Joined the cool kids club!

[MAXXMASHER]

I think I'll be in good shape for awhile! I bought a set of pinion gears when I bought my truck. Those finally came in a few days ago. I also bought a ring/pinion combo as soon as I found one. In addition to that, I finally got around to sending an email to Horizon and they sent me two combos and two sets of HD pinion gears!! My HR diff cover came in with the combo I ordered and another one will be here on Saturday. Motherlode!! No work on Sat or Sun night, so my rig will be on the rocks and trails soon.






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[MAXXMASHER]

Finally got around to getting the Ascender on the bench and trail worthy again. Pretty straightforward. Remove old broken gears; install new ones.

Ready for install.



Was pretty surprised to pull the cover off the front axle and find that the pinion gear also had damage. The rear one was destroyed, but I thought the front was fine. Went ahead and put a new ring gear in there too.



Not too exciting, put it all back together and she's ready to go!






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[tgh117]

Hmmm I wonder what mine look like...


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[MAXXMASHER]

Yeah, might want to do that, Tim. Your shoulda came with HD gears though, right? If not, you really should! That front diff on mine was a ticking time bomb. I also ordered the Ascender aluminum servo arm for better clearance. That long arm I have on mine keeps hitting the steering linkage with every turn. Can't be good for the servo.


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[MAXXMASHER]

Gonna go a different direction with my Ascender. Got a brand new set of Pro-Line Flat Irons and another set of PL Eight shooter - 2.2 beadlock wheels. (ask TGH117 about my addiction to this wheel!) anyways, going to combine these with a Jeep Cherokee body. I am going to work on body prep and mixing up a military shade of tannish greenish. As close as I can get to this wheel color. No chrome - all accents will be in black.







Took off the rear bumper for now.



I think I may spray the fender flares and bumpers on the outside with Plasti Dip black spray. Have some leftover from my Harley (no not him!) Sportster project. Added new bars, mirrors, grips, and an led orange light kit. I also just finished painting a mini café fairing for it . It was a pretty cheap one molded in ABS plastic. The finish on it was pretty inconsistent , so I fine sanded it , and cleaned it up with danatured alcohol.



Am using spray on black Plasti Dip, and clear glossifier as a protective finish.



Hung from the garage door pull handle and put up some overspray protection.



Turned out pretty good! Not sure if I'm going to use it or not.



My pride and joy!



Lit up.




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[MAXXMASHER]

Finally got around to painting up my Cherokee Ascender. I painted the body on the inside with my airbrush. I also tried something new; and that was to paint the fender flares on the outside with the Plasti Dip. The paint session went quickly and smoothly. I also painted up a set sand/mud rails that were saved from a now-gone toaster oven.












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[Natedog]

Originally Posted by MAXXMASHER

Finally got around to getting the Ascender on the bench and trail worthy again. Pretty straightforward. Remove old broken gears; install new ones.

Was pretty surprised to pull the cover off the front axle and find that the pinion gear also had damage. The rear one was destroyed, but I thought the front was fine. Went ahead and put a new ring gear in there too.



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Love those HR aluminum diff covers, look good and probably add a little strength by holding the ring and pinion gears in better alignment under load.

Originally Posted by MAXXMASHER

Finally got around to painting up my Cherokee Ascender. I painted the body on the inside with my airbrush. I also tried something new; and that was to paint the fender flares on the outside with the Plasti Dip. The paint session went quickly and smoothly. I also painted up a set sand/mud rails that were saved from a now-gone toaster oven.

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Looks good, but I'd cut the bumpers off the body, drop it down and trim stock bumpers or replace as needed.

Nice idea on the toaster oven sand rails lol.

[MAXXMASHER]

Originally Posted by Natedog

Love those HR aluminum diff covers, look good and probably add a little strength by holding the ring and pinion gears in better alignment under load.

That was my thoughts on the aluminum covers, too. I figured it couldn't hurt to have some more strength in that area.


Looks good, but I'd cut the bumpers off the body, drop it down and trim stock bumpers or replace as needed.

I really want to run these bigger tires on here, and I cant really drop the body any lower without a lot of rub going on. The gap IS bigger than I'd like in the front, but sometimes sacrifices have to be made.

Nice idea on the toaster oven sand rails lol.

I like the look of them, too. Just need to cut them to length. They also serve another purpose. I was a bit hasty in cutting the rear holes for the mounts somehow and they were off. Ive done dozens, if not a hundred bodies in my time and I can't believe I did that. ALWAYS use the intended tires when finishing the body!!! I think I was going to use smaller tires originally, and when I changed to these, the posts wouldn't reach. Had to switch to straight posts to get the fender clearance I needed for these tires. Anyways, the rails cover up the old holes. Duuuhhh!!



