Ummm...

[durok]

Now THAT is a complete RC soldering jig solution! Dang, we'll see if I find it necessary to get one of those in the future... The RULRs from JC Auto Design certainly fit very well. The material is what I suppose I will be testing... there's also a six-handed cheaper version of the octopus on Amazon... stream of consciousness posting from break at work.... LOL

[durok]

Went on my initial shakedown run this afternoon... pretty content with everything! The newly-soldered LiPo didn't blow up, I bound the FlySky on the patio, immediately realized I had channels switched - fixed that, then realized I had motor wires reversed, changed that. I then shoved everything in my backpack and walked out the door as daylight was a' wastin'! I didn't go to the park, not enough time - just went to the grassy area around my complex, it has a picnic table where I installed the battery back in the rig, set it down, and fired it up - it was not any faster - possibly even slower than stock (still using 2S, stock gearing, 550 21t HH motor).

So - something was up - switched to 3S - still unimpressive, about the same speed as 2S with the 35t stock 540. So - I increased throttle expo to 120%, it now hauled ass - but in reverse, same speed forwards - so I reversed the servo, swapped motor wires again - all was groovy! Drag brake causes front end dive, but not an actual forward flip - if I reverse a bit and then lay on the throttle the truck wheelies - even with brass knucks, a transverse 3S 3200mAh Lipo in a steel tray, and all electronics in front of front shock tower!

So, I wandered all around my complex, trying different things - sandy volleyball court, driving up curbs, slow donuts, testing the steering, then I got to where I at least found some loose rock over hardpack (instead of grass or sand) and did some medium climbs - not really steep enough to lose traction.

Anyway - I've not even touched the HobbyWing programming box or done any detailed radio setting changes - looking forward to tweaking it and driving more this weekend. Only problem I see is that now that everything is tightened up - the servo horn does grind against the draglink - so either it gets filed down or I try one of my other 3 aluminum servo horns

[Browneye]

Drivetrain and esc setup is like a blackbox.

[Shinchu]

Nice! that 550 can sounds tempting, but the longer motor with my GCM forward mount would put in through my (eventual) dashboard.
its fun when you plug in the pack, and slowly squeeze that trigger for the first time, wondering which way and at what velocity will it travel!? hahaha

you got me pumped and the sky cleared up in san diego, I'm going to copy you when i get home today! ;)
great to see so many new ascender rigs losing their "dirt virginity"!

ASCENDERS, ASSEMBLE!!!

[durok]

Hmmm... tasty...

[M1tch]

I really like the RC4WD MT/R's just wish they were slightly taller, about 4.5 inch like the old Vaterra swampers. I don't know what terrain you drive on, but they work well in my wet, muddy, mossy stuff.

[durok]

I hear ya, but they went with 4.19" C-1 legal size for the one set and then maxed out the others at 4.75" for those wanting to roll over whatever's in their path! As well as making them in 1.55", 1.7", 1.9", and 2.2" wheel sizes...

I think they've made more sizes total of this tire than any other mfg has made of any other tire design.

And, I gotta say with the new very nice and sticky X2S3 compound, the sidewall ribbing and stiffer foam - RC4WD really seems to be trying to outdo themselves with this tire.

As I may have mentioned before - I am in a very dry, rocky, gravelly, and dusty terrain for the most part... and hoping they work well for me.

I'll be needing to pick my lines and increase my throttle control to make it up some places the taller stock tires did, but my tires are soaking in Purple Power as we speak to remove mold release and make them as sticky as possible!

[durok]

...And I got my new clear K10 cab as well...

I also perused the paint aisles and made a decision that I hope works out well - found a very "vintage" looking color, and have since Googled to see what various vehicles looked like painted in it - high hopes for how it will come out!

