Natedog's Vaterra ASCENDER

[Natedog]

Ernie,
The set you did for my Blazer are perfect height for that body when dropped two body post holes below stock RTR.

Yes please, those stainless steel sliders sound really nice! The K10 cab and bed so far appears to allow for about 3/8" or more raised nerfbars over the Blazer body. My cab is still in paint, so haven't really chekced exact height yet, but you have one so get er dun! :ror: 8) Let me know what I owe you. "thumbsup"

 

[Natedog]

Yes sir! Couple LHS had body, but no cage/bed. I have a couple of both on backorder, but wanted it sooner so I got my cab from A-Main Hobbies and the bed cage from Kerry at E&H Hobbies, thanks Kerry for the awesome service!
https://www.yelp.com/biz/e-and-h-hobby-enterprises-yuba-city

 

[Natedog]

Duratrax Bright Yellow, I was going more for the Camel Trophy yellow and it came out exactly as I wanted. Backed with white and then black.

 

[Natedog]

Butte County Scalers sweet T-shirts.




New 'fuel cell' rx box to match the K10 cab, painted red.

 

[Natedog]

Driveshaft comparison, the female driveshaft pieces come in two lengths and the male in two maybe three lengths. My front axle needed the shorter male shaft swapped in so that it wasn't bottoming out when I hooked up the suspension links. The Blazer already had the shorter female shaft up front. Rear runs long shafts, because I'm doing like Yeti.stealth did and trying the hybrid WB2 chassis with WB2 front links and WB4 rear links. "thumbup"




I painted the area behind the see through grill black, cut out just the radiator part of the included sticker and applied to the body before attaching the grill. Front bumper has all the spacers removed and shorter screws used. Bumper still needs to come back 3/8" - 1/2", hope Horizon Hobby is coming out with some shorter bumper mounts. I'll be cutting them shorter to draw the bumper in closer to the body, but they could use more meat for the screws depending how short they end up. Bumper also needs to lose about 1/4" off each end to narrow it up total of about 1/2", a different bumper or two would be nice options to see. I'll cut mine up for now. I scraped the chrome off the Chevy grill emblem and painted it red, applied the headlight stickers too, great looking body wish Vaterra had gone the extra step and molded headlight LED buckets instead of solid plastic and stickers. Need to get another pic. I'll have to fab some headlights buckets and all I guess, then re-attach the grill somehow with tiny screws and ShoeGoo or something.




All stickered up, the smaller Codyboy Design stickers fit perfectly on the fenders and match the color scheme very nicely. Of course I'll build another Hi-Lift jack hood pin for the K10. I'm in the process of installing Gunnar Pins in all the driveshafts and CVDs. "thumbsup"
EDIT: The stock plastic sliders gotta go, they hang down about 1/2" too low. The new body/cage is mounted with 4.5 holes showing in the front body post mounts, this is perfect to keep it level with the rear bed/cage.

 

[Yeti.stealth]

Just watched a YouTube from 'sik rides' on his K10 Chevy

He has fitted headlights to the stock grill, is he a member here? Maybe he will chime in with his headlight mod?

http://https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=xAGmd5Sca7s

 

[svt923]

The Chevy looks great but shouldn't the thread be renamed "Natedog's Ascender Fleet" at this point? :lmao:

Front bumper has all the spacers removed and shorter screws used. Bumper still needs to come back 3/8" - 1/2", hope Horizon Hobby is coming out with some shorter bumper mounts. I'll be cutting them shorter to draw the bumper in closer to the body, but they could use more meat for the screws depending how short they end up.

The Bronco uses shorter bumper mounts than the Blazer but I think they are only available with the Bronco body. The GCM bumper mounts are pretty short and much stronger, they only extend about 10 mm past the end of the frame rails.

