Falken Jeep JK flatbed Ascender by NightRider

[The_NightRider]

Some pictures of the car that insipred me,a Falken concept shown at the 2012 SEMA.





The car has a cantilever system I want maintain on the 1/10 replica.



More pictures here 2012 SEMA Falken Jeep JK Wrangler Flatbed

I don't want to bore you with the kit build,so....

Axles with GPM upgrades



Chassis with aluminium skid plate



The next step is build the cantilever system,so after some reasoning I remebered i have a car with push rod system that can work perfectly,the Vaterra Twin Hammers.
I had som spare parts from the VTH because I switched to a front tower system,so I tried to fit the rocker arms and...it works!!!





Let's twist!!!



All using only stock Vaterra parts!!!
If you want a cheap cantilever system that works perfectly(springs are right) find two VTH front shocks and rocker arms,drill two holes in the chassis and you are ready.

In the next days I will start the body,using a plastic Jk body.
Stay tuned

[ElChupacabra]

Yo, that's awesome... Can't wait to see how the rest of this goes. You set a pretty high bar right out of the gate.

[Natedog]

Originally Posted by ElChupacabra

Yo, that's awesome... Can't wait to see how the rest of this goes. You set a pretty high bar right out of the gate.

X2, well said. Nice and clean with the shocks inside the frame rails.

[imthatguy]

Interesting concept. Any reason you chose to mount your cantilevers inside the frame rails?

[ElChupacabra]

Originally Posted by imthatguy

Interesting concept. Any reason you chose to mount your cantilevers inside the frame rails?

Nothing else is going to go there. Why mount them outside and create potential clearance issues with tires and wheel offsets? This way it's wide open around the tire/flex zones.

[The_NightRider]

Originally Posted by ElChupacabra

Yo, that's awesome... Can't wait to see how the rest of this goes. You set a pretty high bar right out of the gate.

I know,is a very challenging project....I've buit other cars before,but this is definitely the most difficult one.
But I've gained some experience with other cars I've built so I'm confident.
Thank you for your support

Originally Posted by Natedog

X2, well said. Nice and clean with the shocks inside the frame rails.

Originally Posted by imthatguy

Interesting concept. Any reason you chose to mount your cantilevers inside the frame rails?

Originally Posted by ElChupacabra

Nothing else is going to go there. Why mount them outside and create potential clearance issues with tires and wheel offsets? This way it's wide open around the tire/flex zones.

ElChupacabra is right,and the car I'm inspiring has the same system.
In fact this is more a push rod system than a cantilever.
Another strong point of the system is progressive like a rear suspension of motocross bike,so the suspension is soft at the beginning and progressively becomes harder.
It's the first time I use this system so I'm curious how it works....

Originally Posted by M J

Cool, looking forward to seeing more of this project!

[northern hooligan]

Subscribed !! looking forward to see how things go along, post a lot of pics.

[The_NightRider]

Originally Posted by northern hooligan

Subscribed !! looking forward to see how things go along, post a lot of pics.

Of course,I will keep the 3D uptaded.

First work on the body...







Obviously all the back will be flattened.
I will fill the holes with body parts dissolved in acetone that act as "plastic glue"(it works ).
Lateral panels will be rebuilt with forex/styrene and reinforced.

[The_NightRider]

[The_NightRider]

Tomorrow I will refinish with light sandpaper and soap water and drill the hole for the mesh grill.

[The_NightRider]

the grill shape is a little less complex than the original ;)

[The_NightRider]

[The_NightRider]

[Jeepiac]

I don't know how I've been skipping over this build. Now that I've found it, I'll be watching Love what you're doing here!

[ElChupacabra]

I have build envy for sure. It's coming along very nicely and I'm getting very excited to see the end. That rear suspension is still my favorite thing I've seen on RCC recently.

[The_NightRider]

Sorry for no news this week,I'm in Amsterdam for a few days.
When I,m back I my favourite shop will be open open so I can start the gearbox too ;)

[rag6]

Could ya possibly give me the length of those shocks? The rear setup is awesome, so simple....

[The_NightRider]

Originally Posted by rag6

Could ya possibly give me the length of those shocks? The rear setup is awesome, so simple....

65mm,they are the stock Vaterra Twin Hammers front shocks.

[The_NightRider]

As I said before I want to use the pieces of the kit as much as possible, trying to improve the performance.
The kit's shock absorbers are too long and have too much travel so I decided to modify them.
Not wanting to cut and thread the original rods I took the rods by an axial (TIN covered) and I put the plates (I had to lower them of 0.3 mm) of the Ascender



Then I shortened the body of a centimeter(thanks to maxbonv for the trick)



To improve smoothness and prevent oil leakage I used the oring in Traxxas Big Bore rebuild kit.



Work done, everything seems to work and the smoothness is excellent with a good hydraulic control.
It remains to be seen whether the springs are right but the first dynamic test will have the last word.

[Natedog]

Very nice shock mod, I would try using a soft upper (short) spring with that setup, but with heavier hardbody it might be perfect. This setup creates more preload on the shock springs, similar to where the adjuster collar is stock on RTR.