Ascender'nMN builds WB4 II

[Natedog]

Sounds like a plan Stan, but I'd take vacation or whatever and make the trip longer and more enjoyable, 800 miles per day is way too long sitting in the car for me.

[Ascender'nMN84]

Oh I agree with you but I'm building Sunday in as buffer day in the event of traffic/car problems/whatever. I gotta be at work first thing Monday morning. Plus my local club is holding a G6 on Sunday I might try to sneak to. Boss at home knows nothing about that yet though... The goal for Friday is Orlando to southern Illinois. ~950 miles. I've made the round trip drive 6-8 times but not in the last 5 years. I'm thankful for satellite radio...

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[Ascender'nMN84]

I think we found a winner! Had to scrap the bumpers and pull the wheels but she fits, shell on the chassis. Just gonna throw the stock bumpers on for the weekend but I feel a lot better about it this vs the small duffel I usually carry on flights. Obviously I'm gonna protect it more before I head out but overall I'm pleased.

Edit: Surgically repaired Luna approves.

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[Natedog]

That's a great bag and Luna kitty helper looks so happy too! Glad she's got a loving family and home to take care of her!

[Ascender'nMN84]

Got through security no problem. Shoes, belt and liquids in one bin and 2 lipo's in bags in another. Came out the other side of the scanner after giving them a heads up what they would be looking at and I was on my way. Very pleased.

Thanks Nate she's a great helper! When I can't find her in the house, 9 times out of 10 she's on my chair at my work bench.

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[Natedog]

Glad it went well for you flying, I've found the TSA has improved their customer service lately.

You're welcome! Mine are the same, love to steal my chair (even though I have spares for them) when I get up for something.

[Ascender'nMN84]

Only thing I left home was my charger. TSA allows tools under 7" to be carried on and I remembered I bought a cheap set before my multi-tip set went fully round. At 5" they will work just fine.

Luna tried to bamboozle her way in last minute in my extra bag.

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[Ascender'nMN84]

Was able to sneak out to the trail outside my LHS. Day was cut short with this truck cause the 10.2 chub was slipping. I might need to just mount these on the CODYBOY steering axles permanently with an expoy or something. Ernie if you're reading this, let me know if it's a terrible idea to do this. I might try some tape first to get some bite. Option 3/C is to drill out the threading on the chub and do a screw and nut combo. TBA.

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[Ascender'nMN84]

Hill @ local G6: 1
Rear cage posts: 0

TBL* took a pretty nasty 30-40 foot series of barrel rolls down a pretty steep hill climb hill this past Saturday. I'm told there's video of it somewhere, so if I can get my hands on it, I'll post it. Probably should have used more E6000 to "butter" the edges better and maybe a ziptie or 4 as backup. Luckily this happened about 80% of the way through the run and I was able to wedge them in place to keep going. Happened a couple times before my battery finally died and rather than swap out, I just did the walk of shame. I wasn't "offically" signed up and was just out there for a good time so no sense in potentially damaging stuff further.

Back before I started this kit, AggressorBLUE had come up with way of mounting the K10 cage on a WB4 rig using a pair of the rear chassis brace bolted together with some lexan if I remember correctly. (tbh I didn't go all the way back and read the fine details again) Rather than use lexan, I think I'm gonna do it out of the same metal I made my RULR out of. I need to make another set of risers for the original Ascender so might as well cut my body post riser in the process.

* I still haven't fixed my CODYBOY STEERING axle's chub problem. The solution is to poke and tap a hole in the front to prevent the rolling I'm experiencing now. The new body and rear bumper got moved over to the original chassis for the G6 so tho it performed well, I sure could have used the extra weight of the 10.2 SSD weights in a few spots as this is one top-heavy body.

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[Natedog]

Originally Posted by Ascender'nMN84

Day was cut short with this truck cause the 10.2 chub was slipping. I might need to just mount these on the CODYBOY steering axles permanently with an expoy or something. Ernie if you're reading this, let me know if it's a terrible idea to do this. I might try some tape first to get some bite. Option 3/C is to drill out the threading on the chub and do a screw and nut combo.

Some E6000 on the axle housing end and then mount the C-hub will hold it, but can still be removed with some effort, just dont' go overboard as it's strong stuff.

Originally Posted by Ascender'nMN84

TBL* took a pretty nasty 30-40 foot series of barrel rolls down a pretty steep hill climb hill this past Saturday. I'm told there's video of it somewhere, so if I can get my hands on, it I'll post it.

Back before I started this kit, AggressorBLUE had come up with way of mounting the K10 cage on a WB4 rig using a pair of the rear chassis brace bolted together with some lexan if I remember correctly. (tbh I didn't go all the way back and read the fine details again) Rather than use lexan, I think I'm gonna do it out of the same metal I made my RULR out of. I need to make another set of risers for the original Ascender so might as well cut my body post riser in the process.

Sounds like a great time and you know we love pictures and video.

[Ascender'nMN84]

Thanks Nate. That was what I was thinking about trying first. Pretty easy to clean off if it does come loose again. My confidence antler isn't big enough to poke holes in the chubs and Ernie's fine work. Not yet anyway. I've also been told to keep my eyes out for some new SSD knuckles for the Ascender that should accept weights in the next couple months.

