A question for the team drivers.

[hakmazter]

I have a couple of guys that I am talking to about being team drivers. Since I am not out there driving all the time and I don't get to see everything....since I am behind this stupid keyboard all the time.....lol.

I was asked what are the current problems if any with the Caster team vehicles. I had mentioned that we initially had shock tower and shock bladder problems that got solved and how Mikey sent us extras for customers and we replaced all of them for free. I also mentioned that vnmsgt was having a arm breakage issues with the truggy and Cam told him to replace the hinge pins and it seemed to be problem solved.

Is there anything else going on? I told them to read through the forums and see what all was going on....the first thing that came to mind was zigzag....and I was thinking this might be a bad idea.....lol. As you all know, we actually want our products to get better and we try our best to solve any problems. Maybe they were asking because they want to know what parts to stock up on? Or maybe they want to know how it is in reliability compared to other brands?

I would have to assume that team driver pricing is good compared to other brands....:)

Mike

[3pointX]

I know I'm not a team driver, but I do have one small suggestion, and that's to change the steering end links. I've had both sides snap on me already. The problem I think is that tehy're not solid like say the Associated or OFNA end links. The ones on my RTR anyway, have these two braces on either side of the turnbuckle, just behind the ball cup, with the end of the turnbuckle exposed in the middle. And that's right where tehy like to snap. A bad landing that catches one side just wrong is all it takes to make one pop. I just broke another one at the track tonight, in fact. I've replaced mine one at a time with some beefier ones and they hold up much better. That's my only suggestion. Everything else has held up just fine for me.

Keep up the good work.

[razzor]

i think on the Team kits captured hinge pin holders for inner and outer rear A-arms should be included.
A new design airfilter is needed as the std one touches the body and throttle linkage on the proline and Blitz bodies, Dont have that issue with the Hyper 8 filter.

[vnmsgt]

What you said Hak is exactly what I would have said for problems but let me add E-clip hinge pins. Need captured ones. Truggy arm breakage problems seem to be fixed so far going on 3 weeks now and still fine. Everything is solid as can be now. Also for some of the guys looking on here for team driver possibilities.... NO DIFF ISSUES!!! PARTS AVAILABILITY ALL YOU NEED, QUICK SHIPPING!!!

[BigC123]

Captured hinge pins no E clips 10mm screws for the Diff cases BB shocks, when they come in and the car will ROCK!!!
CASTER RACING #1 LET'S KICK SOME A$$ IN 2008 ?&^

[hakmazter]

Well, Cam and I had talked at length about on the team kit about 2 months ago, changing over to captured hinge pins, adding fluids, getting rid of the tires or body, and maybe changing some of the parts over to upgrade ones and trying to keep the costs the same. Looking around, it seems that the major players are doing more of that type of packaging (no body or tires) as most racers seem to like different bodies anyways and are sponsored by tire manufacturers anyways.

But what I have noticed is that a lot of you guys want to run EVERYTHING Caster. I just would like for a racer to be able to open a box and have the best we have available at a fair price. Makes life easier and simpler and creates a better reputation overall in my opinion.

[razzor]

I would think tyres is not necessary as its more a track specific item and rims is not a must as most guys buy premounted wheels.
Bodies is not a must as well but is a welcome part of the kit.
This goes doubly so for the Truggy.
The Team kits are pretty stout with all the ally toe, kick up and hinge pin holders.
Only other upgrades to be considered as std for Team kits is the front upper ally hinge pin holder and maybe the 3 piece engine mount.

[skeller]

Does the latest version of the buggy still have e-clips?

[razzor]

Yes they do at teh present time, captured hinge pins is a option part like most other brands.

[vnmsgt]

I would get rid of the wheels and tires, and add the hinge pins and captured steering turnbuckle rod ends.

[bc24fl]

Not to change the subject but what are the responsibilities and benefits of being a team driver?

[skeller]

Not to change the subject but what are the responsibilities and benefits of being a team driver?
I'm not speaking for Caster...just in general.....IMO.

Responsibilities...REPRESENT YOUR PROUDUCT WELL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Know you vehicle better than your name...as well as the company you work for and all they have to offer. Help people at the track...even if it gets into your "pit time". Good attitude goes ALONG WAY with people in person and online. Keep up with your race results and turn in no less than monthly reports to your team leader. Be honest about whatever your asked....but don't trash the product.(that's a fun one sometimes!)

There are many more...I'm just tired of typing now. :)

[bc24fl]

I'm not speaking for Caster...just in general.....IMO.

Responsibilities...REPRESENT YOUR PROUDUCT WELL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Know you vehicle better than your name...as well as the company you work for and all they have to offer. Help people at the track...even if it gets into your "pit time". Good attitude goes ALONG WAY with people in person and online. Keep up with your race results and turn in no less than monthly reports to your team leader. Be honest about whatever your asked....but don't trash the product.(that's a fun one sometimes!)