 

[Natedog]

Just watched a YouTube from 'sik rides' on his K10 Chevy

He has fitted headlights to the stock grill, is he a member here? Maybe he will chime in with his headlight mod?

http://https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=xAGmd5Sca7s

Checking it, thanks. "thumbsup"

The Chevy looks great but shouldn't the thread be renamed "Natedog's Ascender Fleet" at this point? :lmao:

The Bronco uses shorter bumper mounts than the Blazer but I think they are only available with the Bronco body. The GCM bumper mounts are pretty short and much stronger, they only extend about 10 mm past the end of the frame rails.

Thanks, lol. :lmao:"thumbsup"

Good info, but Horizon should sell the bumper mounts separately. GCM bumper mounts are nice, but I'm very hard on my trucks and prefer plastic since metal tends to transfer the impact to the rest of the truck instead of flexing and absorbing it. GCM aluminum bumper mounts are sweet for super scale metal bumpers, but I wish they had a nylon option, I'd buy that. "thumbsup"

EDIT: The front bumper sticks way out and needs shorter front bumper mounts. I'm cutting them shorter, but there may not be enough plastic left for the screws to hold the bumper securely. It looks like the Ascender Bronco mounts would work, but Horizon's site gives no dimensions to know for sure. Horizon lists VTR23046 bumper set as fitting all Ascenders, Blazer (kit and RTR), K10 and Bronco. I found that the Bronco front bumper mounts are listed as part number VTR23046, but don't find any mention of this part on the internet.

Bronco exploded view here, you can see the parts and part numbers:
http://www.horizonhobby.com/pdf/VTR03031-Exploded_View.pdf

While setting up rear links and working on swaybar mount, it appears that my first Blazer RTR rear upper link mount is more upright and therefore the same length rear upper links don't result in the same amount of pinion angle. I added a couple spacers to tilt the rear pinion up slightly and it was not enough, so started measuring everything thinking I used wrong links or something. After a bunch of measuring and some disassembly, I found that my newer RTR and kit both have the same length rear upper link mount, but that it is angled back more and rests right up against the top of the rear axle housing. My first RTR it's more upright, going to have to see how this affects TT.

 

[Natedog]

Relax watch the little fish eating and jumping around.






Trimmed the front fenders, scraped the chrome off Chevy emblem (applied Testors red paint pen), still need to shorten front bumper mounts and narrow bumper little bit.







By using WWB2 chassis and WB4 rear link setup, the angled rear shocks sit a bit lower and the effective spring rate has been reduced. I'm going to change rear only internal limiters from 9mm to prolly 5mm and change lower (long) spring to Vaterra firm. Outboarded the shocks to fight TT and give more swaybar link clearance. Front setup will stay same with 9mm internal shock limiters, but may change upper (short) springs from stock medium to Vaterra soft. Those stock sliders stick way out (even with all spacers removed), hang low, and gotta go. I really like the look and stance of the K10.




Red rx fuel cell painted and bolt heads painted silver.

 

[Yeti.stealth]

It's looking good Natedog.
Interesting to see some parts like the rear upper link mount quietly evolving. I have my first release RTR rear axle upper mount and a new axle set, will check out the difference.

 

[Natedog]

Thanks, yes I love the look of this new body!
Yes, I was very puzzled while setting up my rear suspension, I added couple millimeters of upper link spacers like my first RTR Blazer and wow the pinion angle was still pointing down more than I like. Possibly my rear axle upper link mount has gotten tweaked over time? Guess we'll see. I'm curious if you find similar differences?

 

[Yeti.stealth]

Yep, the newer upper link mounts are different, the one fitted to my truck is from a first release Blazer RTR that didn't have heavy duty drive shafts or pinion gears.

You can see the old one is a little more upright and has a gap between axle housing and the new one is angled backed more almost touching the housing.

The new upper mount came in the bag with a new set of axle housings, but is it better?

 

[LSXGMC]

Natedog, I jsut ordered my body and cage for my Blazer based Ascender. Assuming the front body mount posts work, what about the rear? Does it connect to the chassis, or do I need extra body posts?

 

[Natedog]

Yep, the newer upper link mounts are different, the one fitted to my truck is from a first release Blazer RTR that didn't have heavy duty drive shafts or pinion gears.

