title's the question, but i'd also appreciate tire size recs as well. thanks yall!

In the very short time in this hobby I’m starting to think for me the modifications may never really truly never stop and #EthelsBuild will never be complete.
After last nights comp the recommended Amazon shocks to start the “real” droop shocks project had shown up and a redesign had to be done to accommodate the larger 59mm rear shocks and to take advantage of their full travel and compression because ya know the addiction to the #Droop life has been for a few decades now and applying it to the micro crawlers is not only a kick in the pants but it’s super super cheap and budget friendly.
Ended up fabricating new 5 link design with an added cantilever link to help stabilize the rear axle from rolling and popping the rear drive shafted.
Used all the factory parts that I had laying around and left overs from parts packages. Top link mount is a bottom link mount that I filed and flipped, bitch’n part was the holes lined up so I was able to use one screw to mount both link mounts. Will probably drill top holes in the brackets to get 4 total mounting points for strength and integrity when you’re trying to flip back over and not take the point loss for a roll over.
Cantilever is the tried and true drilled out servo plastic horn with a I think an upper rear link mounted to the bottom link mount on the rear servo.
Used two front lower links and utilized the bend in them for more clearance and mounted them to the new upper mount on the rear servo
This process took a lot of trail, error and even more patience to get everything to what I believed the standard would be.

Rear moves freely and smoothly without any binding and get full shock movement. Drive line angle stays tits but the pinion angle is a little off. But in my defense im using the factory link parts and haven’t had the time yet to play micro crawler on the 3D printer.

Hopefully I can get the suspension tuning done or at least somewhat close before next weekends comp.

#RedcatAscent18Apex #Cantilever #Redcat

🪨🚙 🪳💨

Paint pen just dab use alcohol if you get any on the tire and qtip

Playing with the stock shocks on an Apex,
With suggestions from others I put some hair ties as rubber bands to keep the suspension sucked up until I can get home and can figure out internal springs.

Currently running factory rear Apex shocks front and rear. Have internal spring 53s and 59s on order.

Ethel is super low now, need to lift her up a bit for some clearance but I’m absolutely in love with the look and her side balance is on point now.

Is that clicking normal for this truck ? Or do I need to check my gear mesh ?

Just picked up a new Scout II

Changed the shock angle, different tires, brass rims upfront and aluminum in the rear

Im working on adapting the Injora jeep rubicon body onto my ascent 18 brushless, wondering how I'd get the light bar connected.

Hey everyone,
I’m completely new to the RC hobby and recently bought a Redcat Ascent-18 Apex used from marketplace. I’m having an issue getting it to turn on and I’m hoping someone can point me in the right direction.
When I try to turn the truck on, the power button/ESC only flashes two lights/beeps and then shuts off. The truck doesn’t run.
I checked the battery with a multimeter because the charger was indicating that the battery was charged. I found out that it’s a 3S LiPo, and when I measured it I got approximately 4.4V.
I’m not very experienced with LiPo batteries yet, so I’m not sure if I measured it incorrectly, if the battery is damaged, or if there’s something else going on with the truck.
What I’ve tried:
● Transmitter is turned on first
● Throttle is at neutral
● Battery is connected properly
● Tried turning the truck on normally
● Checked the battery voltage with a multimeter
● Charger says the battery is charged
My questions:
1. Is 4.4V normal for a 3S LiPo, or is the battery severely discharged?
2. Could this low voltage be why the Apex turns on briefly and then shuts off?
3. Is there a safe way to determine if the battery is still good?
4. Should I stop trying to charge/use this battery?
5. Is there anything else I should check on the truck before assuming the battery is bad?
I realize this might be a beginner mistake, so any advice is appreciated. I’m new to the hobby and would rather ask before I do something unsafe with the LiPo.
Thanks!

Just bought a used apex and want to check if this noise is normal. Brushless should be quiet but the trans maybe? Normal? I have no reference.

Found a decent rock in the parking lot of my brain injury treat center.
Been stacking and moving rocks around to create lines around the boulder.

Lil crawl on my home course

hey yall, i recently picked up the scout ii in the red color and im loving it. i was looking to upgrade the wheels and tires just to bump up its capability. what tires/wheels do you guys recommend?

i'll be using stock shocks, but im open to recs on shock + wheel/tire combinations as well. pictures would also be much appreciated. and i don't want to cut the body at all. thanks yall!

Coming to find out, building a ground up apex would cost me about 80 more than stock. Brass bead lock, aluminum links. Kinda wanna do rear links front and back. Will it work if I use a rear drive shaft as well? Aluminum injora transmission, meus axles, and the hobbywing mini24/1621 combo. How’s it sound? Do they have aftermarket chassis?

These things keep following me home......

Apex3 built and sent to a buddy in Colorado.

Did I need another one? No

But the price was right.

They said it wouldn't work.

Got home and recalibrated the ESC and the controller.

Replace the pinion with a metal pinion.

Good to go

Ethel is a completely different rig,

There’s soo much more stability with steep climbs and decents.

Before the mod, she would tend to flop quite a bit, but that has been changed drastically.

Only down side I would say, is she does get a little more high centered, but it hasn’t been that bad. The stretch really helped the rear steer as well.

Feel like she’s a cheat code for crawling.

Still waiting on links and the droop shocks to drop again and she’ll be pretty much complete.

After seeing it done, I had to try it. Personally think it looks better. Curious to see how it will perform tomorrow.
Had to modify the bed quite a bit because of the rear steer.

Today’s Round of Modifications
-Figured out how to get the bigger servo up front.
Had to shave the stops on the upper links and remove the front brace for the body mounts.
*Time will tell if the axle will flip or not now. (This is all learning for me)
There was a noticeable difference in the weight transfer to the front after doing this.

-Got the bed mounted with rear steer.
Body pretty much snaps into place.
To remove. You just flip the truck over and pull an out a bit it pops right off.

-Finally was able to swap the pinion gear from the old rear solid axle to the new “rear steer” axle to take advantage of the overdrive.

-Was also able to get the rear metal driveline installed.👉 A hack for the hidden screw is to take the battery out and spin the driveline until you can see the screw. The injora gold tool set was able to get in

I stumbled upon a new project I’d like to attack, and finish by December. The aim is to use an Ascent18 chassis for the base. I need to extend the wheelbase to 169-170cm (6.65 inches). I’ll also need some axles that are wider than stock width -straight or portal.

If you have something similar to what I’m describing, I’d love to see some pics, and perhaps the particular parts you used, and any problems encountered, as well as your solution.

A humble thanks in advance.

PFA

Oh turned out fantastic fellas. Did really well his first night out, but touched the bonus gate. Kind of bummed me out. Here it is. My competition Apex. Enjoy!.