Caster SK10 Pro. Any other Casterites out there?

[SamRCRacing]

The mains differences are:
-Spring clipped cvd's
-New slipper for adjustments while in the car
-Bigger bore shocks
-New geometry Ally hubs and turnbuckle holders
-I think new wheel hex's too!

All improve the car over the v2, and around the same price.

Sam

[V6Jim]

Heading off to the Lancashire Dirt Arena tomorrow to give the Caster a good thrashing on their indoor dirt track.

There will be an interesting mix of cars, including over 20 IC cars!

Could get messy... I'll let you know how it goes!

Jimmy

[braddock]

Hey people, seen this thread so thought I would add my bit. been running the new V3 pro since just before Christmas. Pete kindly ordered these direct, for me and 3 other guys down at the Maritime indoor track in Kent. Very pleased with the car now we have sorted a few niggly problems, biggest advantage over the V2 is the big bore shocks, much easier to set up, and seem more consistent, the oversized turnbuckle ball and plastic ends are much better, less likely to pop off. captive CVD are great, no hassle of pins coming out like the old model. and it's good now you can adjust the roll centre due to the turnbuckle mounts being on top rather than on the side! they basically have made a good car even better! also the new wheel hexes are an improvement, you still have to add grease to the pin to hold it in, but now there an enclosed pin, so more secure. I'll try and add some pics on here later.
lying second in the winter championship at the moment, so some good results, and getting quicker as I improve the setup. any questions fire away!
thanks for reading. Matt

[V6Jim]

Hi Matt!

Nice to hear there are some guys running the V3 in anger! I've had trouble with the new captured pin CVD's with the pin pushing through the capturing spring! Happened twice to me last night.

I think the problem may be caused by me using the old pin from the original CVD's. It seemed too short by a millimeter or two? (I'm running a V2).

The big bores look nice! You running stock springs?

Keep us up to date with how you''re doing and how you've set up the car. Let's see some pics!
Jimmy

[braddock]

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[braddock]

Hi Jimmy,

Think you could be right about the drive pin in the cvd, Me and the others havnt had any issues with this! The old pin is possibly moving enough to fall out of the cvd at one end then pushing through past the spring!

Another thing I forgot to mention, is the outer c hub hinge pins, are a bolt now instead of uba flimsy pins they used to use, also I think you can use these on the V2, as the wishbones are the same.

My setup is diffs 7000F 3000R. Shocks 500F 400R using the the stock white springs, trying to find which other springs will fit, but there bigger than most. also as you can see, using the plastic upper chassis supports to give a little flex, on the low grip indoor track! 1deg neg camber on the back with 3deg toe in. Front 1 deg neg camber and 1 deg toe out. Ride height 20mm back 19mm front with full droop.

The only disappointing thing is the shock towers, 3mm I think they would be better with 4mm. There fine most of the time but can bend with relative ease, after a small crash!!

Hope this is helpful to you and anyone else reading.
Matt

If anyone is interested I have my old V2 for sale on eBay. Open to offers..

[braddock]

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[V6Jim]

Nice to see your V3! Love those shocks....

Here's a quick (not so quick) rundown on my evening at the Lancashire Dirt Arena.

What a great venue! It's easily the biggest track I have ever driven on. Wide and flowing with a back straight I reckon to be about 40 - 50m long. The surface was a sandy loam that we all thought wouldn't hold up very well to a nights punishment - especially from the hoards of Eighth Nitro Buggies.



Triple jump in front of the drivers, small jump just after the switchbacks in the centre and a double just before you start to wind up for the straight. The switchbacks developed lovely berms as the night wore on and the jumps help up very well.

The dirt did get into everything though and the car probably weighed about half a kilo more at the end of the race than it did at the beginning!



The car went well when it was running, but it failed to finish 3 of the 4 qualifiers due to CVD failures and a broken rear swingarm. The CVD thing was my fault as I used pins that were too short, that's sorted now. The rear arm failure is also my fault as I'd modified it to lengthen the wheelbase. I'll not go into the details, but my modification worked, in as much as it improved the handling of the car, and failed, in that it weakened the arm.

All that dirt just brushed off, and I was amazed that none of the bearings were damaged and everything else seems fine.

After breaking the rear arm, I reverted to the stock setup and standard wheelbase and was amazed at how much worse the car felt! So, a longer wheelbase car works for me!

I've found a way to lengthen the wheelbase without weakening the rear arms. Just move the whole rear suspension assembly back 7mm!( It can be moved back without having to move the gearbox).

Easy with the front hinge pin bracket, but the back one isn't as easy. I've had to cobble together a chassis extension to carry the back bracket. Anyway, it's done and it feels solid, if not particularly pretty. My undertray will cover the back plate, so it shouldn't hank on the ground noticeably!





