80's Ford Ascender

[mgputer]

Originally Posted by smog

Thank you.

Sound advice. I have been saying to myself I need a good quality headlamp for awhile. This gives me another bump.

I also need better foams for those tires. They are way too firm.

Yes the foams they come with are pretty awful. Especially if your rig is semi light. I had them on a 10lb rig and they weren't bad. I have a set of Iroks with the same problem. They have good compound but are just too stiff

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[smog]

Originally Posted by mgputer

Yes the foams they come with are pretty awful. Especially if your rig is semi light. I had them on a 10lb rig and they weren't bad. I have a set of Iroks with the same problem. They have good compound but are just too stiff

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What foams did you end up going with? I am going to pop into the LHS later and see what they have.

[mgputer]

Originally Posted by smog

What foams did you end up going with? I am going to pop into the LHS later and see what they have.

Depending on the weight of the rig I use different sets. CI dual stage soft on the lighter rigs and. Medium on heavier or sometimes light in the front and medium in the rear

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[Natedog]

Originally Posted by smog

Took the Ascender into the back yard the other night to test the headlights out. They seem to cast a decent spread, but man is it ever hard to hit technical lines in the dark With the light out front of the rig I couldn't see my tires well enough to pick my lines accurately.

Looks good from here, some rock lights front and rear will fill in the voids at night crawl time!

Originally Posted by CODYBOY

Your truck is looking good Bud, sounds like you need a headlamp. It would help you see the lines better.
Ernie

Headlamp is a must, sometimes can't see where your stepping even with rock lights.

[smog]

Originally Posted by mgputer

Yes the foams they come with are pretty awful. Especially if your rig is semi light. I had them on a 10lb rig and they weren't bad. I have a set of Iroks with the same problem. They have good compound but are just too stiff

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I was at the hobby store earlier. They don't carry CI foams, but I was looking at some proline dual stage. I asked about them but was advised that they wouldn't soften up the tire. Ever try your Boggers without the foams? I am thinking I either need to trim them or remove them altogether

[mgputer]

There's a rib that goes down the center on the inside. If you shave it off it helps to soften the tire a little bit. Dual stage is good because they don't over flex. Though on a bogger the soft single stage foam would probably be OK. Boggers are not awesome on the rocks. They are good multipurpose tires but if you don't have to have the bogger look you would be better off getting a different tire. I tried a set with out foams but they would leak down and I would have to remount them to get rid of the flat spot.

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[smog]

Originally Posted by mgputer

There's a rib that goes down the center on the inside. If you shave it off it helps to soften the tire a little bit. Dual stage is good because they don't over flex. Though on a bogger the soft single stage foam would probably be OK. Boggers are not awesome on the rocks. They are good multipurpose tires but if you don't have to have the bogger look you would be better off getting a different tire. I tried a set with out foams but they would leak down and I would have to remount them to get rid of the flat spot.

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The money must have been burning a hole in my pocket, because I ended up buying a set of Hyrax tires. Almost bought Pit Bulls but I really like the open tread on the Hyrax.

I am not on rock exclusively. My rigs see a mix of rock, dirt and wood. What I would really like is to see the tire flex more so that I get increased surface contact when I am crawling. Right now the Boggers are just too stiff. I am going to try trimming up the foams as you suggested and see if I can get some more flex out of them. I like that the Boggers match the era of the body, but at the end of the day the performance needs to be there.

[Natedog]

Originally Posted by smog

I was at the hobby store earlier. They don't carry CI foams, but I was looking at some proline dual stage. I asked about them but was advised that they wouldn't soften up the tire. Ever try your Boggers without the foams? I am thinking I either need to trim them or remove them altogether

Pro-Line foams are as good or better than CI, I've had good results using the PL single stages in my Vaterra Swampers. If you want softer, trim some foam out of the tread area or use the ProLine dual stage.

Originally Posted by mgputer

There's a rib that goes down the center on the inside. If you shave it off it helps to soften the tire a little bit....Boggers are not awesome on the rocks. They are good multipurpose tires but if you don't have to have the bogger look you would be better off getting a different tire. I tried a set with out foams but they would leak down and I would have to remount them to get rid of the flat spot.

Originally Posted by smog

...I am not on rock exclusively. My rigs see a mix of rock, dirt and wood. What I would really like is to see the tire flex more so that I get increased surface contact when I am crawling. Right now the Boggers are just too stiff. I am going to try trimming up the foams as you suggested and see if I can get some more flex out of them. I like that the Boggers match the era of the body, but at the end of the day the performance needs to be there.

[smog]

Originally Posted by Natedog

Pro-Line foams are as good or better than CI, I've had good results using the PL single stages in my Vaterra Swampers. If you want softer, trim some foam out of the tread area

Word. I will trim out some of the foam and test run.

