Natedog's Vaterra ASCENDER

[Jeepiac]

Looks like an amazing place to run tiny trucks! And a great article you've written there, Nate "thumbsup"
On a different note, I've been dying to ask a question, and I guess this is as good a time as any. What kind of magic rock are you running on!? The Ascender tires absolutely do not work on anything in my part of the country. Love the looks and the size, but they are super hard and slick. I've been using Simple Green since the mid 90's on tires. This trick didn't do anything to soften them up enough to be useable. Is it possible that I may have gotten a bum set of tires? Or am I missing something here?

 

[Natedog]

Hey Jeepiac, love your signature by the way!
I'm just running Vaterra kit tires. I remove the foams, run tap water until it's smoking hot, run about two gallons into a plastic orange Homer bucket, pour in about two cups Simple Green, swirl it around, put tires in and push them down to ensure no air bubbles trapped in them. Set the lid on top, don't snap it on or you might not get it off when it cools due to vacuum. Let it sit for two days, stirring and rubbing the tires together to help remove mould release. After two days, rinse under hot tap water, air dry and mount them up.

I wa running CI DW foams for Pitbull Rockbeast II and they work excellent inside the Vaterra Swampers!

 

[pete959]

Great spot one day i will get over on that side of the country

LIFE IS GOOD

 

[Natedog]

Pete, let me know when and we'll go crawling.

Jeepiac, forgot to say running mostly on granite, decomposed granite,dirt, and sand.
USGS Geology in the Parks

 

[Erkkila]

That place looks amazing! I'd love to come to an event like that. I'll look up that group. I'm only a few hours away. Great pics!

 

[CODYBOY]

Ok guys don't forget Oregon, if you're traveling to the northwest. One of my favorites, five minutes from my house.











Just thought I would share.:mrgreen:;-)

 

[Jeepiac]

Thanks, Nate! I'll give it a try and see what happens. We have mostly limestone, so it normally takes a super soft and sticky tire around here.

 

[Natedog]

That place looks amazing! I'd love to come to an event like that. I'll look up that group. I'm only a few hours away. Great pics!

Thanks, it was a little over 2 hour drive for me, you're not far coming from Santa Rosa come on out to the next event! "thumbsup"

Ok guys don't forget Oregon, if you're traveling to the northwest. One of my favorites, five minutes from my house.

Just thought I would share.:mrgreen:;-)

Oregon and Washington have some great hiking and crawling places too, thanks for sharing Ernie! Is that a greenbelt bicycle and walking bridge in the background? "thumbsup"

Thanks, Nate! I'll give it a try and see what happens. We have mostly limestone, so it normally takes a super soft and sticky tire around here.

You're welcome, let us know how it goes. Might use a stronger Simple Green mix when you do your tires, limestone is a lot different than granite. "thumbsup"

 

[fomoco]

Natedog, you get the new k-10 body an cage yet ? been waiting on some pics to see how yours looks.

 

[Natedog]

Not yet, it's still back-ordered on Horizon's site, hopefully soon. I'll put it together and post pics as soon as it arrives! I'm going to try the steering with the servo in the WB4 (314mm) position before turning it sideways. Might eventually go with a longer tie-rod directly to the top of the right side steering knuckle. Several people including Pete959 are running it this way and don't seem to have any trouble with the end-link rubbing the tire sidewall.


I got 3rd place in Class2 in Butte County Crawlers 8-14-16 Bald Rock comp! Here's a few more pics.




Couple guys I crawled with for awhile. 2.2 Yeti with Proline Ford Raptor pickup body had a lot of horsepower and was very well setup. Honcho on 1.9s was very nicely setup did quite well on the course. The 1.9 Wraith has some sweet portals from Shapeways and he was on maiden run after installing the portals and a new to him set of 1.9 Pitbull Growlers on beadlocks. He had a gear in the portals come loose and was held in by one or two setscrew threads and a lot of Loctite, but finished without anymore damage. We helped each other through some tough spots with pull strap and a few bumper nudges. "thumbsup"




This was the most difficult line of the whole course, several gates running up the crevice with some small boulders and a little dirt here and there. Harley showed up with his Bomber and comped too.




Don't recall the guy's name, but on his maiden crawl with TF2, launching off a divot in the granite!




