Soze tinkers with son's Ascender K10 RTR

[soze]

So last year I picked up a Vaterra Ascender K10 RTR for my son. I haven't done much to it, but after having recently picked up an Ascender Kit of my own due to the lower price... I have renewed interest in tinkering with it.

Follow this build on YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?lis...KA4o7o7AlI6sOT

Most links below are to eBay. As an eBay Partner, I may be compensated if you make a purchase.

Build Details:

Parts:

Vaterra Ascender K10 RTR
RC4WD Tough Armor Steel Sliders for Ascender (eBay)
Vaterra Ascender VTR231038 Battery Tray Mount & Parts
Vaterra 340000 Light Set with Buckets
MIP X-Duty C-Drive Kit for Vaterra Ascender

Electronics:

Sanwa MX-V Transmitter w/Sanwa RX-371W Receiver (eBay)
PowerHD 23kg Servo (eBay)
HeyOK Performance RC Switch for LEDs (available on eBay) (eBay)


Here's how the truck looked when I first got it. So clean and fresh

[soze]

Upgrading the servo, adding RC4WD Tough Armor Steel Sliders.

I did these upgrades mid 2017.

First thing I did was replace the stock Spektrum servo with a PowerHD 23KG Servo




Next up was adding the Rock Sliders. You'll need the following to add these rock sliders to the K10 RTR

- RC4WD Tough Armor Steel Sliders
- Vaterra Ascender VTR231038 Battery Tray Mount & Parts







Pre-Slider look



Battery tray mount in order to add the sliders



Sliders mounted

[soze]

I've been wanting to add headlights to this truck for a while and finally got around to ordering the parts.

I used the Vaterra Light Set with Buckets for the Headlights.






Removed the grill from the body.








Took a dremel and dremeled out the headlight area in the grill






Made the necessary cutout in the body for the headlights




Took an exacto knife and scored lines into the lenses from the light bucket kit.




Adding the LEDs




This is what they look like when the assembly is put together




I used the almighty Shoe Goo for gluing the grill and light buckets to the body.
Shoe goo'ed the grill onto the body, and then Shoe goo'ed the light buckets to the inside of the body.




Here's what they look like fully attached.








I also used the HeyOK Performance RC Switch for LEDs




LED Switch tucked away in the receiver box




Routed the LED wire along the same path as the servo wire




Let there be light!

[2mtech]

Nothing can be left alone!

Lights look good. What Dremel bit did you use to open the headlight openings in the grill? Looks really clean.

[JatoTheRipper]

I'm shocked that you had to cutout the headlights in the chrome grille. It was worth the effort though.

[soze]

Originally Posted by 2mtech

Nothing can be left alone!

Lights look good. What Dremel bit did you use to open the headlight openings in the grill? Looks really clean.

I actually used a reamer first to ream out a good sized hole for the bit. Then I took a dremel with one of the sanding bits to grind away and round the rest of it out.

Originally Posted by JatoTheRipper

I'm shocked that you had to cutout the headlights in the chrome grille. It was worth the effort though.

Seriously, Between the K10 grill and the F100 grill.... the F100 already has the headlight cutouts and uses lenses. The K10 cheaps out and just uses stickers over molded headlights.

[JatoTheRipper]

Originally Posted by soze

Seriously, Between the K10 grill and the F100 grill.... the F100 already has the headlight cutouts and uses lenses. The K10 cheaps out and just uses stickers over molded headlights.

I guess this was Vaterra's Deadbolt then. If not drilling holes in the front is as cheap as they get them I'm OK with it. Not like Axial where the base model gets cheap everything.

[2mtech]

Originally Posted by soze

I actually used a reamer first to ream out a good sized hole for the bit. Then I took a dremel with one of the sanding bits to grind away and round the rest of it out.

Clear. You managed some nice concentricity there!

[soze]

I forgot to mention I added the MIP X-Duty C-Drive kit Driveshafts. I did this before the headlight addition.

[2mtech]

Originally Posted by soze

I forgot to mention I added the MIP X-Duty C-Drive kit Driveshafts. I did this before the headlight addition.

