Natedog's Vaterra ASCENDER

[Natedog]

Need to get some more pics up, love this Blazer body with the molded grill and lights, it looks even better now that I took the time to put the little black decals in the grill. I was going to do a wash with some flat black model paint, but I didn't have any and the sticker sheet was sitting on my bench.

I lowered the body two body post holes front and rear, trimmed 1/4" off front and rear of body, the sides still have about another 1/4" between them and nerf bars. It looks way better and I could go down one more hole front and rear on the mounts, I've already trimmed the front and rear of the wheel openings to clear the stock tires with the body lowered. Only trimmed off about 1/8" at front and rear edges of wheel wells to clear with lowered body, I think the body looks pretty good at this height, but am tempted to go one hole lower front and rear...leaving as is for now and we'll see. It's easy to cut more, difficult to put it back. I might trim the front wheel openings at the tops to clear during full flex travel and turning as it still has very minor occasion rubbing there and I like the look of the body. Vaterra TSL listed as 4.5" tall, but I haven't measured them.

Stock plastic servo horn and servo are hanging in there, but I have spare Hitec HS7955-TG servo (survived my Wraith, but wanted more power there) left over and it's now my official Ascender backup for if stocker dies. Crawled again the other night, need to get some headlights and rock lights on this.

I've been beating mine hard too and so far everything has been fine. Even did some forward reverse throttle the other day, just to see if the diffs would blow and it's still on original set of HD gears and driveshafts. Also been letting it hop and bounce on steep climbs, steering full lock in both directions, some tumbles mostly on 2S, but some 3S too, mine is all stock still. I checked diffs and had to re-shim them properly and added one shim of my own per diff. Two shims on ring gear side of spool and one shim on the other end of the spool, extra little spot of grease and that's it.

 

[Natedog]

Loaded up the Nashbar SS 29er and moved to a better crawl spot! Radio stayed put all the way out on dirt fire roads and single track...even the rocky rooty spots didn't shake it loose. Then the return trip mostly on paved path was no problem at all.

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Put some flat pedals back on, I wanted to hike around easily while crawling, not with carbon soled bike shoes lol.

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Ascender fastened to Camelbak with velcro straps (like battery strap, but longer and wider). I used 8" length Black Hook and Loop (Frys.com #3358942, Manufacturer: THE, UPC #050286806056, Model #20-8-0), but Fry's Electronics has them in 6" and 12" too. It took three of the 8" put together to hold transmitter to the stem and bars.
http://www.frys.com/product/3358942...Awal0alUw__.node2?site=sr:SEARCH:MAIN_RSLT_PG

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It was dusk and the nearly full moon was rising early

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Star of Bethlehem?
“Star Of Bethlehem” Visible on June 30th for the First Time in 2,000 Years. | elephant journal

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Need to get headlights and rocklights, I was wearing small LED headlamp for light

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The moon

 

[motakitty]

If you got a rack over the rear tire you could strap the truck to that and maybe a drink holder in the middle of the frame to hold the remote. Looks like a fun day though

 

[Natedog]

If you got a rack over the rear tire you could strap the truck to that and maybe a drink holder in the middle of the frame to hold the remote. Looks like a fun day though

That's a good idea on the rear rack, but I ride aggressively out on single track and for that the rack would have to come off. Might buy a rack anyways, it's not that hard to un-bolt as needed. I have a water bottle holder on the downtube, which comes in really handy, but for longer more remote trail rides and on hot days (was over 100F even in the evening that day) I wear my Camelbak with 3 liters of water, sometimes carry one or two water bottles depending on which bike I ride and carry Salt Stick capsules, snacks, etc in my pack. I drank all 3liters plus a bottle full during the ride and the last several miles was without water. I spent the rest of the evening after dinner and the next day trying to re-hydrate.

