Re: Natedog's Vaterra ASCENDER
 

Those are nice, I had the 2.2 version of them. :)

Nice, me too. Get your thread going, that over and under drive tranny conversion is sweet.

Deanihilator,
Those air nailers are nice but dangerous, hope your thumb heals up well and fast! Don't put to much weight on your tires, hard on driveline, kills acceleration, and makes crawling to easy. IIRC the rc4wd steelies are about 70 grams each , I'll check and get back with you. Aluminum or steel is fine, but the wheels that your like. I'm not a fan of 2.2 and have not stretched smaller tires onto larger rims, but I've seen plenty of people do it successfully...give it a shot and let us know. "Thumbsup"

I'll try to get a pic of my front rocklight mounting. Those VP lights are rather large for this scale and too bright imo.

Re: Natedog's Vaterra ASCENDER
 

I know you referenced the SMC shorty packs in a previous post. Have you used these in the Ascender? If so, how do they compare to the Orion packs, besides price?

Re: Natedog's Vaterra ASCENDER
 

SMC packs seem about same as orion pack, maybe not quite as much runtime 4400 versus 4600 mah though. I haven't officially timed the two for runtime and feels like maybe little better long lasting punch from the Orion, but hard to tell for sure with such a low amp draw motor and esc. Any differences would be much more noticeable with say ROC412 or Holmes hobbies brushless. Either orion or SMC have been good and SMC is half the price of Orion so I'd go with SMC. "Thumbsup"

Re: Natedog's Vaterra ASCENDER
 

What did you use for your internal shock limiters? I think the diameter of mine are a little to big and its restricting rebound.

Re: Natedog's Vaterra ASCENDER
 

Natedog it was great crawling with you! I really need to do your sway bar set up. On your next ascender really try the shortwheel base. You will like it! I'm working on new links... servo winch for Dec 13 trail ride... get SSD!

Re: Natedog's Vaterra ASCENDER
 

I just read the whole thread. The places you have to run your trucks is amazing. I love playing in the muddy creeks and woods here in Indiana but it would be nice to have places like you have.

Re: Natedog's Vaterra ASCENDER
 

we are lucky to have as many different places to crawl as we do!

Re: Natedog's Vaterra ASCENDER
 

That could be restricting your oil flow.

I used some 3mm ID shock limiter spacers. Shock pistons work great if both holes in all four shocks is drilled out to #55 bit with 30wt oil.

Thanks and likewise man! Yes swaybar is huge improvement! I might try that, yours works pretty good, I was skepitcal about the shorter wb but it works! Looking forward to seeing your new links and servo winch. Get SSD what?

Thanks we are blessed with lots of great rock and dirt trails.

"thumbsup"

My 95mm long, 0.093" diameter home-made swaybar bench flex test was same as softest Wraith bar, but in actual trail and rock crawling use it seems to allow a little more flex, just the right amount! I'm very pleased with how it turned out and am doing more testing with it before making anymore changes. "thumbsup"

Re: Natedog's Vaterra ASCENDER
 

Thanks Nate. I started to drill those at first than decided not to. It does look like the c clip impedes the oil flow somewhat. I appreciate the information.

Re: Natedog's Vaterra ASCENDER
 

You know your going to have to make me a sway bar now... SSD wheels. I got a set for my boy. 15 minutes to mount all 4!

Re: Natedog's Vaterra ASCENDER
 

"I used Associated Electrics shock limiter spacers part number 6466. Shock pistons work great if both holes in all four shocks is drilled out to #55 bit with 30wt oil."

Nate I did your shock mod today, going to try it out Sat. In looking at a few of your photos I see you left the rubber bumpers on the external shock shaft any reason for that? I removed mine but can put them back if necessary. 9MM limiters and #55 drill bit for the pistons. The more I do with this rig the more I like it."thumbsup" Also went to 3S with a BPC battery mount, I like the extra power when needed.

Re: Natedog's Vaterra ASCENDER
 

Drill both piston holes on all four pistons to #55 bit, it works great even though the clips are kinda in the way, this is the fix! "thumbsup"

You have to buy the Axial Wraith front swaybar first. ;-) SSD makes nice wheels for sure, but I have something else in mind this time.


Yes, leave the external bumpstops on the shocks, they soften the really hard hits and keep travel limited to a reasonable amount. Yes, 9mm (3/8") internal limiting is achieved by using three black 3mm thickness spacers per shock. Yep, I'm loving my Ascender so much I have a special deja deux coming! Nice, 3S is great for when you need a little more to crest a difficult climb.