Coming down kinda crossed up, but landed it perfectly right through the gate and didn't touch either tennis ball marker! He was in 2WD mode at this point having blown his front ring and pinion gears earlier in the course.




Last 100 yards coming to the finish line.

 

[fomoco]

sweet lookin area for a comp! I have already done the axial steering linkage on my ascender(draglink on top) works great, yeah there is very little sidewall clearance, congrats on 3rd place, my body an cage are all so on backorder from them, going to leave mine at the blazer wheelbase with the blazer servo position an see how it goes from there.

 

[Natedog]

Thanks, yes it is! What parts did you use for your steering setup, got a pic? Thanks, yes I'm hoping the backorder situation clears up soon and we get our new bodies. Guy from E&H Hobbies in Yuba City (big supporter and sponsor of the Butte County Crawlers competitions) said they got a few of the new Vaterra K10 body and cage in stock last week and they were all gone in one day.

 

[fomoco]

lol, hate to say , but I used scx10 steering linkage from a scxII kit works great! good solid steering now.Iam clear across the states here an its the same thing at our shops , every ascender k10 an body , cage is gone the same day, oh well

 

[Natedog]

Itsokay yo lol, pic would still be nice. Yes, they are snapped up as soon as they hit the hobby shops! :ror: "thumbsup"

 

[CODYBOY]

Oregon and Washington have some great hiking and crawling places too, thanks for sharing Ernie! Is that a greenbelt bicycle and walking bridge in the background? "thumbsup"

Our town is known for its mountain bike trails and yes that bridge will take you to all kinds of trails for crawler and mountain bike!"thumbsup"
Ernie,

 

[Jeepiac]

Our town is known for its mountain bike trails and yes that bridge will take you to all kinds of trails for crawler and mountain bike!"thumbsup"
Ernie,[/QUOTE]

Must be nice! The town I live in is know for it's quilt shops. Not worth a dang for crawling. I have to drive an hour north to the Kansas City area to crawl.

 

[racer]

Ok after I read this tread,i bought the kit.installed the shock mods,sway bars,bumper tuck and body lowering.factory tires 1oz of weight per wheel and glued the tires up.all I can say is this truck just plain WORKS...
Thanks Nate for all your r and d..

 

[Natedog]

Our town is known for its mountain bike trails and yes that bridge will take you to all kinds of trails for crawler and mountain bike!"thumbsup"
Ernie,

"thumbsup"

Must be nice! The town I live in is know for it's quilt shops. Not worth a dang for crawling. I have to drive an hour north to the Kansas City area to crawl.

Quilt a crawler. :mrgreen:"thumbsup"

Ok after I read this tread,i bought the kit. Installed the shock mods,sway bars,bumper tuck and body lowering.factory tires 1oz of weight per wheel and glued the tires up. All I can say is this truck just plain WORKS...
Thanks Nate for all your r and d..

You're welcome and that's awesome, glad to hear that it helped you and you're enjoying your new Ascender! 8)"thumbsup"

EDIT: I've been prepping number 2 for the new 1972 Chevy K10 body and cage back setup. Wanted to try and run my steering servo fore/aft like the Blazer WB4 (12.36"), instead of cross-wise in the chassis. I tried this last night and it doesn't work, must run servo cross chassis otherwise it's about 1/4"...edit: more like 3/8" too short to fit battery tray and steering servo in there. :ror::mrgreen:

I'm installing the Blazer nerfbars for now, we'll see when the body gets here. Probably need another set of Codyboy custom nerfbars. 8)

 

[Natedog]

Chassis ready for new body!




K10 cab, cage, and Codyboy Design stickers (thanks Ernie, proud to run these with my sliders and axle housing!) all arrived!




Let's get busy!






I put a dab of E6000 in after the nut in the spare tire 'wingnut' so that it can't fall out ever.

 

[CODYBOY]

Chassis ready for new body!




K10 cab, cage, and Codyboy Design stickers (thanks Ernie, proud to run these with my sliders and axle housing!) all arrived!




Let's get busy!

Your welcome, I'm going to work up a design for sliders that will bolt right up to the frame rails for mine. They will be all 3/16" Stainless Steel, so not as heavy as the sliders I did for you. I could do a set for you at the same time. If they work out OK I might start making them for the K10 chassis/body."thumbsup"
Ernie,