Natedog's Vaterra ASCENDER

[Natedog]

Took a few days off work and met up with a bunch of buddies for a Rubicon trail long weekend! 1:1 crawlers, Razors, motorcycles, mountain bikes, beers, burgers, coffee and cookies! First day on the way in and for couple hours we got dumped on with heavy thunder showers, stood around under cover eating sandwiches. That night we had several lanterns setup while cooking dinner and several people brought out their rc crawlers for crawl around the fire ring and some of the big boulders right in camp. While I was cooking and eating I let anybody who wanted drive my Ascender and they were not easy on it, forward/reverse slams, many falls from six feet up down onto rocks and dirt, my body needs some patching and reinforcing with a little drywall mesh tape and E6000 around the bottom of the grill. I drove a little that nightm but they did most of it and drained the 4500mah battery after couple hours every nigfht. She's scraped up but nothing broken.

Wish I could say same for my SCX10, I blew out the CVDs twice on this trip, only minutes apart and they've broken so many times (including a couple sets made out of drill bit blanks), the inner and outer axles are done, the holes got wasted the last time the pins broke. I had one spare dogbone and stub axle for one side, but not the other. After letting them run it in 3-wheel drive for awhile, it stopped moving or steering, but the battery still had juice, might have smoked my first Tekin FXR, have to see. Broke the front body mount retention piece off the top of right front shock tower too, had to swap that out so the body would stay on properly...time for VP shock mounts.

On to the pictures.

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Also went to watch the Perseid Meteor Shower, saw a few good ones but not nearly as many as we usually see, probably due too much socializing.
http://earthsky.org/astronomy-essentials/everything-you-need-to-know-perseid-meteor-shower

One of several friend's 1:1 crawlers on this trip, most were Toyotas.

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Went for a strenuous half day hike and crawl, more hike than crawl, but scouted out some sweet crawl spots. Found a small pond and another small lake.

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[Natedog]

Here's a step by step how to Ascend lol

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[Natedog]

Hiking back, almost at the "trail" head.

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Leavin is always the hardest part and I'm usually one of the last to head home, it's so beautiful, peaceful in the mountains...hot coffee and couple Kashi cookies to prepare for the trip while enjoying the sunset. I love watching the colors change as days turns to night.

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What's that on the dash?

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[professorcake]

FYI the axial servo horn fits well when the servo is placed in its optional horizontal position. Nice pics Nate!

 

[Natedog]

Thanks, good to kmow!

 

[Zintoatree]

Your trip looks like it was a blast and the gorgeous view just makes it better.

 

[JOETRUCKER80]

Nice!

 

[HDMM]

Killer pics man! Making me miss the mountains of Colorado real bad right now!

 

[2-shot]

Awesome pics Nate!!! It looks very peaceful.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Alexander_0_1]

On the dash board, is that a stone from your trip? Every year when I make a trip to the mountains I take a stone home with me, one that I've found on the/a trail.....nothing in particular, it just has to be big enough to write the date on, all of the people that came on the trip with me, and the locations that we visited. I've been doing it since I was a boy.....maybe 9-10yrs old.

Great photos, step by step on how to ascender, and the sunset were great, interesting bold pic though.


No wait is it a cookie....

 

[Natedog]

Thanks for all the replies. Does look kinda like a rock. It is a cookie! After dinner coffee and cookies for the road.

 

[ScGRaceR]

that trip looked amazing

 

[Natedog]

I've started exceeding the stock tire foams when turning on a downhill and they roll over almos to the rims. I like Crawler Innovations Deuces Wild foams on my SCX and Wraith, but am not finding good size for the Vaterra TSLs that I love. Closest size seems to be Single Stage Closed Cell for 1.9 Pit Bull Rock Beast, but they may be too tall.

Vaterra TSL SX Swampers specs from RPP Hobby | Radio Controlled Cars, Trucks, Boats, Helis, Planes, Plastic Models
Size mounted on Gear Head 1.9 EZ-Loc Wheels is 4.55" Tall x 1.69" Wide


:: PIT BULL TIRES :: ROCK BEAST® R/C 1.9 Scale Tires
1.9 Rock Beast Scale Tire Specs:
Part# - PB9003NK
Mounted Specs (using Pit Bull supplied 2 Stage Foams)
1.9" Rim
1.7" SW*
4.45" OD*
Weight - approximately 2.5 ounces per tire
Dimensions may vary depending on mounted rim used

Here's the CI DW foams for Pitbull Rock Beast (CRI-3001), but it doesnt' say how tall and wide these foams are. Anybody have a set of these foams they can measure?
Single Stage Closed Cell for 1.9 Pit Bull Rock Beast

I read where Rolandrockshop used 4.5" dual stage soft(front) and medium(rears) for his, but I don't see these on CI site now. He lists part# CRI-2030 for tires 4.75" to 5" tall.
Lil' Nova 1.9 Dual Stage 4.75T Foam Pair (2)

See post #4 in his build thread:
http://www.rccrawler.com/forum/vate...-blazer/510079-rolandrockshops-k5-blazer.html

I've used CI Lil' Nova 1.9 Dual Stage 4.25T Foams (part# CRI2010, for tires 4.25" tp 4.5" tall) before in my Honcho with 1.9 Ripsaws and they work well, but if you crawl lots they will soften over time. Looks like my best option might be to use these with firm front/rear outer foams.
Lil' Nova 1.9 Dual Stage 4.25T Foam Pair (2)

I like the simplicity of the DW single stage foams, great all around foams.

 

[Alexander_0_1]

The sizes of the C.I DW closed cells for the 1.9 rock beasts aren't listed cause C.I didn't intend that particular foam to be used with any other tire combinations. The same goes for the C.I DW for the 1.9 growlers. I would've thought that the C.I DW closed cells for the proline tsl sx swampers would have been the choice in regards to vaterra swampers.