Tamiya PS49 Sky Blue - Anodized Aluminum - check out this Corvette in that color, from a French modeler ("Red383") with incredible skills (check out the diorama he made!):

[durok]

Completely redoing the front electronics after returning the servo back to the transverse mounting setup that the manual recommends for WB2... disliked the steering geometry with it turned 90deg. Was seeing bump-steer, fouling of servo horn and the move of the servo from being mounted from below the mounts to above made everything much worse. At least all the Velcro squares adhesive came off clean! Going to be really entertaining wedging all the electronics up front without a ESC tray to use! New tires are out of their Purple Power hot bath, seems that RC4WD tires (at least in this new X2S3 formula) don't benefit much - there wasn't really any noticeable mold release needing to be removed from the rubber. Looking at the wheels has made me realize mounting them isn't going to be nearly as simple as my 2.2 Incision Methods or GearHead CAC wheels - lots of tiny screws needing to be removed and then reinserted and tightened. I'm wanting to drive on the stockers for a while longer, as well as beating up the original body - so both setting up the wheel/tire package and painting the new body are going to be done slowly. I upsized the pinion from 14t to 16t, other than that - going to tweak ESC & radio settings after electronics re-install and just drive for a while...

[Natedog]

Originally Posted by M1tch

I really like the RC4WD MT/R's just wish they were slightly taller, about 4.5 inch like the old Vaterra swampers. I don't know what terrain you drive on, but they work well in my wet, muddy, mossy stuff.

Originally Posted by durok

I hear ya, but they went with 4.19" C-1 legal size for the one set and then maxed out the others at 4.75" for those wanting to roll over whatever's in their path!
I think they've made more sizes total of this tire than any other mfg has made of any other tire design.

And, I gotta say with the new very nice and sticky X2S3 compound, the sidewall ribbing and stiffer foam - RC4WD really seems to be trying to outdo themselves with this tire.

RC4WD MTRs are great looking tires, love that they come in so many sizes. Stock Ascender tires are plenty big. Love the slightly smaller 4.5” and C1 legal 4.19”. My Honcho kicked ass on 4.19s!

Great color choice, sweet diorama too!

[durok]

Yep - that guy has skills - was taken from a modeling site - AMT kit of a Corvette. All the Lexan pics of the color were too big to directly link, was in a rush and didn't want to copy, resize, and post from my PC. Color looks even better on Lexan - and they stated they'd backed with black to get the look - so I know as long as I don't screw something up - it should be gorgeous. Probably too pretty to run! Compared to my current look, switching bodies and wheel/tire package will radically transform the K10...

Back from the drive - swapping everything back up front didn't take very long, used servo tape rather than Velcro this time - found a slightly-out-of-the-box solution for the ESC location... Upside down and attached to the steel battery relocator tray. Receiver on top of servo, power button for ESC on side of servo (as before). Wiring wrapped around shocktower brace tube, antenna through body posts again. I'm quite happy I am still not needing to run any wiring to the rear of the vehicle - fuel cell is completely empty and plastic cable guides are removed from chassis. Worked out great!

Just came back from running it at my nearby "test spot" (corner of parking lot that is almost completely gravel over hardpack up a long roughly 50deg hill), it's fairly cold outside and the foams are seriously breaking in to the point to where they are fine for low speed crawling but fold over badly on sharp turns. Also, this is really the first time I've ever driven it on the street (parking lot, technically) and it's pretty hilarious seeing how easily it rolls onto its roof...

As I noted before, the dive under drag brake is quite noticeable - even after matching most settings in the HW 1080 to Browneye's list (using as a starting point). Has good speed, even though the bump to 16t pinion wasn't really noticeable - the 21t 550 already helped there. Torque is INSANE, when a very tall curb presented itself, the bumper just dug into the face of it and I could just burn rubber off all 4 tires trying to climb it. Scrubbed in the tread nicely!

Got dark very quickly, so that ended that. I hope to go to the limestone bluff tomorrow at least for an hour or so after work (yes, on the holiday - tech support for the Fed Gov't is 24/7) and thrash it some more... We are expecting unusually cold weather tomorrow night - with some "wintry mix" (possible frozen moisture!) so until next weekend that's all the time I'll have.

