M1tchy's No 2 Ascender

[M1tch]

Cheapo inner wings made up to stop mud and water getting on the motor and battery. Good old mince beef trays do the job for now. I have some 1mm black abs sheet on order to make good ones, but should be able to get out tomorrow or Thursday, so temporary made these up.

[M1tch]

Made up steering links and also panhard bar today as it's raining (again!!). I used 3mm stainless threaded rod, and 6mm stainless tube. For the steering the old drag link is long enough to use the original ends and fix to the top of the knuckle which should reduce side movement a bit. A couple of small washers to shim. Steers and move fine in the kitchen floor test drive.

[M1tch]

I'm thinking of using the same rod and tube to make lower links front and rear as the stainless tube is more slippery than aluminium and will also put some weight low down.

[throttlejock27]

Nice rig and those pictures look like a beautiful place!

[M1tch]

Thanks. This is basically a winter rig and my other Ascender is for when it's hopefully a bit drier sometime. This winter has been pretty wet compared to the last one. Just has 2 days of almost none stop rain, so stayed in and did boring stuff til I got fed up enough to spend a couple of hours in the garage.

[M1tch]

Made up the stainless lower links 66mm front and 78mm rear. Same way as with the steering. 6mm stainless tube and 3mm threaded rod 20mm longer than the links. These are much harder than the stock links, so should slide over rocks easier. I bought the tube and rod off ebay and used a pipe cutter at work to cut the pipe to length.

I'll do the same with the Land Rover Ascender sometime.

[M1tch]

Been a long time since an update!

I recently lengthened the rear links by 6mm. Just used new stainless tube 6mm by 4mm, just to help with climbing hopefully. Also lengthened the upper link 6mm, but this is the stock Vaterra link as the stainless is just to help slide over rocks better and puts some extra weight down low.

The post above from January shows the shorter links. Fronts are the same as before.



Also I got some of the new Gmade Dual Rate shocks. These seem to come in 103mm length only, but that's what I use on this truck anyway. Quality is great and even better parts as the cartridge for the seals is aluminum and also the preload adjuster is different with flats on it. The stop ring also aluminium and fits without being too slack or tight, but doesn't have an O ring like the preload adjuster. The upper spring is the soft and 20mm long. The lower (50mm) spring is quite stiff, but neither spring has any identification as to rate.







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[Natedog]

Nice heavy lower links and those shocks! Nicely machined pistons, preload and two stage stoppers, beauty!

[M1tch]

Thanks. These shocks seem to work better than the usual Gmade ones I use. I guess that must be due to the dual springs. 35wt oils and 2 hole piston and not too slow or fast. A drive will tell and help with setup. They also have aluminum balls at top and bottom. Very nice quality.


GET SOME!!

The links are easy to make. A small pipe cutter rather than a saw keeps the ends true. If I wanted I could use 4mm threaded to make it a bit stronger, but not sure if the rods ends will take that.

[Natedog]

You're welcome. Good to hear.

Drill out the Ascender ends, but it's easier to use TRX-4 ends and they're 4mm thread sized.

[M1tch]

Good idea that. I might have some rod ends I could use, just not thought to check.

[M1tch]

Also looking at something on Vanquish's site and saw these. Could be useful.


Brass Pivot Balls - Vanquish Products

[Natedog]

Eh, the hard chrome plated TRX4 balls are better, don't wear as fast as brass and I've never worn one out.

[M1tch]

Oh thanks. It was just a thought. I was looking on the Vanquish site just to see what they did for the Ascender. I have a box of rod ends, just need to see if I have enough.

[M1tch]

Well I got out early this morning for a drive after the new Gmade Dual Rate shocks were installed and also extended the rear links 6mm. I had battery problems after a while on truck and gopro, so cut it short. The truck drove well with not much torque twist and definitely climbed better.

Also on the way back I was messing around with the last battery in and rolled the truck 40 feet down the hill bouncing off rocks and trees. Broke the gears in the servo. I have a spare servo, so plenty of time this week one evening to fix that.

[M1tch]

Installed the SSD rear axle weights today after spending alot of time on my TH. I already have the brass knuckles on the front. This truck is getting pretty heavy, must be around 10Lbs at a guess.