New Vaterra Ascender Owner w/ Questions

[limmo27]

Hello everyone,

Long time lurker here but decided to register because I am a bit concerned about my new purchase.

Just a little background, I have owned multiple brands of crawlers but never a Vaterra.

Just received my BND Ascender F100 today and I have a couple of questions. I'm sorry if this is a bit long!

1. The steering is awful. The stock setup would barely turn the wheels left and right. I had to crank up the ST Rate on my Spektrum just to get full motion.

2. The front suspension has the least travel of any brand I've ever tried. What I mean is if I push down on the front end, the shocks barely compress. They will only fully compress if I only do one side at a time. Is this normal? I checked my SCX10 and TRX4 and they are not like this at all. At least not this limited. The rears fully compress with no issue.

3. The body hits the front wheels fairly easy. It almost looks like the body needs to be moved forward or the wheels backwards.

I can post pics if requested. I've tried to compare with online photos but that's kinda tough.

Thanks in advance for anybody willing to give me a hand with this. I want to love this beautiful orange truck!

[SHOme]

Originally Posted by limmo27

Hello everyone,

Long time lurker here but decided to register because I am a bit concerned about my new purchase.

Just a little background, I have owned multiple brands of crawlers but never a Vaterra.

Just received my BND Ascender F100 today and I have a couple of questions. I'm sorry if this is a bit long!

1. The steering is awful. The stock setup would barely turn the wheels left and right. I had to crank up the ST Rate on my Spektrum just to get full motion.

2. The front suspension has the least travel of any brand I've ever tried. What I mean is if I push down on the front end, the shocks barely compress. They will only fully compress if I only do one side at a time. Is this normal? I checked my SCX10 and TRX4 and they are not like this at all. At least not this limited. The rears fully compress with no issue.

3. The body hits the front wheels fairly easy. It almost looks like the body needs to be moved forward or the wheels backwards.

I can post pics if requested. I've tried to compare with online photos but that's kinda tough.

Thanks in advance for anybody willing to give me a hand with this. I want to love this beautiful orange truck!

You need to lurk though Natedog and Codyboy threads on the ascender. All of your issues are covered.

Sent from my XT1585 using Tapatalk

[Browneye]

Ya, on the short WB the panhard rod hits the servo horn.
I have 3 of them and no trouble setting the radio up to get full steering. But there are solutions if that's not enough.
I guess they didn't put a bumper on that bnd model either.

This guy is having fun with his...
First timer at a crawling event

[limmo27]

Thanks for the advice. I've begun going thru those threads.

The steering I have dealt with by upping the trim to 100%.

The body rubbing on the front wheels still vexes me. I guess I could trim it a bit but that seems silly on a brand new unit. I seriously doubt it was designed that way.

Either way I've had a lot of fun with it so far. I have been comparing it to my TRX4 and SCX10 the past week and must say the Ascender might be my favorite. They are all damn fun though.

[Browneye]

My tunable radio has the steering servo at 135%R and 130%L. Tires almost rub on the shocks. This one here is the RTR, just setup the radio with more trim 'till it cuts.
The Spektrum radio is really adjustable, like it a lot.

If you set the body up high enough it will clear. I went the other way dropped it a few holes and trimmed out the wheel wells, back off the shock preload so it sits lower. Drags more, but has good balance. I hate rolling this one off the rocks though, it breaks stuff off.

[Shinchu]

Originally Posted by limmo27

The body rubbing on the front wheels still vexes me. I guess I could trim it a bit but that seems silly on a brand new unit. I seriously doubt it was designed that way.

its designed for articulation and capability first, then they plop a lexan body on it.

in my experience, anything with tires that size (even a real 1:1) will rub. part of the fun!
maybe limit the suspension with bump stops on the shocks (nitro fuel line)?
or... go down in tire OD size? if its that important not to rub... i like a little rubbing... you know...

[ScoJac]

Originally Posted by Shinchu

its designed for articulation and capability first, then they plop a lexan body on it.

in my experience, anything with tires that size (even a real 1:1) will rub. part of the fun!
maybe limit the suspension with bump stops on the shocks (nitro fuel line)?
or... go down in tire OD size? if its that important not to rub... i like a little rubbing... you know...

Yep, if I were to go down in size I'd go with either the Class 1 Braven Ironsides or the more aggressive Class 1 Hyrax both of them come in at a height of 4.19" compared to the Swampers 4.5" height.
Eventually I will be picking up one of those two tires to try.

[Natedog]

I love the look of the Braven Ironsides, Proline TSL og small diameter is another great scale tire!