Just got the rtr version

[MikeMontgomery1970]

Ive been watching this vehicle off and on, and finally decided to go ahead and pick up the rtr version of the Ascender. Seemed like a fair deal. Ive done some reading on the trucks, and see its a good idea to figure out what shims to use on the diffs in the axles to help avoid premature failure. But havent heard much else about the truck really.

Is there any other things a person should be paying attention to or watching for? I did a real thorough check of the truck today when I got it back home and out of the box. It doesnt appear to have very much slack in the driveline and axles. At least not anymore than a new axial kit would either. Gear mesh was good as well, and all fasteners were properly seated and tight.

Just figured it wise to ask and see if there are other issues with either the kit or rtr versions.

[M1tch]

The driveshafts might twist, but HD ones are available soon. Cheap enough to have a spare set anyway. I broke the left front cv as well, but I haven't heard of anyone else doing that. I was thrashing it though. The transmission seems tough and nothing else has broken. (mine was a kit btw)

You might want lighter oil in the shocks. The stock oil seems very heavy. Ok for slow speeds, but just too bouncy on faster trails.

[Johnnysplits]

The HD drive shafts are available...just got mine in the mail today.

[Minirider82]

Check the slipper clutch adjustment mine was almost all the way down. And watch those drive shaft grub screws they like to loosen. Other than that congrats on the ascender!

[meatmonkey]

That the truck has been out for months and all people can complain about is the ring/pinion gears says alot for Vaterra's design team. The rest of the truck, IMO is very durable.

Is anyone breaking driveshafts WITHOUT first breaking the pinion gear and locking up the ring/pinion?

The Twin Hammers has the same rear driveshaft design and mines been hammered on for months with a 17.5 brushless and the joints are still tight and the slip is still smooth! I'd get an average of two trail runs out of a Wild Boar on an SCX before it wouldn't slip, so I consider the Vaterra design much better.

Please don't compare the slop/lack tolerances of an RTR Axial to the Vaterra. Both of the Vaterra Kits I've assembled (Ascender and Twin Hammers) exhibited far less drivetrain and suspension slop than any of my 5 Axial trucks. In fact the Ascender only required 2 extra diff shims, and the Twim Hammers only 1 extra. All ended up between the ring gear and bearing to tighten up the backlash, and eliminate any side-to-side play beteen the diff assembly and the housing. The average on shim count my Axials range from 8 to likely 18 to reduce the slop to what I consider tolerable levels.