The car has probably reached it's full development now and is a million times better to drive now than it was when I first got it, and really look forward to returning to the LDA for the big race in March!

Jimmy

[KennyClark]

Sounds like another disaster Jim.
Surely time to ditch the Caster in favour of something that might finish a race?

[V6Jim]

The Caster stays for the time being. I like it, but also realize it's got it's foibles! The failures on Friday were all my doing.

Give it a chance, Kenny, you might be surprised...

Jimmy

[discothesnake]

I admire your enthusiasm for the car Jimmy but when you drive a few hours down the road to race you surely want a car that's gonna finish? Saying that, that track looks hard going on the 1/8th scale!

By the way, watch that homemade bracket on the back. If you catch that on something at speed it'll rip the rearend right off.

[V6Jim]

My undertray covers it OK. It was disappointing not to have a better night Dave, but when it was running it was fantastic fun.

Should be better next time. It'll have to be, a certain Mr Cragg will be there!
Jimmy

[discothesnake]

Ahh, didn't realise you ran an undertray.

[V6Jim]

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2611675279...84.m1423.l2649

Here's a link to Matts car on eBay. It looks like a bargain to me!

Matt,

What shell are you guys running on your V3's?

Jimmy

[braddock]

Hey Jimmy, 3 of the guys are running the New Cab forward shell, which comes with the kit, and I'm using the smooth yellow and red shell same as the one I'm selling. I prefer the smooth shell, bit old fashioned I know!!

How you getting on with the modded car?

Matt

[V6Jim]

Hi!
I reckon the cab forward shell supplied with the V3 has got to be one of the most hideous bodyshells ever created. Some of the cab forwards are growing on me, but I'm with you - prefer the more traditional shells.

I've designed a new, prettier, cab forward shell for Caster which may reach production later in the year. We'll see.

I've just spent some of this afternoon trying out different pistons, springs and roll centre settings. I like quite a lightly damped car, but I'm not sure the Caster likes being set up that way. Gets a bit twitchy! Fitted an alloy servo horn for the first time today. Can't believe what a difference that makes!

Practicing with it on Sunday....

Jimmy

[V6Jim]

Practice was fantastic!

The car is so stable now. Steering is positive and predictable. The car actually does like being quite softly damped at the back and fairly firm at the front.

Today was the first time I've really driven the car hard. Hard down the straight, bang on the brakes, turn in and bang, back on the throttle. No unpredictable slides under braking or under power. Wow!

Lookin' good!

Jimmy

[V6Jim]

Been a bit quiet for the Caster in the last few weeks. The demise of the Lancaster venue was a shame as I was really looking forward to it.

Anyway, first round of the Scottish Champs this weekend at the Dunfermline Club, and I have to say I'm really looking forward to it. Weather forecast is rubbish for the day which is a total bummer, so it looks like it's going to be a bit damp.

Never raced the car at this track before, so I've set it up pretty neutral. It's a mix of grass and astro (and mud, probably). Quite bumpy with no huge jumps.

So, a proper outdoor dirt track at last. Let's see how it goes!

Jimmy

[V6Jim]

Originally Posted by V6Jim

Been a bit quiet for the Caster in the last few weeks. The demise of the Lancaster venue was a shame as I was really looking forward to it.

Anyway, first round of the Scottish Champs this weekend at the Dunfermline Club, and I have to say I'm really looking forward to it. Weather forecast is rubbish for the day which is a total bummer, so it looks like it's going to be a bit damp.

Never raced the car at this track before, so I've set it up pretty neutral. It's a mix of grass and astro (and mud, probably). Quite bumpy with no huge jumps.

So, a proper outdoor dirt track at last. Let's see how it goes!

Jimmy

Been a while since I posted on here, so here's a quick update.

I have now run the car at three Scottish championship meetings. For the first two the car was pretty reliable and it was just my rusty thumbs that were to blame. (B Finals). My pace is improving all the time and I have to say the car is now lovely to drive.

Reliability is an issue though. It's probably the cars age that's causing the problems now, as I'm now starting to pop ball joints too easily. But the car is now super fast and handles bumpy tracks well.

45w front shock, 55wt rear.
10000 at front diff 2500 wt rear.
6.5 t motor and 22t pinion.

I know there are other Casters out their. Let's hear from you!

Jimmy.

[V6Jim]

Just back from Round 4 of the Scottish Championships at Stonehaven and a fairly good day has been had. Just failed to get into the A Final, but pace was decent and reliability was excellent!

Changing the weight of the diff fluids has made a huge difference to the car. The car has always been tail happy, but reducing rear diff fluid to 2500 from 5000 has helped stabilize the tail dramatically.

Three legs of the B Finals went 2nd, 3rd, 1st. Quite happy. Can I get this car into an A Final?

Perhaps not, but I'm enjoying trying!

Jimmy