There are many more...I'm just tired of typing now. :)

ah ok, what about the benefits. From my little bit of reading it appears that the majority of rc team members (non champions) don't earn a physical check (at least enough to replace their jobs). That said I'll assume they get free parts/kit etc... Enough so they can enjoy their hobby at a significant discounted rate?

[hakmazter]

They get 1/2 off pricing for most sportsman classes and the prestige of saying they are a sponsored racer. Just think about it, you are probably doing all that anyways. We don't require any wins, etc....Just put the company in a positive light. If you are running around saying the product is junk or just being an ass "can't you see I'm busy, kid"...mentality, then I definitely wouldn't want you as a team member even if you were winning the roar points series. I can only assume that all manufacturers feel the same.

When we grow, we will make another level of sponsorship that will be even better, but there will be more responsibility. If you are lucky enough to be like Adam Drake or Paul Coleman, etc..... you would get paid a salary to drive hobby cars.

[razzor]

Representing a brand is a whole image.
Being freindly and approachable, helping others at the track no matter what they drive.
Being a standup sportsman that doesnt moan and grown about things but takes it as it comes and pushes harder to acheive results next time around.
To have decent driviing ability and setup knowledge.
Be the best example to other sfor the sport and have FUN !!!
The big picture is not how many guys you get to run your brand but how many poeple you can get into our great sport and help them get comfortable and enjoy the sport as much as you do.

[cold_reboot]

And chicks...they get all the chicks. Who am I kidding...my wife tells me I'm a dork and thinks I'm just playing with toys. If she wasn't so good looking I'd kick her out. Oh yeah, that and she makes 40 dollars an hour at work. Stay in school kids!

[lowlife88]

But on the other hand I have a wife that actually gets down and dirty and helps me clean cars/truggy's and do general maintenance as well glued an entire set of buggy tires with her 1" long nails still attached to her precious little hands. Not to mention she is my moral support and it seems to help me race just a little better. Oh, I forgot to mention she is also my camera and film crew. LOL Now I have her learning how to rebuild diffs and shocks. All of you that are jealous now,.......really consider including your better half into the sport/hobby that you love. You will find it more injoyable if she says "when we going to the track :D" other then "Oh, your going to the track again :mad:"

[hakmazter]

ok, we are going to have to have a Caster hotties thread.....

[lowlife88]

I'll and her to it!

[razzor]

My wife helps out to.
She pits for me at the track and helps out when i do bodies and clean up.
Also helps out with race control when needed.
Definately helps to have her involved in some way so know when i have a hassle or need something she doesnt complain but rather urges me on to get what i need :)

[cold_reboot]

My wife will never get involved, that much I can guarantee. She is in no way,shape or form, interested in any of this. When I go to the hobby shop she drops me off and go's to Target, thats how interested she is. When her brother calls me to ask me whats wrong with his truck, when his buddy sends me texts on the cell phone asking me whats wrong with his truck, when they bring thier trucks to the house and drop them off because something needs to be fixed....when a diff case needs silicone oil and you have to tear the truck down and they dont know what they're doing they bring it here...or when I visit here or RCU and talk about RC, driving them, racing them, fixing them. I'm a dork. I'm the mayor of Dorkdom. "How come you have to do everything to an extreme" is something I hear a lot. That and "Your a Dork".

[cold_reboot]

ok, we are going to have to have a Caster hotties thread.....


sounds like a plan! someone re-post the UPS girl that was on the front page for a while... i miss her :p

[vnmsgt]

My wife will never get involved, that much I can guarantee. She is in no way,shape or form, interested in any of this. When I go to the hobby shop she drops me off and go's to Target, thats how interested she is. When her brother calls me to ask me whats wrong with his truck, when his buddy sends me texts on the cell phone asking me whats wrong with his truck, when they bring thier trucks to the house and drop them off because something needs to be fixed....when a diff case needs silicone oil and you have to tear the truck down and they dont know what they're doing they bring it here...or when I visit here or RCU and talk about RC, driving them, racing them, fixing them. I'm a dork. I'm the mayor of Dorkdom. "How come you have to do everything to an extreme" is something I hear a lot. That and "Your a Dork".
Please stop seeing my wife!:&:&!@

Our wives must be twins. When I go to the hobby shop she drops me off to go to Target or Wal-mart. Hates when I am online or on RCU talking RC and says all this is and I quote "SO NERDY" and "A DORK". She has no interest to do anything, not even want to turn the water on so I can rinse my truck off!!!
:mad:

[hakmazter]

sounds like a plan! someone re-post the UPS girl that was on the front page for a while... i miss her :p

Me too, but rrmccabe says I can get sued for using it.....lol. I'll come up with something else....