FLM BL E-Maxx - BL Slash - BL 4Tec - 1/16th Fiesta - Wraith - SCX-10 - Custom Axial 6WD - Custom Losi micro Monster Truck - Losi Micro-T Hummer - Custom Losi Micro Peterbilt Crawler - soon '65 Malibu Micro T Drifter

[tgh117]

Originally Posted by Natedog

Love those HR aluminum diff covers, look good and probably add a little strength by holding the ring and pinion gears in better alignment under load.



Looks good, but I'd cut the bumpers off the body, drop it down and trim stock bumpers or replace as needed.

Nice idea on the toaster oven sand rails lol.

Nate that is exactly the idea. We both thought it would help with overall strength and support for the gears, since the diff cover actually holds them in place a bit. only time will tell...

[MAXXMASHER]

Did a bit more painting, this time, to the interior for my Cherokee. I decided to use an old one I had lying about that was previously used in my SCX. That truck was all red and black. I kept the black and painted all the red accents with Tamiya Olive Drab model paint using a brush. Looking good so far! Tomorrow, I'll work on getting everything to fit.

Before I started the makeover. That's a Travis Pastrana action figure that I gave a rougher look to.



And now....



This was originally a yellow plastic Jeep toy that I got at a yard sale for a buck like six years ago! Trashed everything but the interior.

Added a few of my own details.



Even detailed the dash a bit.




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[MAXXMASHER]

Decided to go with a different set of wheels and tires. I'm setting up my SCX as a mud truck, so I decided to put my 1.9 Rock Crushers on this truck. They are mounted on Axial SCX beadlocks and I painted the rings to match the body. Dropped the body down, and I think it looks a lot better.














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[MAXXMASHER]

I put just about all the finishing touches on this rig; for now, at least! I lowered the posts down a few holes to drop the body down a bit, and added some scale touches, too. Here's some more pics. I'll narrate as I go.

Added the bullet holes and the star on the hood. Also got a shovel and pry bar riding on the roof.





A close up of the roof...



The rear bumper got some RC4WD metal hooks.



Just heated the antenna a little and shoved it trough the lexan. Secured both ends with CA glue.



Going to have to cut a slot for the spur gear to allow the interior to sit a little lower.



Comin' through! Outta the way, Maggots!



Sent from the Darkside using the Force.


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[tgh117]

Looking good lantz


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[MAXXMASHER]

Can't wait to get her in the woods again! Might just have to start work on the homestead crawler course.


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[MAXXMASHER]

Got out in the woods and had a great day crawling with my six year old nephew!! The Ascender performed flawlessly. I did sort of get lucky, though. I was doing a bit of tinkering awhile back, and failed to put my receiver box lid back on. It was about the twentieth pass through a little mud pit we found that it hit me like a shot! Aahhh wait!! Luckily nothing splashed up high enough to affect the Rx or bec that are tucked in there.
Anyways, we had a blast and my truck took everything I threw at it. We crawled, hill climbed, and got our trucks covered in grime.

















Not my Ascender, but these are some videos of my nephew climbing up our favorite hill climb. Way steeper than it looks. It is really sketchy to try to climb it on foot.

First try....



And a minute later!



What a great day! Sorry you missed out, Tim!


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[MAXXMASHER]

I was inspecting my truck the other night and discovered that one of my front tires had thrown an inside bead and had several tears in it. I'll replace the tire back into the bead and fix the tears with some CA glue eventually. For now I will run my 2.2 Flat Irons, and they look pretty good on the truck too.








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[balko]

I like these 2.2s. They're not as tall as other 2.2s, and they work great on rocks. I have them on my scx g6.

The jeep cherokee looks great. The Ascender has some nice flex. Do the tires rub with this body?

[MAXXMASHER]

Perhaps just a lil bit. I like to run most of my trucks in a droop setup. Seems to help with that problem. I also got a pretty cool looking Integy roof rack for it. (Pretty much the only Integy part that will touch my trucks!) Going to get that mounted up soon. Pics tomorrow.

FLM BL E-Maxx - BL Slash - BL 4Tec - 1/16th Fiesta - Wraith - SCX-10 - Custom Axial 6WD - Custom Losi micro Monster Truck - Losi Micro-T Hummer - Custom Losi Micro Peterbilt Crawler - soon '65 Malibu Micro T Drifter

[MAXXMASHER]

I didn't get the rack mounted, (leaving for work soon), but I at least got it out of the package to see how it fit. Not bad for eyeballing it in the shop! Should have a little time tonight after work to get it attached. I like that this one is metal, too. My other plastic ones always eventually got broken.






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[MAXXMASHER]

I'm currently in my basement workshop and I got my rack mounted. Got off work at 11pm, tucked the wife in bed, cracked open an ice coffee, turned on some sports radio, and am wrenching away. The rig looks pretty good with the rack and some scale goodies attached, I think! Gonna install a new motor in my mud truck and maybe get started on a micro scaler, too. Love working 2nd shift! Stay up late, sleep in, repeat!!












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