Vaterra Ascender - Perfectly imperfect

[CreepyQuarryCrawler]

When I got into crawling my first rig was a SCX10 Dingo kit; it was a great introduction.

Soon after I found that I wanted something a little nicer and more capable.

I settled on the Vaterra Ascender around 2015/2016. On a different forum I was a part of I came across a very attractive listing in 2017; built roller with upgrades!

It came with SSD wheels, upgraded differential gears, MIP center shafts, a painted body and other things I am sure to be forgetting.

A trip back to 2017 -

I finished it off with some SSD Diff Covers, SSD polished bumpers, Vaterra Aluminum bits, Vaterra Brass Rotors (4 corners), Castle SW2, Castle BEC, Tekin 45T, Savox Servo.

I also ordered up a set of custom made side steps by CodyBoy Designs.

Shortly after this my company blew up. I was essentially working two full time jobs and I had to hit pause on personal interests.

I did buy different rigs and RC's over the years, they all came and went.

I loved the TRX4 but I thought it was way too nice to drive LOL

I put a Pro Scale light kit in it and eventually sold it.

Built this up. It was pretty, but unfortunately I ultimately found the experience disappointing.

I tried out a Phoenix Portal RTR but I wanted higher performance so I flipped it when it was still new and bought a Stance for competitive crawling purposes.

But I always hung on to the Ascender. Something about it, I cannot explain it.

2025

I had switched out the wheels somewhere along the line for something more "period correct". The tires were also starting to loose their grip so I started trying different tires out on the rig the summer of '25.

Here it is before I removed those ten year old RC4WD's.

It was on this exact run that I realized the best days of these tires are in the rear view mirror.

 

[CreepyQuarryCrawler]

I had a set of wheels and tires that I ordered for a different rig that took forever to come in.

That Element truck is gone now and I needed to find a way to use them. I figured the Ascender would be perfect for the 1.7" wheels.

I ran into a few issues.
The brass brake rotors were contacting the inside of the wheel. I had my buddy take 1.5mm off to get it to clear. Turned out perfect!
*Little Lathe Humor *

Assembled I found them to be on the light side. I had a set of SSD rings that didn't workout with a different set of 1.9s.
Again, call in a hail mary from my buddy to machine the opening larger for me so I could get them to work with the 1.7's. They're essentially an interface fit so they shouldn't rattle or anything.

I wrapped them in 1.7 Pitbull Rockers. I have the same tire on Project Nostalgia and they seem to be working really well, specifically at the indoor crawling course.

I just noticed it looks like the front bench seat is leaning. I'll have to look into that.

Happy with how this is sitting now.

Before the brass rings it was exactly 50/50.
I found it drove pretty good before, actually very good. But I had these rings so why not try and use them?

Here's the scale numbers:

I am apparently a sucker for the Grenades or something similar from a different manufacturer.

These are what I had on my last 1500 truck, I just blacked out the center cap because I found it needed more contrast. Imo

I just realized how drawn I am to that design lol

Here's some of the last photos before I sold it.

In the past few weeks I painted up a new Ford body for the Ascender. But I am so committed to the Chevy look I don't want to make the change.

I figured I would honor this truck and my RC journey with a new, fresh chassis. It should be here after Christmas and I am excited to build this shelf queen.

 

[MVRCA]

Lookin' good!

 

[CreepyQuarryCrawler]

Lookin' good!

Thanks! I am pumped with how it's turned out. Looking forward to getting it out when the warmer weather returns, in about 5 months lol

 

[CreepyQuarryCrawler]

Fresh chassis arrived today; pumped to get started on this!

First thing I need to do is shorten the wheelbase to fit this body. I also need to go through my parts to see what I have, fairly certain I have parts or unused hop-ups hanging around.

I stripped it down and dusted everything off. I have started to shorten the wheelbase up. I may need to grab a few things, we'll see how it goes.

I did find a few things to use;

A pair of aluminum rear hub carriers and a set of Velcro body mounts. Both of these will be put to good use!

 

[CreepyQuarryCrawler]

I went out to my LHS this morning to grab a few things

With shortening the chassis I have to shorten the links. The threaded rod all alone was the original with the Blazer chassis, I remember when I received the kit back in the day it came with the shorter rods. Unfortunately I didn't have enough but my LHS came in clutch.

It all went together perfectly!

So when I am looking at my Ascenders and also reflecting on driving the Blazer, I wasn't happy with the smaller tires compared to the larger 4.19's I had on it in the past.

I have decided I am going to shift the 1.7's over to the Ford and pick out a new set of wheels for the Chevy.

Here's what I am looking at:

RC4WD Mags

This would allow me to put full size axle weights back on and move all the smaller modified parts over to the Ford chassis.