Thanks Nate

[Shinchu]

Hey brother I just saw Ampro has the full 80s ford interior vid up on YouTube! Might fit?
https://youtu.be/BUhLFZ0VIy4

78/79 bronco interior should be hitting right behind it!

[smog]

Originally Posted by Shinchu

Hey brother I just saw Ampro has the full 80s ford interior vid up on YouTube! Might fit?
https://youtu.be/BUhLFZ0VIy4

78/79 bronco interior should be hitting right behind it!

I saw that. I was chatting with the guy about designing a set of tail light lenses to fit my truck and he mentioned it. It looks spot on! Again though, it is too narrow for the jconcepts body like all of the Blackfoot stuff. It sounds like he had quite a challenge getting that interior finished. He apparently busy doing a bunch of interior stuff for the TRX at the moment.

[smog]

The Novak Hammer ESC wasn't doing it for me. The drag brake on it is just too weak for any proper crawling. The rig was getting away from me on the weekend.

So I figured it was time to run the HobbyWing 1080 that I picked up a few months back. It's been getting lots of props on the site lately so I need to see what the fuss is all about anyway.

So back the the brushed system. Soldered up some bullet connectors and and a Dean's for the batt. Threw in a cheap 35T motor for now. It's an RC4WD. I don't compete so it serves my purpose....no edge needed.



The settings seem decent out of the box. Will have to do some button pressing later to make sure the lipo cutoff is set. No puffing on these fiery batts allowed

[mgputer]

I haven't tried that one yet. I have been running the 1060 with out any complaints. I'm sure it's probably better but I have been using the same one forever in many different trucks. And for $20 if it fries oh well.

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[smog]

Originally Posted by mgputer

I haven't tried that one yet. I have been running the 1060 with out any complaints. I'm sure it's probably better but I have been using the same one forever in many different trucks. And for $20 if it fries oh well.

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20 bucks eh? Man what a bargain! I haven’t compared the specs but I would guess the 1060 is 60amps and the 1080 is 80 amps ...seems logical anyway

Is the 1060 ‘waterproof’?

[mgputer]

Originally Posted by smog

20 bucks eh? Man what a bargain! I haven’t compared the specs but I would guess the 1060 is 60amps and the 1080 is 80 amps ...seems logical anyway

Is the 1060 ‘waterproof’?

Yes sir. Handles up to 3s and water proof. My son runs one too on 3s and he hasn't fried it so it has to be good!

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[smog]

Originally Posted by mgputer

Yes sir. Handles up to 3s and water proof. My son runs one too on 3s and he hasn't fried it so it has to be good!
]

that’s how is goes with my kid and steering. Somehow my older son always manages to blow up the steering on whatever rig he is in control of

[Shinchu]

sounds like he drives the same way i do... ;)

i was going to run a couple of 1060's in the drifters my son and i have on the back burner. two of these and two more radiolink rx could get them running for under $80. hmmm...

[smog]

Originally Posted by Shinchu

sounds like he drives the same way i do... ;)

i was going to run a couple of 1060's in the drifters my son and i have on the back burner. two of these and two more radiolink rx could get them running for under $80. hmmm...

its tempting right?! This HW runs nicely. At this point its hard for me to justify splashing out on another Tekin, as sweet as they are.

[smog]

Well gotta say I am kinda happy that fall has hit. The frenetic pace of summer is fun, but it feels like an endless sprint sometimes with two pre-teen boys to entertain.
Didn't get out with the crawlers nearly as much as I would have liked. My one son who I did get out a little more frequently much preferred abusing the moderately paced Bomber and the Wraith. Regardless, fun was had and some crappy tactic servos were shredded

The Hobby Wing ESC has been golden in this Ascender. I couldn't ask more of it at this point. Its buttery smooth and brakes without fail on the steeps.

I wasn't so thrilled with the stiffness of the Boggers however, so the other day I swapped them out for a set of Pit Bull's Mad Beasts. Oh man! I gotta say, I love these tires! Its too bad the foams they come with are so soft )-:
My rig is not that heavy, but it was squishing the front tires right down flat. ultimately I lost the bead on one of my tires. I think I need a dual stage foam for these tires. Any recommendations are appreciated.


I mounted the Mad Beasts up on a set of them sexy Hot Racing D-Hole Steelies
The wheels have a less aggressive offset than the RC4WD steelies I was running which thankfully helped eliminate the annoying tire rubbing on the fender. the tire tucks beautifully now when stuffed in the well. They also look to have a relatively period correct aesthetic.


A few pics of some backyard play











...and the cats that I now collectively refer to as the Ascenders. Here they are Assembling...

[mgputer]

Truck looks great! The aging you did on there is great. Looks great outside.

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