Renting to own... My son's first ASCENDER!

[Shinchu]

From the 5 minutes I looked after I asked...
Seems blue was for cars and gold for trucks. At least back then. Now they have moved all vehicles to gold in the last couple decades. Maybe to put more distance between them and the blue oval.

So I'm thinking gold is correct.

Meanwhile I'm here grillin...
Not like, BBQ...

grillin.

Don't worry, the bowtie is masked. Its still chrome under there.

 

[2mtech]

Meanwhile I'm here grillin...
Not like, BBQ...

grillin.

Nice! :ror:

Looking tre good!

 

[Shinchu]

Just need to put in the headlight lenses but the grill is done, paint wise!
I think gold was a good choice for the bowtie.

Next on the list:
Install headlight lenses
Install hood hinges
Paint window trim
Install Windows
Paint/install mirrors, door handles, badges
Slap the interior back in and that should do it!

*Oh! Still need to cut a rear window! Almost forgot.

 

[Shinchu]

He un wrapped his cage and was super stoked.
I brought it to the garage and held it up to the back of the cab.

Ehh... Its better than the vaterra cage, but still not perfect.
I'll mock it up later when he isnt busy enjoying the rest of his presents.

Merry Christmas (or your holiday of choice) from the Shinchu Family!

 

[Shinchu]

Cage mock up!

Gotta say for the price its not bad. Not perfect, but it will work.

Cross SR4 rear cage $20

I tried it on the chassis, but the lower bars hit the shock towers.
Gonna do some dremel surgery and hopefully it fits.

I mean... Twenty bucks! Not bad.

*birds eye view...

 

[mgputer]

I really like this truck. You're making me want to make an old square body. Fantastic job Sir!

 

[Shinchu]

Hard body trucks really are incredibly fun and makes lexan seem almost silly.
This truck has been a great booster of my building confidence and I have even surprised myself how well it's been going just trusting my gut instincts.

But its not over yet! Still need to tackle cage mounting and how it will all sit on the chassis.

As for the rear shock tower interference... It occurred to me... Hey nerd whynot just fab new towers or maybe see if tf2 towers will work??
Even wondering if I can remove towers entirely and bolt shocks directly to the cage?!??! Remember I dont need to remove the body at all since battery swaps are done under the hood

This is one deep rabbit hole hahaha but I love it!

 

[Shinchu]

More head scratching but I think I'm on to something...

 

[AnimalHippie]

I like what your thinking! If you look it up. On a true truggy the shocks are mounted to the cage. I have been thinking about a truggy and have researching building one since before I bought my Trx. Soon to come Truck is looking great brotha! Keep up the awesome work!

 

[mgputer]

More head scratching but I think I'm on to something...

Should be able to make that work. It will also look more scale that the shock towers! "thumbsup"

 

[Shinchu]

Took it out to a family friends place.
Cage still isnt on but we needed some wheeltime.

Andrew took this pic with his ipod

Then my buddy took these with his pixel3

My son Andrew. Yes he does his own stunts

So our family friends who invited us here to their home are really outdoor types who lovw dirtbikes and take their 1:1 wrangler unlimited wheeling all the time... That said "bring your little trucks!" Who am I to disappoint??
The dad was hooked instantly. He is an engineer by trade and really was blown away by the scale chassis and details. I let him run our barrage and he was pulling great lines like a champ!
Success! Introduced him to the hobby! He really wants at least one (he admitted to wanting a slash or similar for go fast) and his 8 year old daughter was having fun ripping around with the barrage. I cant say enough how GREAT that little rig is for beginners.
Anyway I look forward to sharing many more adventures with them and maybe taking them with us to proline by the fire someday!

 

[Shinchu]

So just now Andrew showed me this pic he took on his ipod today at my in-laws place in San Marcos...
Kid can drive AND shoot! And hes got one proud pop...

 

[Inspector86]

Just curious if you have considered a cantilever system for the rear suspension.

 

[mgputer]

Looks great. Lucky boy to have such a nice rig.

Sent from my Vivo XI+ using Tapatalk

 

[2mtech]

Noice! Andrew looks like he's intensely concentrating on pulling that slope. "thumbsup"

 

[Shinchu]

thank you gents.
i haven't really looked into canti setup since my boy wants a cage on the rear.
however... that's proving a bit difficult and it might be better to toss the rear bed (with mod19 extension?) with cutouts for the vertical shocks... he has mentioned wanting a rig with a bed on it. i tried to get him to compromise and just attach the bed sides to the cage. no luck he didn't like the idea.
at this point i'd like to keep the vertical coilovers and figure out the cage. barring that, i could put the bed on with cutouts in the floor to allow the coilovers to pass through, and made it work like a modified linked street rig? or just put leafs ont he rear and keep the floor intact?
but i'll try to make the cage setup work. i think.

puter, thanks i always want his rig is up and working better than mine. he's a good kid so i make sure he gets what he disserves.

2m, yes he does have laser focus when driving. especially now with a hardbody... he knows how much work was put into it. but i told him its fine if it gets some rock rash
and yes he pulled the slope like a champ. truck has so much weight up forward, just walked right up like it was flat. and the pics at the top is all drag-brake.
i tried the same slope with the feather-weight barrage and it skipped and bounced, eventually made it. but this chebby… its a DAMN good rig! THANK YOU ERNIE!

 

[Natedog]

Coming along nicely, just leaf the rear with some RC4WD springs and shackles mounted up next to the frame rails like Mgputer did on his last build! Simple, period correct, really cuts down TT, looks great!

Good job sharing the hobby with relatives and friends.

 

[Shinchu]

Thank you Nate!
only problem then is, my son wont be able to

FLLLEXXX!!!!11uno!

i mean maybe some but not like the current 4 link/coilovers.
plus, it would un-do the sweet prototype rear panhard setup Ernie did on this chassis. i want to keep that as a nod.
but any other day, yes i would go for some shackles and U bolts

 

[HumboldtEF]

Great action shots! I forgot about the cage and bed for a sec, looks pretty good with nothing in the back.

Its always sweet to get that first test drive in "thumbsup"

 

[Shinchu]

yeah i quickly threw the fuel cell and hi-lift jack on there just so the towers didn't stick up like sore thumbs lol