrowing the axles will affect the CMS, probably give you the clearance from the frame rails and let you mount the panhard directly to the knuckle instead of the tie rod and help in getting it parallel to the drag link, but alas it's also another thing to have to futz with.

Thanks for documenting your build, wouldn't have known this without this thread.

[DrewHammer]

Originally Posted by khj94704

Darn, I had always assumed that the adjustable wheelbase on the chassis would only affect the rear axle/links and not the front but actually looking at the manual I guess the way they've done it moves the skidplate relative to the front axle which can affect the CMS. I'm also wondering how narrowing the axles will affect the CMS, probably give you the clearance from the frame rails and let you mount the panhard directly to the knuckle instead of the tie rod and help in getting it parallel to the drag link, but alas it's also another thing to have to futz with.

Thanks for documenting your build, wouldn't have known this without this thread.

You're welcome. I figure I'm one of the few building it as something other than a kit right out of the box. I might as well post what I come across for anyone else doing it in the future. My way isn't the best way, merely just one of the many. Maybe we can all learn something in the process.

Narrowing the axles won't really fix the CMS the bump steer/panhard swing unless you move the panhard mount on the chassis. No big deal, once I moved the servo to the top of the mount it corrected it (will post a pic later, don't have one as of typing this). If you narrow the axles both links change length equally, you can move some mounting points around but unless you're making parts it's impossible to get 100%, it's also non-consequential and the bump steer is so minimal I'm sure I won't even notice it.



Unfortunately "life" kicked my butt this week and I didn't get to play too much but I made a little progress. I'm no longer thinking 3s, at least maybe not with these batteries. I'm also not in a huge rush to get this done until the MIP driveshafts come out. But being too lazy to make something from styrene/foam/whatever I kinda 3d printed a battery tray. I'm currently working out some bugs for a friend's Makerbot Z18 attempting to make it a "production friendly" machine and while messing with some of the settings I get free reign of the printers, so I made this filler panel, which wasn't right so I just stopped the print at 80% in frustration and figured I'd check out it's build. Yep, the extruder needs more tweaking and I need more time with some different slicer programs with more settings.

50% fill PLA, 4 wall, .3mm res. 174 print hours on the z18 with no adjustment (even out of the box), extruder feed is slipping randomly despite being clean. Spending more tuning time before reattempting. Next one will be 30% abs on a makerbot 2X I've currently got "tuned in". 2100mah 3s 20c eflite, hangs over the original battery tray but clears everything. The filler panel keeps it supported and fits the original tray nicely.











And new tires, if I hate these I'll get growlers. Does anyone reading this thread have any color suggestions? Paint/bumpers and driving in the next few days hopefully. All electronics are tested and good, just need to finish some details. Also swapped to some traxxas pins I had from some wide grey hex packages and axial wraith hexes with the centering nubs cut off for regular wheels, finally I have a good excuse for RC hoarding. Just barely clears the front knuckle and I need to find/make a good spacer between the bearing and the hex/pin.

[Crawl Space]

I vote for Brown/Tan combo or blue/ white - I think either would look sick with the voids.

[DrewHammer]

Originally Posted by Crawl Space

I vote for Brown/Tan combo or blue/ white - I think either would look sick with the voids.

Thanks, after much consideration I think I'm actually going to use some Pactra Fiery Orange I've been saving for something cool.

Haven't had much of a chance to make any real progress. I cut off the fender flares for more clearance and started working on CAD files for some new ones. I printed a new battery tray that corrected some dimensional issues and decreased print time and I printed a test bumper. I need to make it 1/4" overall width wider to just barely stick out past the fenders. Looks like I got the width off slightly. Still waiting on my nylon to get here for the real bumpers but it was a good test run. There's a large enough void inside as well for some additional chassis weight if it needs it.

Next up, rear bumper, sliders and roof rack. I should make some much quicker progress now that the Replicator 2X followed me home.

[nharkey85]

Pactra Fiery Orange for the win. Ive gone through plenty a can of that color. Cant seem to get away from it.

[Arctic Fire]

This rig looks great. I am a long time SCX supporter, I've bought like 7 and currently have 4, but this thread has sold me. I will not be buying another antiquated platform. Great build, can't wait for the colour!

[Natedog]

Very nice build.

[Natedog]

Originally Posted by DrewHammer

Thanks, after much consideration I think I'm actually going to use some Pactra Fiery Orange I've been saving for something cool.

Haven't had much of a chance to make any real progress. I cut off the fender flares for more clearance and started working on CAD files for some new ones. I printed a new battery tray that corrected some dimensional issues and decreased print time and I printed a test bumper. I need to make it 1/4" overall width wider to just barely stick out past the fenders. Looks like I got the width off slightly. Still waiting on my nylon to get here for the real bumpers but it was a good test run. There's a large enough void inside as well for some additional chassis weight if it needs it.

Next up, rear bumper, sliders and roof rack. I should make some much quicker progress now that the Replicator 2X followed me home.

I like my floating battery tray, but understand not everybody does and some comps don't allow it. Your fixed solution is very nice and clean looking. If you bought a vendor star I'm sure you could sell some battery trays and bumpers. Anxiously waiting to see what your bumpers will look like.

Originally Posted by nharkey85

Pactra Fiery Orange for the win. Ive gone through plenty a can of that color. Cant seem to get away from it.

Good color.

Originally Posted by Arctic Fire

This rig looks great. I am a long time SCX supporter, I've bought like 7 and currently have 4, but this thread has sold me. I will not be buying another antiquated platform. Great build, can't wait for the colour!

X2 and you're going to like it....I do.