Re: Natedog's Vaterra ASCENDER
 

I got the sway bar on order, just need you to make the bar you just made...lol

Re: Natedog's Vaterra ASCENDER
 

Cool and before mods or anybody asks, I'm not selling anything and don't have vendor star. Pm'ed you dude. "thumbsup"

Thanks! :)

Re: Natedog's Vaterra ASCENDER
 

That's cool man... I'm still going to try to duplicate your work.

Re: Natedog's Vaterra ASCENDER
 

An Ascender aficionado such as yourself needs to go with the Bronco body. There is something about the stupidly short wheelbase combined with the great capability of the Ascender chassis that makes it a blast to drive. The Blazer is cool but the Bronco is more fun. "thumbsup"

Re: Natedog's Vaterra ASCENDER
 

"thumbsup"8)

Thanks, what is it about the Bronco body besides it's good looks that makes it such a blast to drive? "thumbsup"

Re: Natedog's Vaterra ASCENDER
 

Its a combination of the super short wheelbase and smaller overhangs added to the same steering and suspension that makes the Ascender great. The Bronco is so short and wide it doesn't look like it should perform as well as it does and there is some extra enjoyment in that. Its hard to fully explain but its much different from the 12+ inch wheelbase trucks and worth a try.

I do have to add that small tires (4.2 or smaller) are a must for the Bronco otherwise it looks way too jacked up.

Re: Natedog's Vaterra ASCENDER
 

http://images.tapatalk-cdn.com/15/12...a55a23c16d.jpg

Short wheel base is the sheeznit

Re: Natedog's Vaterra ASCENDER
 

Interesting, maybe I'll try the short wheelbase later, need to test drive one first lol. "thumbsup"

Couple pics from crawl the other weekend, ShapeShifter's Komodo with Ascender axles, my Blazer and iirc Aaron's Wraith. We were too busy cralwing and chatting to take many pics, although ShapeShifter took a nice video posted here in his Komender thread.

http://www.rccrawler.com/forum/vater...der-axles.html

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...pspdro0gy5.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...ps4t6elf3v.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...pstfdz2tzq.jpg


Oh looky what followed me home lol! :lmao: Couldn't forget the SSD goodness too! 8) Build in progress, rear bumper mounts flipped, black stickers applied in grill, swaybar and SSD Rockshield Diff Covers. "thumbsup" Good thing my swaybar jig is still setup.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...psg2kjizve.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...ps0bhgdhnd.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...psmoswa4ys.jpg

Re: Natedog's Vaterra ASCENDER
 

Since my Honcho has new wheels and tires, these will be going on Ascender Two for now at least...I've got some tires to bake off the stock Vaterra rims to mount up so that both have the same TSL tires. I need CI foams for these too.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...ps4139858a.jpg

Re: Natedog's Vaterra ASCENDER
 

Userid cgw has a great thread about improving side-hilling on the Ascender and since I've done some mods and crawled a lot it was time to actually put the protractor to my truck.

Just checked mine and as she sits I got 50* without body and with my body with lights/wiring and E6000/drywall tape reinforcements she went to 45* before she tipped over! Rear swaybar and all the other little mods I've done are really working! "thumbsup"

Re: Natedog's Vaterra ASCENDER
 

Swaybar is "milled" :lmao:"thumbsup"

Re: Natedog's Vaterra ASCENDER
 

Keep it up Natedog!

Re: Natedog's Vaterra ASCENDER
 

Nate, you are swaying me to venture away from axial for a future build. 8)

Re: Natedog's Vaterra ASCENDER
 

Venture away...it's well worth it!!

Re: Natedog's Vaterra ASCENDER
 

You bet!

Hehe, sway on over to an Ascender for your next build, you won't regret it. "thumbsup"

X100, yes sir! "thumbsup"

Re: Natedog's Vaterra ASCENDER
 

Great thread! I have read through yours and Splits' ascender builds and I'm convinced to go vaterra. The difference between the new truck and your build is awesome! Thanks for all the info.

Re: Natedog's Vaterra ASCENDER
 

Thanks, yes a few simple mods transforms the Ascender into a very capable crawler, you won't be disappointed.