Those weren't really $75, were they?

[soze]

Originally Posted by 2mtech

Those weren't really $75, were they?

LOL no. There is no way I'd pay that much. In fact I'm probably sticking with stock for my own, or getting the GPM driveshafts.

Only reason I got these was because my son somehow always gets sand in the stock driveshaft where we crawl. When he does that, the stock driveshaft "sticks".

[2mtech]

Originally Posted by soze

LOL no. There is no way I'd pay that much. In fact I'm probably sticking with stock for my own, or getting the GPM driveshafts.

Only reason I got these was because my son somehow always gets sand in the stock driveshaft where we crawl. When he does that, the stock driveshaft "sticks".

whew...had a little sticker shock there!

I have that issue too...minimized with dry chain wax, but always an irritant.

[Yeti.stealth]

Originally Posted by JatoTheRipper

I guess this was Vaterra's Deadbolt then. If not drilling holes in the front is as cheap as they get them I'm OK with it. Not like Axial where the base model gets cheap everything.

I think it won’t be long and we will see headlights on the K10 ascenders, the grill is the same as the 1/10 on road Vaterra RC car and it has recently been upgraded with headlights.

[soze]

Well, my son has been beating the K10 for a while now. It's perfect for him really, since the truck is really durable.

Today we headed out to CDM rocks where I met up with Browneye and a couple of his friends (Oscar & Bill). Really cool guys. I hope I can make it out there more often and crawl with them. There were 2 other guys running 2.2 rigs (Wraith & Bomber) out there that were pretty cool too, though I don't know if they're on the forum.


Anyway this is the first significant carnage my son has caused on his Ascender. The Ascender survived, but the servo didn't. Really odd way to break really. I don't even know how he managed to do it.






Watching my son crawl at this place showed me that I still have a bit more tinkering to do on this truck. He's at the stock K10 wheelbase, and I think he'd be better off running WB3. He was definitely flipping backwards on inclines though it was also partly due to his "enthusiastic" throttle when frustrated. When he was using proper throttle control though, he still was experiencing short wheelbase limitations.

I'm also going to take out the 27t brushed motor and put in something slower. I let him drive my GMADE BOM for a bit, and he liked the slower speed (I'm running a 550 35T brushed motor). I've been hesitant to put too much money into his truck, because I didn't know how it would handle his beating. Now that I can see he enjoys trying out some of the challenges at CDM rocks, I'll probably start adding a little bit of stuff to his truck to help its performance.

[Natedog]

Nice job on the headlights, really bright and the HeyOK switch to operate them is a nice touch!

Ouch on the servo broken, one more reason I tend to avoid the cheaper servos, I've not had good luck with the gears in them either. Always use some hold down clamps too like these,
https://www.fullforcerc.com/FF023

What's your replacement servo setup?

[soze]

Originally Posted by Natedog

Nice job on the headlights, really bright and the HeyOK switch to operate them is a nice touch!

Ouch on the servo broken, one more reason I tend to avoid the cheaper servos, I've not had good luck with the gears in them either. Always use some hold down clamps too like these,
https://www.fullforcerc.com/FF023

What's your replacement servo setup?

I just had a $10 20kg special on hand so I used that.

I've just extended his wheelbase by adding spacers to the rear links without extending the chassis, so he's at around WB3 length now I think?

Also added SSD weights to his truck. And plan to get him a swaybar. Next up are beadlocks and tires/foams for him.

I'll try to post up pictures when I get the chance.

I also want to change his servo orientation to the WB4 orientation if possible. I don't know why I never noticed, but the way the servo is mounted now, the draglink is out forward like the Gen8, but not as bad. I also noticed with the truck that it has more throw in one direction vs the other, because at a certain point the servo horn becomes parallel with the axle and can't really move on one of the directions. I'm guessing the servo relocation will help with that if the servo horn is dragging that link from a different spot.

[Natedog]

Cool. Servo, switch to other orientation if needed, but servo horn needs moved 1-2 teeth and then re-centered to get equal throw in both directions.