I feel the F100 is going to take on this cool Resto Mod type vibe.

 

[CreepyQuarryCrawler]

Well unfortunately the motor I picked up is too big and comes into contact with the battery tray.
I had to come up with a different plan for the battery. I had a few Element parts kicking around and I made this tray swap on my other one so I was familiar with what needed to be done to ditch the stock tray.

I really wanted to keep everything original or close too but... whatever lol
I've kept all the parts.

In this one I went with the smaller tray as I don't plan on jamming a giant pack in this thing.

Tray all mounted up and the body mount kit is installed. It's nice; there is a socket for the existing post and included set screws so you don't have to hack anything up. However, I can't remember where I ordered it from.

Hmmm looks like I need to play with the links further.

Edit:

I really want to fully option the F100 out. My LHS has all the parts to complete the two speed conversion in molded plastic. I don't plan on beating on it so that's fine with me. I ordered two sets.

Update: January 3rd 2026

I picked up everything for the two speed setup:

Got to work converting it over. As I mentioned I could only find the transmission gears in plastic so it's a mix of metal and plastic in the gear box.

Busted out some old TD grease for this one

I got the case together with the transmission linkage installed.

I threw the Tekin 45t back in. The 540 fits better in this chassis. My other rig no longer has the rock sliders which have the tray mounts on them; there's a lot more room around the can.

The other thing is, I came up with this new goal to try and use as many electrical components from that time period as possible. This motor is from my original Ascender build.

 

[CreepyQuarryCrawler]

Moving along with both of these rigs; as I mentioned I have decided to dress up the shelf queen with all the Vaterra hop ups I have.
I need parts to replace them on my Bruiser Blazer.

My LHS had these in stock, last pair knuckles!

The drive shaft is also too long and this HD one is listed as a replacement which they also had.

While trying to figure everything out I noticed the steering wasn't going to work anymore.

I didn't realize these could have a different servo mount in them.

I so happened to have the parts!

Just prior to opening it I thought I should go through the left over original kit parts.

And what do you know!

There they are!

I feel so, so fortunate to have all these left over pieces because I have been using them on this 290mm conversation.

Shorter links
Servo mount
Shorter threaded rod

I also wasn't happy I removed the factory battery tray so replaced the shock towers with new ones I have.

Once I get the suspension sorted I will put the tray back.

I wasn't aware until doing this work but they actually had a revised tray in the final version that was rigidly mounted and looks like it could have accepted a more standard size pack at that time; it came out late 2018 (Sept/Oct).

I find it so interesting looking back to at that time period in the hobby (2014-2018) the battery tray complaint seems so funny as the hobby has moved to use smaller packs now.
But everyone wanted to jam their 5000mah stick packs in them. Even my own experience as a hobbiest, I would stick a full size 5000 in my SCX10, so I could see guys moving over to this platform being choked.

I think Traxxas learned from that and offered two locations right off the jump. They also had the whole locking diffs and transmission shifting well sorted in their lineup before the TRX-4 debuted.

I really feel that the Ascender was a head of it's time and perhaps we didn't even know it. Or most of us didn't anyway, myself included.

And now, the electronics. Again, trying to stay as period correct as possible.

So why is there two RX/TX combos here. Well, when I opened up the MX-V it had an exploded battery in it

Thankfully the damage once I removed it was minimal; That was a close one!

Yes!

I really wanted to use this transmitter as it was what I was using in my Ascender back in the day and it has far more adjustment than the DX2e which are essential with this two speed transmission setup.

I've run into an issue that I am going to have to solve; the steering.

By moving the servo that has improved clearance around the links, but my steering geometry is off.

The steering link seems to me like it's too long. It appears the same part number is used throughout the various kits so I am not sure what I am missing here.
If I install it so the wheels are centered then the horn is off to one side and I lose a bunch of throw. I am going to have to find a shorter link I think.

I can't seem to find a complete manual for smallest wheelbase Ascender, but I looked at a video and a few images. To my eye it definitely looks shorter.

Using those photos of the Bronco I measured it using the diff cover as a reference. It's definitely shorter.
I measure the factory one on this K5 kit at around 38mm. Eyeballing it I need to drop around 5mm.

I went through my stash of parts and came up with a new plan.

I changed the rod ends to shorten up the link.

We shall see what the next problems are I encounter!

 

[CreepyQuarryCrawler]

Went down to the LHS yesterday.
Picked up an extension for the servo wire and a new servo horn. Gotta love my luck, last Vaterra one and it's the correct part

Got all that squared away. No interference and full throw.

