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Thread: Vaterra Ascender + Trx4 = Vatrx4

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Old 11-19-2019, 01:53 AM   #1
Rock Stacker
 
Join Date: Jan 2013
Location: Latvia
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Default Vaterra Ascender + Trx4 = Vatrx4

Hey folks!
Having had the F100 ascender for a season, and loving the performance on the crawl course, I decided to improve the performance as much as possible, taking the best ideas and parts from different brands, so here is my Frankenterra AsTrx4.
Before this crossbreed, the following changes have been made to the otherwise stock F100:
1. Changed the servo to some 30kg chinese JNX
2. Changed the motor/esc to Xerun Axe 2300kV
3. Changed the wheels to some aluminium beadlocks with better tires and added wheel weights.
4. Added the interior and driver, and some minor details like windows wipers and doorhandles - purely for the looks.
5. Changed the radio for a 6ch Radiolink.

Now for the major build:
1. Bought the TRX4 axles with remote lockers.
2. Bought the wheel hexes - the axles came without them, and the usual/universal hexes don't fit - the TRX4 have 6mm bore instead of usual 5mm.
3. Bought the locker servos bracket.
4. Found some Turnigy 9018MG servos in parts bin.
5. Found some spare links in parts bin.
6. Sourced a pile of spur and pinion gears.
7. Bought universal punisher driveshafts.
8. Bought 34/11t overdrive/underdrive gears for the axles.

The axles fitted without a problem - the rear axle used the stock vaterra links , the front links had to be replaced with some from Scx10, and the steering link from vaterra had to be modified a little - added some shims.
The driveshafts had to be replaced, as the Vaterra uses its own, not like any other. On the gearbox end universal drive shafts fit no problem. Another difficulty was finding the driveshafts that have the thread in all the lenght so they could be shortened. The cheap chinese universal (like punisher) shafts did the job.
Now there was the problem of reduction ratios - the vaterra stock axles have like 2:1 ratio, which means 2 driveshaft revolutions result in one wheel revolution. The TRX4 axles have much larger ratio, so the driveshaft must spin much quicker. Having the Xerun Axe esc and motor, replacing the motor was not an option, as the newer 3300kV motors cost around 150+euros, so I decided to fiddle with different pin/spur gear ratios. Ended up using the largest pin gear - 27t, and the smallest spur gear - 78t. The gearbox is from vaterra. The end result is a bit slower than the stock vaterra, but still ok. Top speed is around 5-6km/h.
I also replaced the gears in axles - stock trx4 are like 33/12 or something like that. I bought one set of 34/11, and replaced the pin gear in one axle, and spur gear in the other, which gave me a small overdrive on the front.

Now for the lockers. I bought the trx4 aluminium servo bracket, and modified it to fit to the vaterra frame. Added the 9g servos, and everything worked... except not quite. The body didn't fit - the rear of the cab sat on the rear servo arm. Ok, relocated the bracket further back, but now the front locker cable was too short. Took the axles apart, and switched the cables - now the long one is in front, and the short in the rear. Now they reached to the servos.
I'm quite happy with the result, as now it has some benefits:
1. Better ground clearance.
2. Much better turning radius, especially with the front unlocked.
3. Some overdrive on the front axle.
Not yet tested it on the trail though.
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Old 11-19-2019, 05:00 AM   #2
Rock Stacker
 
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Default Re: Vaterra Ascender + Trx4 = Vatrx4


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Old 11-21-2019, 10:11 PM   #3
Quarry Creeper
 
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Default Re: Vaterra Ascender + Trx4 = Vatrx4

Awesome build can't wait to see more when you get a chance to post about it

Sent from my FRD-L14 using Tapatalk
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Old 11-22-2019, 03:32 AM   #4
Rock Stacker
 
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Default Re: Vaterra Ascender + Trx4 = Vatrx4

Quote:
Originally Posted by Schs2013 View Post
Awesome build can't wait to see more when you get a chance to post about it

Sent from my FRD-L14 using Tapatalk
Test crawl on a crawl course tomorrow, I'll post some pics or videos after that!
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Old 11-24-2019, 11:06 AM   #5
Rock Stacker
 
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Default Re: Vaterra Ascender + Trx4 = Vatrx4