I tried mounting the transmitter in the water bottle cage, but it didn't really fit in properly so that it could be securely fastened down and I was worried about something hitting it down there and breaking the steering wheel off. Thanks, was great fun riding and the crawl session was a big bonus...actually the main point of the trip. 8)

 

[looneybin]

Cool...riding to go crawling. Fun all around

 

[JOETRUCKER80]

I use a turnigy 959 servo, huge horn on it, so for clearance I grind the Panhard bar down a bit, then grind the servo horn down a bit. This gives me a lil' rub at full compression, not bad at all!
and if u dont know about these servo's....well look em up! They use a HiTec 79xx board to drive it inside n have a ton of power with a full alum case!

Knuckles n hubs, run the Vaterra ones, they will allow u to run the disc brakes/ wheel weights! They look cool and can only bolt up to the Vaterra hubs.

How do u like the HR diff cover? I am thinkin I may get those next!

 

[Natedog]

Cool...riding to go crawling. Fun all around

Thanks, that's what I was thinking and no parking fee to enter the park either if you're on a bike. "thumbsup"

I use a turnigy 959 servo, huge horn on it, so for clearance I grind the Panhard bar down a bit, then grind the servo horn down a bit. This gives me a lil' rub at full compression, not bad at all!
and if u dont know about these servo's....well look em up! They use a HiTec 79xx board to drive it inside n have a ton of power with a full alum case!

Knuckles n hubs, run the Vaterra ones, they will allow u to run the disc brakes/ wheel weights! They look cool and can only bolt up to the Vaterra hubs.

How do u like the HR diff cover? I am thinkin I may get those next!

Nice, I've looked at those before but haven't tried them. How many splines on output shaft?

Yes, the Vaterra aluminum knuckles, c-hubs and rear axle retainers are the only ones with drilled and tapped holes for the disk brake knuckle weights and they are beefier than the other brands I've seen. "thumbsup"

 

[JOETRUCKER80]

25t, futaba i think. Comes with a nice alum arm included.

 

[joe122]

Man can it get any cooler? Bike to a spot like that, photos are awesome. Looked like you had a blast.

 

[Exocaged]

Within our club we must have 30 of the turnigy 959v2 servos in use in everything from crawlers to big monster trucks and even some racers and they are simply awesome. I have one in my Ascender too with no issues.

 

[Natedog]

...How do u like the HR diff cover? I am thinkin I may get those next!

Realized I didn't answer this part of your question, the HR diff covers are excellent, highly recommended mod, look great and imo may help hold the diff gears in better alignment under high load situations. "thumbsup" Buy them, I'm very happy with them and the quality is very good!

EDIT: I now highly recommend the SSD diff covers over the HR covers!
http://www.ssd-rc.com/rock-shield-diff-cover-for-ascender.html

25t, futaba i think. Comes with a nice alum arm included.

Thanks, yes 25T is Futaba. That is a nice arm included, but always good to know splines for spares and interchange with my current parts.

Man can it get any cooler? Bike to a spot like that, photos are awesome. Looked like you had a blast.

Thanks, yes I had a blast! 8) "thumbsup"

Within our club we must have 30 of the turnigy 959v2 servos in use in everything from crawlers to big monster trucks and even some racers and they are simply awesome. I have one in my Ascender too with no issues.

Cool, good to know, they look like a worthy servo especially for the price. Does it get enough travel using stock radio or do you use differnt radio and adjust travel and endpoints?

 

[JOETRUCKER80]

Most of us run hacked flysky radios, but it works fine with stock radios too.

 

[Natedog]

Cool I have a couple radios.

 

[JOETRUCKER80]

They r the best crawler radio IMO. talk with exocaged, Joe, he does the hacking for our local guys.

 

[kcbeatty]

Nice work Natedog, I really wish I had some great places to do trail runs. Down here is southwest Louisiana everything is flat. Anything that even looks like a hill is probably a salt dome.

 

[derb]

how did you work out the pinions were already HD?

