ascender vs scx10?

[chuckatruck]

Its been awhile since I built a truck and I'm contemplating buying an ascender. I want to know out the box what holds up better the scx10 kit or the ascender kit? Probably gonna run a 55 turn on 3s nothing special . I've had quite a few scx10s they seem to hold up pretty good

[jeepgeek2002]

Ascender is top notch except for the 2:1 gear ratio

[RMK]

I have the ascender kit and honestly.... I'm not impressed. It's a beautiful rig, but it is not very strong and it had missing parts in the kit. I'm running a HH 30t pro on 3s Lipo and the rear ring and pinion completely shredded after 2 batteries while on the rocks. And no, it wasn't bound up.

Apple's to Apple's, the scx can handle far more abuse out of the box, the instructions are clearer, and I have never had an issue with any missing parts in the kits. The ascender's body is beautiful, but it is a bit oversized. I do like the adjustable frame on the ascender too. My .02¢

[new2rocks]

Assuming you're looking at kit (not RTR), I don't think durability is much of a differentiator. It's still a bit early to know about long-term durability with the Ascender, so you can call that a toss-up. There are 3 initial durability mods you'll want to do, but they are small and inexpensive. They are HD pinions, driveshafts (Vaterra HD or MIPS), and a metal servo horn. You can do all 3 for less than $50. That's a shorter must-do list than most people would have for an SCX-10. Other than those 3 things, everything on the Ascender seems at or better than stock SCX-10 level out of the box from an initial quality perspective. Time will tell how well it all holds up. If you're looking at RTR, I don't know how stock electronics and motor compare to what you get in an SCX-10 these days, as I tend not to do RTRs.

The biggest difference that I see right now is after market support. With the SCX-10, there are tons of options from multiple vendors for almost every part on the truck. That's not the case with the Ascender. If you want to run close to stock, it won't matter to you much at all. But if you want to do a lot of personalizing or turn it into a hyper-performer, the SCX-10 is clearly a better choice right now.

My initial impression of the Ascender after building it and taking it on the trails for the first time yesterday is that it's a welcome change of pace from the typical Axial rig (I have a highly modded SCX-10 and Wraith). The Ascender has some advantages in stock/nearly stock form (much better steering and articulation) and some disadvantages (body gets in the way easily). If you're not going to comp, you can have a blast with either, and if you're at all leaning toward a change of pace, the Ascender is the way to go. If you plan to comp and really care about winning, or if you like sticking with what's more familiar to you and your friends, the SCX-10 is a safer choice due to better aftermarket support and how many are out there right now.

I hope that helps with your decision. Good luck!

[jeepgeek2002]

ascender comes with spools front and rear..
all the control arms are metal links.. axial arms are junk, they flex and bend like rubber bands
steering link is metal too. Axial Junk bends when you hit a rock..
Axles: thinner than axials.. allows for higher clearance
all the bolts are counter sunk. The c-hubs dont flop around like axial.
Ascender chassis is fully adjustable.. from long to short wheel base
The chassis has mounts for servo winches..
the battery tray to axle is brilliant but not SORRCA approved.. but still!
Transmission looks beefy..all metal gears
The slipper is good they recommend 5.5 turns out because otherwise you start breaking things!
Driveshafts are plastic.. ok we know they re going to break
2:1 drive aint the best..
Body everyone complains about .. but in fact it is TO SCALE! K5 were big hunks of metal clunks!
Swampers are bit on the hard side.. but hell.. they are SWAMPERS not ripsaws.. there is no such thing as a rip saw tire in the real world!
Bead locks would have been nice but the new scx10's dont offer them.
Just like real 1:1 gears..i'm sure there's a "break in" period but some people just like to "Break their axles In"..

so you figure.. 315 for a kit. you build it. run it. no links to buy no steering geometry to worry about.. full metal frame.
axial you spend 350 for a kit, you have to replace all the links with metal ones and the steering too.. thats well over $50 right there..
I dont see anyone complaining of the shocks leaking. all axial stock shocks leak like crazy..upgrade to Icons. $40

Just little things like esc mount is behind the motor..not under taped to your rx box and your RX is not under that battery tray.. and the plastic feels solid not flimsy..

i've had my share of axial. Building this kit i see this kit being a strong contender to any kit axial.. matter a fact..im boycotting all axial crap and using everything but Axial from now on.

[remfire65]

I have a Scx10 & a Ascender i have over $200 in mods on scx10
Ascender just hd pinion & drive shafts & 2 speed tranny . Both rigs have same tire & motors /esc . The Asecnder runs circles around my scx10 i would have bet against that .

[Rich Trujillo]

Ascender...but then i might be a little biased

[jdmguy760]

I choose ascender hands down better quality of parts seriously it's the new truck it's new age up to date not dated back to 06ish

[Crusty Old Shellback]

I'm running a 25T on a 2s battery, everything else is stock. Only breakage is the front drive shaft when it got bound up really tight. But it crawls like crazy.

