Build Complete: Vaterra Ascender

[demonoid369]

Should be stronger depending on if the pinion is turning on the coast or drive side of the ring gear


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[fyrstormer]

"Coast or drive side"? The gears are bi-directional, so they should be equally strong regardless of which direction they're rotating.

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Anyway, after months of (very occasional) searching, I discovered that GPM makes steel driveshafts for the Ascender that actually fit the same as the stock plastic driveshafts -- no adaptor necessary. Normally I wouldn't trust cheap steel parts, but I had a couple good experiences with GPM steel driveshafts on other vehicles, so I decided to give these a try. They fit well and feel good; time will tell if they're strong enough, but the build quality is reassuring.





I also added some shims to the upper links, which you can see in the second photo if you look closely. I never liked how the Ascender's axles seemed to be tilted the wrong way, so I added 2x 0.6mm shims to each upper link, one at each end, to make the upper links slightly longer.

[fyrstormer]

Fixed all image links in this thread.

[fyrstormer]

To commemorate owning this truck for...however long I've owned it...I decided to finally paint the grille properly:

[fyrstormer]

My Ascender got a new body, a new paint job, and new taillights integrated into the body instead of the bumper.





It sure is a good thing I never need to sleep. This hobby would be a lot harder otherwise.