 

[Alexander_0_1]

how did you work out the pinions were already HD?

Standard pinions have a gap in the teeth that runs from the front face of the pinion straight through to the back, where as HD pinions look like they have a washer at the back of the pinion.....it's one piece, but it looks like a washer that supports the pinion teeth.

 

[derb]

Thanks, I'll check mine when I get home.

 

[Natedog]

Nice work Natedog, I really wish I had some great places to do trail runs. Down here is southwest Louisiana everything is flat. Anything that even looks like a hill is probably a salt dome.

Thanks! It's difficult to find good crawl spots...some places harder than others. I also enjoy just trailing around when there aren't as many rocks. Just googled "Louisiana salt dome"....wow...

how did you work out the pinions were already HD?

See my pic in post #15 of this thread, like Alexander_0_1 says right down here.... VVV

Standard pinions have a gap in the teeth that runs from the front face of the pinion straight through to the back, where as HD pinions look like they have a washer at the back of the pinion.....it's one piece, but it looks like a washer that supports the pinion teeth.

Yes!

Thanks, I'll check mine when I get home.

"thumbsup" Cool and good luck, I bought pack of HD pinions just in case when I bought my Ascender RTR, they come two in a pack for about $12, also bought pack of steel shims for the diff (spoo) just in case too. Check for proper diff shimming while you're checking your pinions.

From my post #1:
Somebody mentioned shims for ring gear (spool) and pinion, I bought steel Calandra Racing 6mm shims for the pinion and 8mm for the ring gear...just in case they needed tightened up a little.
https://www.teamcrc.com/crc/modules....category_id=79

From post #7:
I opened the diffs and found that mine came with HD pinions already installed. The front diff had both shims on the wrong side and the rear had one on each side, so I swapped them both to the side to push the ring gear closer to the pinion. I read on here somewhere that somebody added a third shim to the same side. The stock shims are about 0.004" thick or just under, the CRC 8mm shims I bought are about 0.006" thick, I added one to the stack for total of three shims about 0.014" thick. The diff still spun smoothly, but it barely had any backlash so I took one of the stock thinner shims and moved it to the opposite side (away from the ring gear) which gave me just the right amount of backlash imo. Added a little extra grease and installed Hot Racing aluminum diff covers, the driveline is now super smooth and should be a little stronger.

It was late and I forgot to check that both front CVDs are in phase with each other when I reassembled it.

"thumbsup""thumbsup""thumbsup"

I had this truck severly bound up last weekend on the rocks to the point of tires flattened out on undercut climbs, the tires trying to stretch and wrap up around the wheels, slipper is tight and not slipping and nothing broke. I did let off the throttle in this situation, just as I do with my SCX Honcho and Wraith, I've not broken any diff gears on any of my crawlers even running without a slipper, but when the tires are bound up and stretching around the wheels with zero forward progress it's just time to let off the throttle and re-assess my line. :lmao:

 

[Natedog]

Mo crawlin updates! Lots of rock and very little rock rash on these sweet scale little axle pumpkins. 8)"thumbsup" Lots of sweet lines here, following mostly granite slab "trail" this time, I crawled up the other side, through the slot in the background, onto this little shelf trail and down the crack.

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KInda time lapse as I climbed a nice steep granite slab, hard to take pics while driving with iPhone in hand. One pic came out little darker, sun was going down quickly. :ror:

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This last one in the sequence I had climbed up the rock a bit to get better camera angle and lighting, you can track trucks upward progress by looking at the cracks in the rocks. I took it all the way to the top, turned left and drove back down too but couldn't take pics and not front flip on the way down. :lmao:

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Obligatory beautiful sunset, the truck is in the middle top of rock. 8) As usual, thanks for looking. 8)"thumbsup"

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EDIT: Had to fix a couple pics were linked to same pic more than once. Also finally cleaned the grill and applied all the little black stickers using a pair of tweezers and it looks much better to me.