On to the next thing, the rear u joint angle seemed really extreme. I picked up some spacers to make some adjustments.

The angle is perfect but the wheelbase isn't bang on now. I suppose I should have extended the uppers...

And for the last bit of "building" I have the shift servo to go. Trying to use the kit parts I was struggling to get it to work where the servo wasn't screaming at me.

I picked up one of these and have started to fab up my own link to see if I can fine tune this pain in the bum.

 

[CreepyQuarryCrawler]

I present Ol' Ranch Hand

Lids off to follow

 

[Doom!]

I present Ol' Ranch Hand

View attachment 262516

Lids off to follow

View attachment 262517

That just looks so right!

 

[CreepyQuarryCrawler]

Thanks Doom

 

[CertifiedMike]

I present Ol' Ranch Hand

View attachment 262516

Lids off to follow

View attachment 262517

I like that color! Looks good on a Ford.

 

[Lostinthewoods86]

That looks killer!

 

[CreepyQuarryCrawler]

Thanks guys!

Here's a quick vid

 

[CreepyQuarryCrawler]

I like that color! Looks good on a Ford.

Thanks Mike

I didn't know it, but I fell in love with this color on my Dads truck as a young lad.

I was going through photos in my DSLR this evening and found this gem

Update:

More photos - Lid off!

I managed to get the factory tray back in. I had to trim roughly 5mm off of it to get it back; it was contacting the servo.

You can also see by the close up that the V2 servo horn was necessary to fix the steering links from binding.

Electronics used:

Novak Eiger Pro ESC
Castle BEC
Savox steering servo
Hitec shift servo
Tekin brushed motor
Airtronics MX-V

Wheels/Tires
RC4WD XD Grenades 1.7
Pitbull Rockers 1.7
Cut S.S Pitbull foams

 

[CreepyQuarryCrawler]

Still working on trying to get the Blazer done; when you start crossing brands parts, things become a fun (or frustrating) puzzle.

So I wanted to put the brass weights back on the front axle, but we have HR front end parts and Vaterra weights.

First task was having my buddy open them up a bit on his lathe. He expressed it was a challenge due to the fact they are not perfectly round.

So now I can set them in place and get clearances

Hmmmmmmm

I can get the hex on but it will not rotate. It gets caught in the hole where the set screw to hold these on would have been used.

Next step is to take the rotor surface completely flat and remove that inner raised area. We'll try and leave the caliper detail in place as it has a lot of mass to it. I am hoping removing that 3mm ridge the hex will now clear.

Then some paint for added detail and I am thinking that will just help bond them on that little amount they'll need to stay put.

Trial and error, ya know?

 

[CertifiedMike]

Still working on trying to get the Blazer done; when you start crossing brands parts, things become a fun (or frustrating) puzzle.

So I wanted to put the brass weights back on the front axle, but we have HR front end parts and Vaterra weights.

First task was having my buddy open them up a bit on his lathe. He expressed it was a challenge due to the fact they are not perfectly round.

So now I can set them in place and get clearances

View attachment 267438

Hmmmmmmm

View attachment 267439

I can get the hex on but it will not rotate. It gets caught in the hole where the set screw to hold these on would have been used.

Next step is to take the rotor surface completely flat and remove that inner raised area. We'll try and leave the caliper detail in place as it has a lot of mass to it. I am hoping but removing that 3mm ridge the hex will now clear.

Then some paint for added detail and I am thinking that will just help bond them on that little amount they'll need to stay put.

Trial and error, ya know?

I need a magic machinist elf friend to come fix the stuff in my shop too!

Your set up looks pretty nice! I hope the elves figure out a way to make things spin right too!

 

[CreepyQuarryCrawler]

I need a magic machinist elf friend to come fix the stuff in my shop too!

Your set up looks pretty nice! I hope the elves figure out a way to make things spin right too!

Thanks Mike!

He's been a life saver! I highly recommend the make a wish program, check out their "Meeting Machinist" wiki page.

Seriously though, the amount of machine work he has done for me probably would have cost me a thousand bucks at someone elses shop.

 

[CreepyQuarryCrawler]

Finally getting back to working on ye ole truck.

My friend did an excellent job machining these bad boys!

I said if he had to take the calipers out
it was okay, he managed to machine the raised surface but left the caliper details

Test fitting

Time to move on to painting.
First step is painting them grey.

Setting up a tiny weight bench

Once those dry over the weekend I will paint the caliper portion red and get them on the truck for the last time. Weeeee

Update April 1 2026

Finally wrapping up the brass rotors

For now I am going to rock the factory Swampers. Two reasons, hobby budget is at zero currently and I need this off the bench.
I feel like it's been on the stand for months.

Glad to have it done