This is my first crawler. But from videos I've seen of crawling comps, I don't think I'd have any issues with a stock Ascender after crawling/climbing some of the things I have out in my back yard. ;)

[zanthrax]

Any advantage the Ascender has is cancelled out by the fact that Axial has had plenty of time to works the kinks out of the SCX10.
I've ran a lot of packs through my SCX10 and have never regretted buying it, even out of the box it's very good and the amount of available aftermarket parts is huge. The Ascender is even more impressive out of the box but I have not driven mine yet.
Currently it's a toss-up, they're both very nice RCs. I'm very curious to see what happens the next few years, hopefully Vaterra will work out the few problems the Ascender has, but what I'd really like to see is for the Ascender to be the push for Axial to replace the SCX10 with something even more impressive.

If I were to buy my first crawler right now and had to choose between the two, It would be the Ascender. It has it's flaws but it certainly one-ups the SCX10 in quite a few areas. And everybody and their grandma already have an SCX10, I like doing something different.

[2manyprojects]

After 20 hours of 3s and a 13 turn crawl master and hard driving on my ascender I sold all three of my scx10's and two more guys in my group sold there scx10's as well to lol.


Sent from the lazy guy on the hard working phone.

[jeepgeek2002]

Down with Axial! the only reason Axial got so popular?.. the got Jeep to grant them the body's for scale reproduction and every kid knows what jeep can do. if they had access to only to Honda Pilots.. this probably wouldnt be an issue.. lol

[EeePee]

Originally Posted by jeepgeek2002

if they had access to only to Honda Pilots.. this probably wouldnt be an issue.. lol

Hey now! I'd actually buy one of those! And a Tamiya FWD Civic. I'd be happy.

For Axial updating the SCX10, why bother?

[58chvytrklvr]

Im a newbe on the site.Bought my first crawler (rtr) right out of the box started learning and abusing this truck I love it.
I bought this truck right after christmas and Im hooked.I did have to replace the pinion gears and install the HD drive shafts,also the servo gear shredded. But for that additional 50 bucks thats all it needed and Ive really put it to the test.I did decide to run a smaller body,removed and reinstalled the nerf bars and bumpers to get the tires closer to climbing points.
Which made a big difference, and added a little weight front and rear.

I would highly recommend the truck

[Johnnysplits]

I'll just say this. My ascender has the HD diff pinions, MIP drive shafts, and stainless steel links. Running a 55T on 3s, I abused it at a crawler course last weekend ( 5 straight hours) and broke NOTHING!! There are a few pics on my build thread to see just some of the stuff I was driving over. The Vaterra is a bad ass machine. The only drawback are the bumpers and body...not comp friendly, but fine for trailing. All of the Axial's that were there spent more time on pit tables than on the course. The scx10 that I've invested close to $1200 in, always has some kind of issues EVERY time I use it, which is why it's being sold. I'm done with Axial. Unless they can pull a rabbit out of their ass and do a complete redesign, I will spend my money with Vaterra.

[M1tch]

I have an SCX10 based truck, and the kit Ascender. The Ascender has had the HD pinions and shafts. Thats all it needs to run reliably. The SCX10 has Jazrider trans gears, aluminum trans case, Hd outdrives, home made beef tubes, Junfac drive shafts.

If I was going to buy anything SCX10, it would not be RTR or kit, I would build it from reliable parts, not the stock SCX parts. Plus the Ascender has great steering with no mods.

[58chvytrklvr]

This is my vaterra ascender in Morro Bay CA,plenty of rocks here to put it to the test

[6sharky9]

Scx 10 fan here...i live by the kiss principle...Make it difficult and stray from a design with hocus pocus magic performance mods and you have problems with any type rc...upgrade the right parts and respect its limits and any vehicle can be solid and reliable performer...I would choose the one you like best and go from there.

Over one year and not a single failure with my past scx10.

[pobrockcrawler]

Over the past 5 years of owning my scx10, the only part that broke was the idler gear in the transmission (after 2 years of use mind you). I have only just replaced the ring and pinions as well only because they were worn out. I have of course upgraded parts over these 5 years but I could still use all the stock parts again.

Having said all that, yes the SCX10 is quite a robust kit to say the least (if treated with respect) but the Ascender is a very appealing kit with some nice features. So what ever kit you choose you'll be happy and any problems you come across, I'm sure the kind members of this forum will help you out

[svt923]

The Ascender has so many little things that make it the better kit out of the box even without mentioning the adjustable wheelbase, steel gears, and CMS. Starting with the build, very few (if any) of the parts came on parts trees and everything was bagged in order of the build. The plastic feels like it is much higher quality than what Axial uses, I never though I was going to strip out a screw hole when tightening anything. The metric machine screws are much better than the self tapping SCX10 kit screws. The slipper clutch is straight off the Losi race vehicles and uses pad material that doesn't melt like the Axial stuff. Upper links can be removed without taking off the sliders. The shocks actually hold oil and function as shocks rather than just spring holders.

All that said, you can't go wrong with either one. The Ascender is better for the minimalist modder while the SCX10 is the serious modder's choice but both make the day better when you get out to drive them.