Gmade Komodo with Ascender Axles

[Shape_Shifter]

I just swapped my Komodo axles with some Ascender axles and thought I would share it on this forum (since there is no Komodo forum). The Gmade axles are beefy and probably the strongest on the market but the pumpkin is huge and there are other parts that tend to get hung up on obsticles.

I like the low profile Ascender axles so I decided to give them a try. The links and shock swap were a non-issue. The only hard part was deciding what to do about steering. I went with servo on axle and wont look back.


Komodo posing with stock axles.




New Ascender steering setup.

[Natedog]

I like it, nice combination of parts the detail on that body is nice too, keep us updated!

[Natedog]

Nice meeting and crawling with you, wish I took more pics but was having fun crawling! I need to go through and see how they came out. Nice to see your G-Made rocking ascender axles and your Sawback they both turned out nicely.

[Shape_Shifter]

Originally Posted by Natedog

Nice meeting and crawling with you, wish I took more pics but was having fun crawling! I need to go through and see how they came out. Nice to see your G-Made rocking ascender axles and your Sawback they both turned out nicely. "Thumbsup"

It was a great day for wheeling but not so great for photos and video. I have a bunch of raw FPV video but lots of it is pointed at the sun or doesn't really capture anything compelling. I may have a few more seconds of something worth looking at but meanwhile, here is my magnetic lid mounts failing the Radical Vertical Impact Test.







.

[Natedog]

That was pretty cool vid, so steep at the top and then I bounced right off the front and over your Komodo lol. The magnet mounts were a good idea that I've thought about before, but they are not strong enough. You going to standard body clips or? Did the crawl up the little canyon with our trucks and the Wraith come out?

[rc2000]

That was a cool video. I have the Komodo too, and one thing it does have is a tough body. How does the Komender crawl?

[Shape_Shifter]

Originally Posted by rc2000

That was a cool video. I have the Komodo too, and one thing it does have is a tough body. How does the Komender crawl?

It crawls really well, especially with the Ascender axles, but mine is a little top heavy.

Also, if you do the Ascender axle swap, you will need two of the rear center drive shafts. The stock Ascender front shaft is too short for a swap in to the Komodo, so I kept loosing it on the trail.

[Natedog]

X2, to counteract the top heaviness maybe limit down travel a little, use some shorter shocks or raise the upper mounting points and it will really shine! Love that body all the molded detail parts and the lexan is thick! It should last along time! I had read that G-Made tranny was a little noisy, but yours is quiet like vaterra or axial.

[rc2000]

Originally Posted by Natedog

X2, to counteract the top heaviness maybe limit down travel a little, use some shorter shocks or raise the upper mounting points and it will really shine! Love that body all the molded detail parts and the lexan is thick! It should last along time! I had read that G-Made tranny was a little noisy, but yours is quiet like vaterra or axial.

On my Komodo I'm running the proline scaler shocks, it made a huge difference.
My Komodo tranny is loud, I kind of like it, it sounds more like a real truck.

[Shape_Shifter]

Originally Posted by rc2000

On my Komodo I'm running the proline scaler shocks, it made a huge difference.
My Komodo tranny is loud, I kind of like it, it sounds more like a real truck.

It may be your axles that are loud. I put the Ascender axles on and its quiet now.

[rc2000]

I unhooked the drive shafts but she's still a noisy beast. She will quiet down once I get some miles on her.

[rc2000]

My opinion of both, is the Komodo is more of a work house like a tank. The Ascender is more of a technical crawler. You can tell that Vaterra went for something totally different, I think they killed it, it's an awesome scale crawler. The Komodo is simple and clean.

You can see very little clutter or wiring.

[Shape_Shifter]

Here is a running vid with this setup. I really like this chassis/axle combo. I fixed the drive shaft problem by installing another Ascender rear shaft in the front of the Komodo. You will notice that I added a sort of psuedo track bar to give additional support to the servo mount.

[Natedog]

Good to see her running with longer front driveshaft. Nice test spot

[Shape_Shifter]

Originally Posted by Natedog

Good to see her running with longer front driveshaft. Nice test spot

Yeah it runs great!

Test spot is south of the dam. A completely different kind of rock than on the north side.

[professorcake]

nice rig! hey im curious how your rear upper suspension links are connected the rear axle can you share a pic looking at the rear axle from the back of the truck? from what I can see it doesnt look like you used the stock truss.

[Shape_Shifter]

Originally Posted by professorcake

nice rig! hey im curious how your rear upper suspension links are connected the rear axle can you share a pic looking at the rear axle from the back of the truck? from what I can see it doesnt look like you used the stock truss.

Thanks.

Yes, I used the stock truss. 'Twas easy.

[Natedog]

Anymore updates, crawling pics etc?

[Shape_Shifter]

Well I removed the chrome from the diff covers with Easy-Off and painted them red. Other than that its been work and holidays and bad weather. I may have time this weekend to play.