Spare parts for newbie? 3d printer files?

[eug2000]

Hi all,

First time poster so thanks in advance! Anyway, I saw the sad news that the Ascender has been discontinued. I've had a couple of RTR ascenders (Bronco and Chevy K10) for 1-2 years to have a bit of a laugh with the kids (aged 6, 4 and 2).

Anyway, I noticed today when I was cleaning them that one of them had lost the lower plastic part of the spring shock (is it called the shock end?). It is listed as part number VTR233028 in the manual. To be honest, it doesn't affect the way my little kids play with it (they are FAR more bashers than crawlers with their skills/attention span), but was wondering if there is any hope in acquiring spare parts given they are now discontinued, or if there is a repository of 3D printer files out there I could use (I have a friend with a 3D printer).

If not (sorry, very new to RC stuff), is the whole shock assembly replaceable - and if so, where would I find such a thing?

Thanks heaps in advance!

 

[Yeti.stealth]

https://www.modelflight.com.au/vaterra-shock-end-cup-rubber-stop-mid-collar-4-for-ascender.html

This is usually a good place for Ascender spares

 

[Yeti.stealth]

Drill a small hole in the spring cup and tie it to the spring with some fine tie wire, have a look thru my thread and you will probably find a pic in there somewhere from when I did it to mine.

You will never lose one again!

 

[Natedog]

Welcome to RCC Eug2000!

Good source and great tips with the zipties Dean!

 

[Yeti.stealth]

Hi eug2000, how did you go with the spare parts?

In case you missed it in my post above, below is a link to and Australian supplier of Ascender parts. Click on the link and it will take you straight to the parts I think you are after.

https://www.modelflight.com.au/vaterra-shock-end-cup-rubber-stop-mid-collar-4-for-ascender.html

 

[eug2000]

Hi Yeti.stealth,

Thanks heaps for the reply. I posted a reply a while back but it hasn't gone up, so maybe I futzed it. Anyway, thanks for the link and I'll order up some spares. Could you recommend any other commonly required spares that I should order now while I'm at it? Might as well stock up now (if they are in stock that is).

Also, I started looking through your thread, but I'm only up to page 4 or something. Long way to go! Looks great what you were doing though. In addition to recommend spares, would you recommend any hop-ups?

Thanks!

 

[Yeti.stealth]

They are a pretty robust platform, if you are just doing a bit of light bashing with you kids for fun you probably won’t need anything!

The driveshaft pins will wear out and get sloppy and eventually break and are a pain to replace, and the tiny little driveshaft grub screws that connect the shafts to the gearbox outputs will become loose and cause lose of drive. They need some Thread lock on them, but remember to heat them when it’s time to remove them or they will round off.

If you drive them in mud and water, kids love too, then keep some axle bearings on hand for when they wear out.

The stock steering servo and plastic steering horn lasted a long long time for me, so maybe nothing needed there for now.

I have busted a couple of plastic rod ends in big tumbles down the rocks, so some spare rod ends might be good to have too.

 

[eug2000]

Thanks again Yeti.stealth for the information. So useful.

Having just gotten the RTR (and being pretty not-mechanical overall), I'm just looking at the part numbers to make sure I'm looking at the right ones.

The shock end cap looks pretty obvious - VTR233028
Not sure about the driveshaft pin - is that in VTR232072

In terms of the other screws that you mention - would they be VTR235174? Finally, the bearings are VTR237004?

In terms of the Vaterra brand - is the whole brand being discontinued, or is it just the Ascender platform?

Thanks again.

 

[Yeti.stealth]

The drive shaft pins are the tiny silver pins in the pictures below. It’s the first part to wear out, you will rarely need the other parts included in those packs. You can buy a length of hard spring steel from a hobby shop ( used for RC airplane push rods ) in the correct diameter and make your own pins, that’s what I do. From memory I believe they are 1.5 mm diameter and I think the pins are different lengths too at axle end compared to transmission end of drive shaft.

Some other guys on the forum have found bags of pre made pins from other brands that work too, maybe they can chime in with that info too.


The tiny little grub screws in the bottom picture are the ones that will come loose, when tight they engage onto the flats that are machined into the transmission output shafts and transmit drive to the driveshaft, they work lose allowing the output shaft to spin inside the coupling thus losing drive to the front or rear wheels. You won’t need spare grub screws unless you drop one and lose it when working on the drive shafts. I do believe they would be available in a pack of 5 or 10 etc from a hobby shop too.

The bearings look right, they are another standard size used in many RC brands and are available from hobby shops individually.

 

[Yeti.stealth]

Forgot they suspension rod ends Part number VTR234027