New Ascender body getting matching trim around the bottom edges.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...ps8ufhaeb8.jpg


Trying the CI DW foams for Proline TSL XL in the Ascender tires.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...ps4plpllag.jpg


Thinking of these wheels for the new build.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...psdaavgm7q.jpg


Re-did shut lines and black weatherstripping around windows, added the top line too.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...psnpxghuht.jpg


Testor's red paint pen to make sure the positive gets plugged to positive.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...psdqake0lq.jpg


Shortened my swaybar links using 3x16mm studs and bottoming the two rod ends against each other, swaybar works even better now and not rubbing the shock springs. Ideally swaybar arms should be parallel with the ground at ride height. The 3/32" Du-Bro collars fit the swaybar better and look cleaner, so I swapped those too. Shorter end links really made the swaybar work even better, my truck is very stable now.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...pskvckk8ll.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...ps0y5x7ffk.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...psaqsrm1zl.jpg


Better picture of front rock light LED mounting as requested.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...psxlhwlbfv.jpg

Re: Natedog's Vaterra ASCENDER
 

hi natedog are the wheels from hot racing?

Re: Natedog's Vaterra ASCENDER
 

Looking good bro

Re: Natedog's Vaterra ASCENDER
 

Yes, they are. If you buy them, there are 5-lug, 6-lug, pin drive (hubs) and hex drive (hubs), these are the hex drive hubs. I have a couple sets of them and they all work great.

Thanks!

EDIT: BTW I've never seen an RTR plastic servo horn take so much abuse and keep on rockin.

Re: Natedog's Vaterra ASCENDER
 

thanks wasnt shure on the off set ill be ordering straight away"thumbsup"

Re: Natedog's Vaterra ASCENDER
 

Good idea on the batteries. When I had a few packs like those, I put a red dot sticker on the positive side.

Re: Natedog's Vaterra ASCENDER
 

Nate..

How the new foams working out? I just have the stock foams that come with the RC4WD tires. They leave a little bit to be desired, so, I was gonna look for some other foams. I do have 1.7 wheels though.

Re: Natedog's Vaterra ASCENDER
 

I've been using them on my SCX10 and they are very durable and I like the 8-hole design better than the look of the RC4WD 10-hole design. If you like a different look, the front half holes can be carefully drilled out in small incremental steps to match the larger holes in the back half, looks really good when you're done! These wheels are available raw unpainted steel, black or white. These grey ones were originally black and I scuff sanded with some fine grit sandpaper, cleaned up with paint prep, dried, sprayed very light coats and baked them in an old toaster oven at 200F for one hour after each coat of paint. This made the paint very hard and durable, they've been through lots of rocks and have minimal scrapes and chips considering.

Thanks, paint pen was $5, more noticeable and hopefully more permanent than stickers. I almost bought a pack of made in Japan Gundam Metallic Marker (Paint) Set but they were marked down at LHS from $35 to $20 and all I really needed was red. The Testor's paint marker works, but even after drying for a couple days, the second touch up coat ended up kinda wiping off part of the first coat and creating lighter colored streaks, I had to put it on kinda heavy to work well. It works for my use here, but I would have been very unhappy if I was trying to really paint something that mattered how it looked.

Gundam paint marker set:
http://www.amazon.com/GSI-Creos-Gund.../dp/B0009AFN4Y

Testor's Enamel Paint Markers (pens):
Testors

Re: Natedog's Vaterra ASCENDER
 

Which foams in particular?

The CI DW Rockbeast foams are working well, but when I get really bound up and stay on the throttle, I can see the tires starting to ball up a little, these are really not quite tall enough for the Vaterra TSL's, but work really well. I'm being as hard on them as I can, slipper is pretty tight and I've never heard it slip, I do know when to let off though lol. EDIT: These are best foams for the stock Vaterra Swampers! :)

I was going to install the larger CI DW foams for Proline TSL XL's in my other set of wheels with another set of Vaterra TSL's, but I need to disassemble my white spokes/TSL's to let them dry after yesterday's GTG crawl in the rain, hail (almost snowed too!), and mud...dang it was sticky! Soooo...I'm probably put the larger CI DW foams in the RC4WD white spoke wheels, just to keep it all apples to apples comparison. Might use the grey HR wheels too...we'll see.

Re: Natedog's Vaterra ASCENDER
 

Here's a pic from yesterday, more to come!

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...ps01kvwtxe.jpg

Re: Natedog's Vaterra ASCENDER
 

Nice pic...Sticky mud...the natural wheel weights.

Re: Natedog's Vaterra ASCENDER
 

So did you just get another body because yours is getting best up or did you get a complete second truck? If you got a second truck what's your plans for it and your current truck?
Ben