May be able to shoot a bit of video tomorrow - I added the Thumb Steer 2.0 to my FlySky, and can I repeat myself once more regarding the awesomeness of having a freakin' lanyard hole? Dunno how I could stand it before. Makes me want to mod the Futaba 3PV I bought for the Bomber to have one. If it's not a noticeably better radio than the FlySky GT3-C when I've completed and tested the Bomber, I'm selling it... I'll pickup another receiver for $7.50 and maybe if I can get someone else to crawl with me using the Ascender, then I'll get a 2nd Tx...

Pics of current setup - and a post-run pic - none taken during run as it was really too dark outside:

[Browneye]

Hmmm...I was getting ready to try mounting the steering server on top of the mount instead of under. Not so hot, eh?

[durok]

Originally Posted by Browneye

Hmmm...I was getting ready to try mounting the steering server on top of the mount instead of under. Not so hot, eh?

Nope... were you going to rotate it or leave it in the same spot, just on top? Don't think that's quite as bad, just elevating it - but it still induces some extra bump-steer...

After rotating mine 90deg - making it in-line to the direction of travel (frankly, I did that to be able to put the ESC mount next to the servo) I swapped my servo horn for a new Vanquish I had reserved for the Bomber to clear the drag link on compression of the suspension, but it still was awful... read the manual for the kit (instead of for the K10, which strangely shows the servo mounted the 90deg way, not transversely as it comes built?) and it mentioned the recommended servo location for shorter WB was in fact transverse. That's why I changed it back, it drove so terribly when setup the other way.

Quoted from the Manual:

"Mount the servo in this location for use with
WB3 (302mm) and WB4 (314mm). For Short
wheel base WB1 (280mm) and WB2 (292mm),
see Step D-5a."

It's relatively simple to change it one way and then back, if I were you I'd make a note of turning circle and suspension travel as is, then after changing it to above the mounts. It may be worth a slight change in steering for the added travel, but I just preferred it as is. The new servo I put in works well, and the radio too... so far I have no complaint's about a little less front travel.

[Natedog]

With servo mounting on top, you need longer draglink attached to top of steering knuckle to eliminate bumpsteer.

[durok]

Too funny, I was loading tiny washers to try and lengthen mine, ran out!

[Natedog]

85mm eye to eye. I dug in my spares box and used Axial 55mm green aluminum link with Traxxas Stampede ball ends.

[durok]

One thing about re-entering the hobby of R/C - I have no spares... Anyways, I'm fine staying as I am, now that everything is servo-taped, I'd hate to unstick it all!

No runtime today, too exhausted after work. been napping all evening. Insomnia struck again last night... And todays high of nearly 70deg is dropping into the upper 20s tonight with frozen precip...

Maybe, with luck - Austin will shut down like it did the last time we had ice. Then I can sleep in, and maybe begin working on the Bomber (Gasp, really?)...

[Shinchu]

Keep up the good work, brother!
I know what you mean about spares and odd little doodads adapters and hardware.

I do have spare stuff from rc drifting, i have been called a pack rat by my wife several times lol
But those parts rarely help in a different genre like scale trucks.
Rare exception is the 27t brushed tamiya can i had, but even that is a bit too hot a motor.

I discovered a good source for 4-40 threaded rod, with sleeve material sold together... from another expensive hobby of mine!
Custom lightsaber builders use it to build a chassis that hold the electronics in the saber, and a site i go to for parts has it for a decent price, i think.
Chassis Parts
Build all the custom links you could ever need, and may the force be with you!

[durok]

I'm going to disassemble a couple of ancient desktop computers (everything inside) and see what crazy hardware and materials I can come up with... Been planning on that for a long time...

[Shinchu]

Haha wow!! I have a dinosaur desktop i built in 2003? Sitting right next to my hobby bench!
Let me know if there is anything good in there!
Atx mobo from asus with ide hdd connections hahaha amd athalon? Iirc? Whopping 8gb of ddr2 and infinite storage in the 250hdd all running on a uhhhhh questionable source xp operating system
Lol i have used laptops and tablets evernsince...

Anyway i digress... should find tons of screws, at least.