[cold_reboot]

At least she doesn't give me hell when I'm at the kitchen counter sitting on a bar stool with a can of compressed air, a toothbrush and wheels scattered everywhere when I'm cleaning my trucks up. They also sit on thier respective boxes in the living room for lack of anywhere to put them right now. She's more concerned about the airplanes sitting in the entry way and the almost built kit airplane taking up her kitchen table. I did move two planes to the attic tho, an ME109 and a trainer I don't fly anymore. She hates those sitting around, they take up a lot of room, especially the 109, wingspan a little under 6 feet. She's pretty understanding about me enjoying it, just doesn't care anything about it. Guess if she had some hobby she loved doing she'd understand it more.

[rrmccabe]

Me too, but rrmccabe says I can get sued for using it.....lol. I'll come up with something else....

Does Trina like modeling?

LOL

[lowlife88]

Exactly!!!

[lowlife88]

Reboot,....I like that interesting little city you came up with (dorkdom)! LOL I don;t think I've ever heard of that place before. And to be truely honest, my wife was the same as ya'lls (remember I live in the south.. lol) then one day I guess she figured she would never win, especially when I got our kids involved. Now she ask's me "when are we cleaning the cars up?". She even made me my own little folder with all my set-up sheets and referece information. Next, I going to get her trained to where I can just set a car down in front of her and she will rebuild it for me......................?&^

[cold_reboot]

When my wife says "when are we cleaning up the cars" it actually means "when the hell are you going to get these out of my living room". It has nothing to do with dirt.

[lowlife88]

LOL

[3pointX]

Yeah I'll never get my wife into RC. She fights me tooth and nail when I try to get her to go with us to the track. I think she'd have fun with it if she tried it. I mean, she even fought me tooth and nail when I was trying to get her to go paintballing with me, and now she's part of the team, and she's actually pretty good when she wants to be lol. But she thinks RC is just a waste of time and money, a bunch of grown men playing with toys. Funny, she likes to play D&D but she thinks RC is stupid... I don't get it.

[lowlife88]

Now that is REALLY funny!!!

[Mayor Frithe]

Back to the topic of stuff that is wrong as the kit is supplied today.


Chassis motor mount holes are milled wrong. #1 problem...
Clutch bell bearing tolerance isn't tight enough. This kills the bearings and also makes the clutch bell rub on the flywheel.
Ring gears for f/r diffs aren't countersunk straight.
Best diff gaskets available should be in kit, not an option part.
Axles on all 4 corners are are too tight, will kill bearings and drive train isn't free enough.
Arms have quite a bit of slop. Should add set screw to rear arm mounts to keep hinge pin from moving.
Body isn't heavy enough lexan, will crack easy.
If a kit is going to be pre-built, be sure to locktite all metal to metal screws.
Front end is way bound up on delivery. Better off when assembling to leave about 4mm of threads showing.This is just a list of things without even running the car.

I am an experienced racer/mechanic and can handle these problems. However some one less skilled or pretty new might be a little disappointed in the car if driven straight out of the box.

[Mayor Frithe]

In addition to this, the 3 piece motor mount doesn't have any 4mm bolts. Just a small item that might be needed since not everyone has a supply of 4mm bolts...

[skeller]

Back to the topic of stuff that is wrong as the kit is supplied today.

Chassis motor mount holes are milled wrong. #1 problem...
Clutch bell bearing tolerance isn't tight enough. This kills the bearings and also makes the clutch bell rub on the flywheel.
Ring gears for f/r diffs aren't countersunk straight.
Best diff gaskets available should be in kit, not an option part.
Axles on all 4 corners are are too tight, will kill bearings and drive train isn't free enough.
Arms have quite a bit of slop. Should add set screw to rear arm mounts to keep hinge pin from moving.
Body isn't heavy enough lexan, will crack easy.
If a kit is going to be pre-built, be sure to locktite all metal to metal screws.
Front end is way bound up on delivery. Better off when assembling to leave about 4mm of threads showing.This is just a list of things without even running the car.

I am an experienced racer/mechanic and can handle these problems. However some one less skilled or pretty new might be a little disappointed in the car if driven straight out of the box.


I found these problems as well and talked with Cam and Mike about them as well. All except the arms and and the ring screws. I believe that most of the items you mentioned have already been corrected in the newest kits....I don't think we have the newest kits here yet.

My ring gear screw are straight...just not countersunk deep enough. Screw sticks out a little bit from flush. The drive train frees up alot after a couple of tanks....but I did find that the cvds on the rear had too much play in them. Front ones were good...just the rear were sloppy and would bind up at 1 spot.

[Mayor Frithe]

Yes, I am pretty new to the team, just thought I would list the problems I had so far and see if they were common. On my axles everything was too tight and one drive pin in the axle was drilled .5mm too close to the drive cup. I ground down the drive cup and finally got it to free up.