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[Ascender'nMN84]

New additions for most of the fleet. Ordered about 2 weeks ago with hopes they would have made it in time for last weekend's event but with holidays in both the US and Canada I'm not at all surprised they didn't get here until today. I didn't get/see a tracking number with my order and when i emailed them, Luke from onetoomanyrcs.com was very quick to reply with a picture and said they should be here this week. Sure enough! Looks like I have some bench time this evening

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[Shinchu]

Amazing thread!
I like seeing the axles assembled then the cage progress... i need to start my thread soon! Need screws and frame rails first lol
Starting the whole thing from scratch, literally buying one piece at a time.
Really dig ssd stuff, just not sure if i will use ascender axles. Might go rc4wd k44 but thays just my weird choice.

Glad to see your kitteh doing good! I have a cat too, she is my favorite pet i ever had, we both get each other like we know what we want without words. I was never a cat guy until i got her. Haha who knew acsender guys were cat weirdos lolololol but seriously my Banzai is a 9 y/o american short hair i got in japan when i was stationed there and i would do anything for her.

Anyway yeah great thread, inspired me to maybe start mine with what little stuff i have so far haha
Btw my moms side is from minnesota!

[Natedog]

Ooh looky, lights!

Shinchu, start your build thread and include a picture of your kitteh.

[Ascender'nMN84]

Originally Posted by Shinchu

Amazing thread!
I like seeing the axles assembled then the cage progress... i need to start my thread soon! Need screws and frame rails first lol
Starting the whole thing from scratch, literally buying one piece at a time.
Really dig ssd stuff, just not sure if i will use ascender axles. Might go rc4wd k44 but thays just my weird choice.

Glad to see your kitteh doing good! I have a cat too, she is my favorite pet i ever had, we both get each other like we know what we want without words. I was never a cat guy until i got her. Haha who knew acsender guys were cat weirdos lolololol but seriously my Banzai is a 9 y/o american short hair i got in japan when i was stationed there and i would do anything for her.

Anyway yeah great thread, inspired me to maybe start mine with what little stuff i have so far haha
Btw my moms side is from minnesota!

Thanks!! SSD is awesome! All 4 (at the time of this posting) of my trucks have something SSD on them. For sure start a thread! You don't need a complete truck to have a thread. There were a few different changes that were made on this build on the fly based off ideas and opinions from guys on here. Natedog has probably forgotten more about these trucks than I know about them so I tend to heed his advice when given. CODYBOY, tho his Ascender build has slipped back a page or 2, has another thread you should check out. He's been busy plotting with the TRX4 guys lately, but he'll be back . Don't be afraid to ask questions. The Ascender guys are really helpful. We all really like pictures of builds as they come together so don't be afraid to get that thread started.

Originally Posted by Natedog

Ooh looky, lights!

I'm VERY happy with them Nate. That XL bar fits the Blazer body really well. My black and silver Blazer get it mounted up top soon. The caged body is already heavy enough so I'm gonna try to keep the lights low. I'll get pics of it later, but I stick a little 1350 mah 3s pack where the passenger seat should be, stuck to the side with some hook n loop. The caged body almost needs the 3s pack on the other side for weight balance, but I plan on just using the balance port option to power the lights on my other rigs. I am going to be placing another order or 2 from Onetoomanyrcs.com soon I think...

Right now the 2 trucks are still Frankenstein'd together until I get another rear chassis brace ordered up for the rear body mounts. Got a few other odds and ends I need to get ordered so I'll probably get on that later.

[Shinchu]

okay you guys have convinced me. I will have my lovely assistant Banzai help me unbox my jconcepts ford body tonight, and dump out the very few ascender parts I have... and start a thread!

seriously its only the skid pan/trans mount, battery tray and a couple frame braces. oh and driveshafts for axles I might not use? but... I gotta start somewhere, right!? ;)
and SSD stuff is great. I have knuckles and D44 centered axle on my yeti from SSD and I love it all. unfortunately they don't make much for the ascender unless you run the ascender axles. I might go a different route and yes, I know... ascender has GREAT axles. I have something else in mind, but if it doesn't work out, I will just run the ascenders.
now if GCM would just make more forward mount kits...

oh and I have been following Nate's trucks here for a while. I want to say I have read CODYBOY's thread too (much praise seen about his axle mods), but I will go find it to double check.

[Ascender'nMN84]

Do it!! I'd scrap the driveshafts even if you are gonna use the Ascender axles. MIP's come with the pieces you need or GCM and Vanquish have the adapters. Also, it appears the GCM Canada store has the combo kit available. Gcmracing.ca I know their US store is out but if you call or email the Canada contact I bet you could get your hands on one.

Option C use SSD D60 axles and over/under drive if you like. It's an idea i have spinning around in my brain. I just really like my CODYBOY axles too much to make the change. Plus then I'm putting Axial parts on my Ascender and I'm trying to avoid that if possible.

Looking forward to the build. Interested to see what you have up your sleeves.

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[Asuckaphish]

Any issues or struggles getting the stock TSLs mounted up to the SSD wheels? Ihave those wheels with the Hyrax tires on and have been wanting to go back to the original TSLs as IMO they looked and performed better all around.

[Ascender'nMN84]

Nope. Mounted up just fine. I actually didn't keep the TSL's on long though because I got Hyrax's lol. I keep my TSL's on some axial beadlocks as spares.

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[Ascender'nMN84]

Finally got around to making to new rear bracket for the body post mounts. New chassis brace set getting ordered this week along with some MIP's for the OG Ascender.

(Yes I know my cut isn't straight. Slipped in the vice and since it's hidden for the most part, I didn't care. For now anyway...)

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