Had a nice test drive on a crawl course yesterday. Went better than I had hoped - now it is a beast, did all the course with disengaged lockers easy. Top speed is a bit slower than before - around 5kph, but loads and loads of torque. The turning radius is fabulous, and the torque roll is gone.
Here is a video from the trail run with buddies.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q69g...i8DoVSLWfkChi0





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Old 11-24-2019, 12:28 PM   #6
I wanna be Dave
 
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Default Re: Vaterra Ascender + Trx4 = Vatrx4

I've always wanted portals under my Ascender, but there's never been an easy way to mate them to the stock housings. You make the traxxas swap look easy. Where did your mount for the locker servos come from? It looks a bit trippy. Still running the stock Vaterra shocks? Does it have any extra room for for more up travel if shorter shocks were to be used?
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Old 11-24-2019, 01:43 PM   #7
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Default Re: Vaterra Ascender + Trx4 = Vatrx4

Quote:
Originally Posted by meatmonkey View Post
I've always wanted portals under my Ascender, but there's never been an easy way to mate them to the stock housings. You make the traxxas swap look easy. Where did your mount for the locker servos come from? It looks a bit trippy. Still running the stock Vaterra shocks? Does it have any extra room for for more up travel if shorter shocks were to be used?
The locker servos bracket is from the trx4, bought the cheapest one on ebay, but I also found one on thingiverse for 3d printing. In this case I guess the aluminium one is better because it had to be modified quite a bit, so the plastic one would loose too much material to still be rigid enough.
Yeah, the shocks are stock - they work somehow. Uptravel - not too much. I set the spring adjusting screws to the upmost position, so the springs are at their softest setting. The rideheight is like the stock now, but the suspension is soft and rather flexy.
I don't think I could lower it more because now it is rather close to the frame. Overall I'm pretty happy with the results and consider it was worth it.
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Old 01-01-2020, 06:58 PM   #8
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Default Re: Vaterra Ascender + Trx4 = Vatrx4

Thanks for the information. That is helpful for those who have thought about this. One thing that is really bugging me about your pictures though, is that LF and RR tires. You got them in the wrong spots, haha. Have you fixed those yet? Great work though.
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Old 01-26-2020, 09:38 AM   #9
Rock Stacker
 
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Default Re: Vaterra Ascender + Trx4 = Vatrx4

Quote:
Originally Posted by jfrye2007 View Post
Thanks for the information. That is helpful for those who have thought about this. One thing that is really bugging me about your pictures though, is that LF and RR tires. You got them in the wrong spots, haha. Have you fixed those yet? Great work though.
Haha, yes, I've switched the wheels to the correct corners.
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Old 02-21-2020, 05:53 PM   #10
Quarry Creeper
 
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Default Re: Vaterra Ascender + Trx4 = Vatrx4

That is awesome. Love it. Thanks for sharing. Some more youtube videos might be in order.
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Old 03-11-2020, 04:47 PM   #11
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Default Re: Vaterra Ascender + Trx4 = Vatrx4

Watched the video. That thing sounded beefy with those portal axles!!! I wouldn't mind doing that to mine, someday. I'm going to be putting a Carisma Lynx (ORV-Outbreak Response Vehicle) body (which looks a little like a Mercedes G500) on my K10 chassis, so the portals would be highly applicable!
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Old 04-01-2020, 12:29 PM   #12
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Default Re: Vaterra Ascender + Trx4 = Vatrx4

A little/final update.
Finally found the right pinion/spur combination: 45t pinion - just some generic from ebay, and a 60t spur gear from Hot Racing mini 8ight (losi?). The spur needs an adapter bc it has a large 9mm center bore. I also had to grind down the diameter of the slipper metal plates and make some slipper pads. Now the top speed is around 8-9km/h which is good enough.

All this fiddling with the pinion/spur is because I can't change the motor - I have the Xerun Axe 2300 system, and the 3300kv motor costs 150$+, so I chose the cheap-ish way. If you run a brushed setup then you can skip this gear stuff and just buy a 10-15t motor.

One more update - not related to this conversion though - I changed the rear links for longer - now the wheelbase is around 305mm, which should help it climb steeper surfaces without flipping backwards. Haven't testet it yet due to the lockdown..
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