You can see the old one is a little more upright and has a gap between axle housing and the new one is angled backed more almost touching the housing.

The new upper mount came in the bag with a new set of axle housings, but is it better?

Exactly how mine is, but my first one came on RTR with HD driveshafts and pinion gears. Wonder if it's the same, but it got bent over time, how much runtime do you have on the newer style?

Yes, wonder how it affects crawling?

Natedog, I jsut ordered my body and cage for my Blazer based Ascender. Assuming the front body mount posts work, what about the rear? Does it connect to the chassis, or do I need extra body posts?

Nice, the front body posts work, set them at 4.5 holes above the shock mounts. Rear mounts to rear frame cross-member, not the shock towers. "thumbsup"

 

[Yeti.stealth]

I have never run mine with the newer style upper mount, and I just put new tyres on so any difference in performance would be masked by the tyres.

 

[Itali83]

I just looked at everything I've got. I now have an early rtr blazer with non HD pinions and driveshafts. It's as virgin as they come with super low runtime or abuse. The rear upper link mount is farther back just about touching the axle housing.

I've got my later rtr blazer that is now a year old as has had some serious time on it not just trail riding either. The upper mount is the same, just about touching axle housing.

I e also got a new in the vaterra bag axle housing set and that link is the same as the other two. Maybe they are bending but I'd think if you're are doing it, my one year old would show signs of bending too but none at all. Interesting to say the least I guess. Figured I'd put my findings here as well.

The K10 is looking great Nate.

Ben

 

[Yeti.stealth]

There's a good chance it's just bent from abuse, the kinda abuse only a young boy can dish out! Bless his little soul.
The reason I have an axle housing set it because one of the upper link screws snapped off one day and I destroyed the housing trying to drill the busted off screw out. I just reused the old upper link mount on the new housing.

 

[rag6]

Just want to say thanks to you and everyone that has contributed to this awesome thread. My truck is getting much much better for almost nothing thanks to the many hours you've put in. I'll follow this thread till the ��

 

[Natedog]

I just looked at everything I've got. I now have an early rtr blazer with non HD pinions and driveshafts. It's as virgin as they come with super low runtime or abuse. The rear upper link mount is farther back just about touching the axle housing.

I've got my later rtr blazer that is now a year old as has had some serious time on it not just trail riding either. The upper mount is the same, just about touching axle housing.

I e also got a new in the vaterra bag axle housing set and that link is the same as the other two. Maybe they are bending but I'd think if you're are doing it, my one year old would show signs of bending too but none at all. Interesting to say the least I guess. Figured I'd put my findings here as well.

The K10 is looking great Nate.

Ben

Interesting, thanks for the input on rear axle upper link mount.

Thanks.

There's a good chance it's just bent from abuse, the kinda abuse only a young boy can dish out! Bless his little soul.
The reason I have an axle housing set it because one of the upper link screws snapped off one day and I destroyed the housing trying to drill the busted off screw out. I just reused the old upper link mount on the new housing.

Could be, I'm going to monitor mine closely now. Thanks for your input too. :thumbsup: Nice, all of us 'kids' can put some use and abuse on our toy trucks. :ror: "thumbsup"

Just want to say thanks to you and everyone that has contributed to this awesome thread. My truck is getting much much better for almost nothing thanks to the many hours you've put in. I'll follow this thread till the ��

You're welcome and yes thanks to everybody for contributing, helps us all! Good to hear, I've been reading and following all the Ascender threads as best I can. "thumbsup"

Rear swaybar mount setup, hole drilling in frame pics in a few. Relocating swaybar in front of the rear axle ala Yeti.stealth swaybar setup, thanks Yeti.stealth! "thumbsup"

 

[M1tch]

I put the GCM upper link mount on mine.Not had a run yet, but should be out tomorrow if the rain stops. Still no sway bar as the budget and time wouldn't allow it. Sometime soon will try limiting the front shocks and also set the rear shocks outboard.

Odd that the stock mount should bend like that, and the newer version looks different.