I don't think the ring gears not being drilled deep enough is a big issue, but it has been mentioned before, need longer screws... Mugen was the same way.

[YourDogg]

this doesnt have to do with the rc itself but parts for it. when you buy an accesory part that needs to be scrwed on to the body... the screws or whatever is used should be included. like if you buy a side guards, etc. it should come with whats needed to attach it to the rc.

[skeller]

Yes, I am pretty new to the team, just thought I would list the problems I had so far and see if they were common. On my axles everything was too tight and one drive pin in the axle was drilled .5mm too close to the drive cup. I ground down the drive cup and finally got it to free up.

I don't think the ring gears not being drilled deep enough is a big issue, but it has been mentioned before, need longer screws... Mugen was the same way.


I think I'm using 12mm Tony's screws in my diffs. The front cvds were jammed may up in the drive cup to start with....I think I backed out until 4-5 threads were showing on the bottom pillow ball and it was free from binding.

[bc24fl]

I'm not a team driver but I'll throw out a tidbit....

Software developers use changelog's to show what has been fixed and or replaced in the software. I think the same concept can be used in RC.

A good example is listed here:
http://www.php.net/ChangeLog-5.php

This can easily be maintained by one of the team drivers so not to cause more work to Cam / David / Mike , etc..

[YourDogg]

When my wife says "when are we cleaning up the cars" it actually means "when the hell are you going to get these out of my living room". It has nothing to do with dirt. it does have to do with dirt if you think about it... the rc is dirty in her living room so when she cleans its not the dirt off the rc but the dirt left by the rc.lol.

[Mayor Frithe]

I'm not a team driver but I'll throw out a tidbit....

Software developers use changelog's to show what has been fixed and or replaced in the software. I think the same concept can be used in RC.

A good example is listed here:
http://www.php.net/ChangeLog-5.php

This can easily be maintained by one of the team drivers so not to cause more work to Cam / David / Mike , etc..


I have actually been wanting to see this from Manufacturers for a long time. And they should go as far as putting a rev number on the box. That way you will know exactly what you need to do to get it back to the current release. Of course the price of the kit could be affected by this. But as long you could see exactly what needed to be changed, you could see what the price difference would be. And maybe the Manf. or Distributor could cut a good deal on the upgrades, especially if it is an important change.

[j_blaze14]

Back to the topic of stuff that is wrong as the kit is supplied today.


Chassis motor mount holes are milled wrong. #1 problem...
Clutch bell bearing tolerance isn't tight enough. This kills the bearings and also makes the clutch bell rub on the flywheel.
Ring gears for f/r diffs aren't countersunk straight.
Best diff gaskets available should be in kit, not an option part.
Axles on all 4 corners are are too tight, will kill bearings and drive train isn't free enough.
Arms have quite a bit of slop. Should add set screw to rear arm mounts to keep hinge pin from moving.
Body isn't heavy enough lexan, will crack easy.
If a kit is going to be pre-built, be sure to locktite all metal to metal screws.
Front end is way bound up on delivery. Better off when assembling to leave about 4mm of threads showing.

This is just a list of things without even running the car.

I am an experienced racer/mechanic and can handle these problems. However some one less skilled or pretty new might be a little disappointed in the car if driven straight out of the box.

yes, the clutchbells have a lot of play in them, i noticed that but have been running them anyways, chews up the shims then bearings, aha! the bodies are thin, a 1/4" bead of shoo goo around holes and tough spots helps a lot, leave the body and tires out but throw in a set of stock wheels at least.

clutchbells, captured hinge pins, wings cracking, diff screws and extra shims and correct gaskets and throw in a set of mud guards for the truggy too. a harder material pipe holder would be nice too, i've run out now, they all stripped from the top or bottom.

[vnmsgt]

stock clutch bell in kit I have seen 2 that are loose. I do run all Caster Clutch bells though and they are great. Never cracked a wing, you guys must be pretty rough. Do not like the stock wing anyways. Use longer diff screws. That is what I do and all is good. Yes I agree on the gaskets. If they are not needed do not put them in. Put the right ones in the kit. Pipe holder too is way to brittle. I broke all of mine. I use the one that looks like a spring from the Jammin pipes.

[Jonathan Bell]

I personally think the plastic for the diff cups is way to soft. I have tried using longer screws all the way to the bottom actually. It does ok until you take it apart a few times then its done. This has created all the problems I have had with the drivetrain components except the outdrive wear. The buggy the outdrive wear is great but with the truck, half gallon and there ready to replace. I have went to ae diff cups and internal gears and everything seems to be holding up fine. Bottom line:
Harder diff cups
harder metal used in ring gears, spur gear, outdrives. Everything thing else is great and I haven't broke a single plastic part yet in 5-6 gallon. :)

[slick4time]

im not a team driver but on my zx-1 the wing mount could use some more holes to get more down force