When I emailed C.I about some foam recommendations for the 1.9 growler, and the 1.9 rock beasts, he recommend 4.50 standard inners w/ medium outer (CRI-2024) for the rock beasts front/rear.
For the growlers he recommended 4.50" standard inners w/medium outers (CRI-2024) for the front, and 4.50" standard inners w/firm outer (CRI-2028 ) for the rear.

It's quite common for Eddie Fisher to pull items from the website when they are out of stock, try RPP, or CKRC.

The foam for the growlers changes front to rear, based on the space inside the tire, and where the weight is located on the chassis, in the ascenders case the its heavier in the front cause of the battery, but you also want a slightly firmer foam in the rear to count act the tire compressing too far, as the weight is transferred to the rear when climbing stuff.

I suspect the foams for the rock beasts doesn't change because unlike the growlers there isn't as much space inside them.

Essentially your not so much trying to find a foam that fits a specific tire, but more trying to tune for weight. I mean sure there are recommendations for tire sizes, but that's all it is is a recommendation more based on stock rigs. If you start adding weight then most likely you end up moving to firmer outers.


Let's just say your rig was really heavy and you wanted to use either growlers, or rock beasts, first you'd weigh your rig (some people have scales that give you the weight values of individual corners of the rig, but that's too technical for me) then you'd select your lil novas with the weight of your ascender as the baseline, if the weight exceeds anything from the 4.50"/line up, then move to 4.75".

 

[Natedog]

Thanks for the help. "thumbsup" That maybe why they are not litsted, but it would help us when making foams fit that are close to same size. The Proline TSL SX Swampers are significantly larger than Vaterra Swampers when they are held next to each other like I did at LHS. I would have bought foams there (they stock CI) but they were out of DW foams for Pitbull Rockbeast 1.9, which are closest in my side by side comparison at LHS. I ordered two pair so we'll see how they fit when I get them.

Yes the foams need to 'fit' the tire, but not necessarily fill them up especially when using the Deuces Wild single stage foams. However, the Lil' Novas (1.9) and Double Deuce (2.2) should fill the tires.

I usually go same or softer foams in front tires, but as you said depends on weight and balance (front/rear) of that weight. I've also found that they soften some with use so sometimes I go one stiffer than I want to end up with.

Professorcake gave me the hookup on a set of four Ascender tires/foams in like new condition, some red waterproof LEDS (cut to length and solder), and JST harness plugs! Thanks bud! "thumbsup" 8)8) I also bought RC4WD Whitespoke steel beadlocks and VP 1.9 rings just in case since I've found that RC4WD rims tend to leave very small gap for tire beads and I've cut tires using them before with non-RC4WD tires.

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Some lighting work started, got couple ideas on where to run wires to JST plug.

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Something for torque twist, Slash 4x4 swaybar set (does NOT work). I also have a Wraith rear swaybar kit to experiment wtih (mo' better!). I got parts to work on but it's hot as hell here and the air sucks from all the forest fires, don't want to be out in the garage working when it's like this. Spent half the day outside yesterday afternoon and night, headache, eyes burning and itching.

 

[2-shot]

I'm using a set of broken in CI DW closed cell foams that I got from LukeKang77. They are for the Proline TSL XS XL tire, but he cut down the ribs on them. They were in a set of 1.9 Falken Wild Peaks that I got from him. With the ribs cut down, they actually fit the Vaterra Super Swamper tire pretty good, and work really well for the type of driving that I do.
I just ordered four CI DW closed cell foams for some 1.9 Rock Beasts that I acquired, and four 1.9 Lil' Nova's (4.50") for the Voodoo KLR's that I pre-ordered.

Natedog - please post pics of your lighting wire job. I'm wanting to put lights in my Ascender body, but not sure how I want to route them, other than ShoeGoo'ing the wires to the inside of the body!!

 

[Natedog]

Thanks for the info, got a pic of those trimmed DW's mounted with tires and wheels?

 

[LukeKang77]

I'm using a set of broken in CI DW closed cell foams that I got from LukeKang77. They are for the Proline TSL XS XL tire, but he cut down the ribs on them. They were in a set of 1.9 Falken Wild Peaks that I got from him. With the ribs cut down, they actually fit the Vaterra Super Swamper tire pretty good, and work really well for the type of driving that I do.

Hi 2-shot, believe it or not but the foams were not trimmed down. I had them in a set of growlers for a while. I think what happened is the combination of my heavy rigs, driving and time just broke down those foams ribs! They do shrink over time too! I actually never tried them in my TSL, so I can't say how they would work!

Natedog awesome pictures from your last trip! Thanks for sharing! Look like some sweet crawling spots!

 

[Natedog]

Thanks for foam info update, good to know. I've found same as you, heavy rigs, just driving (the more it's driven the more they soften), heat etc will shrink/compact the foams.

Thanks for the pic compliments too, I try to take lots of pics and then sort through them, amazing how same shot can turn out so different. Yes, amazing crawling and hiking!

 

[2-shot]

Hi 2-shot, believe it or not but the foams were not trimmed down. I had them in a set of growlers for a while. I think what happened is the combination of my heavy rigs, driving and time just broke down those foams ribs! They do shrink over time too! I actually never tried them in my TSL, so I can't say how they would work!

Natedog awesome pictures from your last trip! Thanks for sharing! Look like some sweet crawling spots!

You know Luke, I remember you telling me that. :ror: That's what happens when you start to get old - you tend forget things!! ;-)

Sorry guys, they weren't trimmed CI DW foams. They were well used CI DW foams that I got from LukeKang77!!
Regardless, they work pretty good in my Vaterra TSL's!! "thumbsup"