vnmsgt

Well my friend brought over his Mugen MBX5T to compare and they are VERY similar. I cannot see anything that would make the Mugen better except for the carbon fiber radio tray and front suspension plate and also the hingepins are a bolt and nut which is good. I did notice that the hinge pin holders are all aluminum on the Caster and only 2 were aluminum and 2 plastic on the mugen. Other than that they looked just as good as one another and could not tell in any way that the caster cost me 360.00 less than the mugen.

Oasis TR

Check the front caster..The Mugen has less..The Caster is a Bit shorter also..about 1/4 of an inch..

savagedriver

The only real big difference in the truck is the drivetrain, It has non helical cut buggy ratio ring and pinions along with the Jammin crt style large(huge) 62/13 spur/Cb combo. The norm nowadays in the truggies are high(numerically) ratio diffs with the smaller spur/cb setups that allow the motors/center diffs to be moved in closer to the centerline of the chassis. All in all its a good truck and drives awesome especially the low speed steering.

vnmsgt

I heard it was a quarter inch shorter but only the chassis is but the wheelbase (front to back) is exactly the same. Mine was exactly the same as my friends mugen. Doesn't more caster make the car more stable at speed? and less caster make it have more steering response or the other way around.

Oasis TR

Yes your Correct on that..But at some point their is a trade off..As I have said most truggies on the market have between 18 degrees and 24 degrees of caster, The Caster has 34 degrees..just an opinion..but I think it's to much, hurts in the turning. Now add how far the angle the shocks are and you are going to have a very stable truggy on a blown out track..On the chassis the only way your Caster and your friends Mugen are the same is if he's running the rear hubs in the forward position and your running yours in the rear position..I am building another Caster small gear truggy but I'm using the shorter Mugen Chassis (well longer than the stock chassis)..I'm going to try a few different combos and see how the two compare..I am very close..but it needs more aggressive turn in..off power.

vnmsgt

Just took my Caster K8T to the track this morning with my friend and his mugen which the design is based off of and the truck is AMAZING! The Caster and the Mugen drove exactly the same (I drove the mugen too) and it is FAST especially with the Picco I have in it (Mugen had a Picco too). I would definitly consider this truck over my Hyper ST Pro which is great but feels heavy compared to it. The truck did have great off power steering and a slight push on power but I have not put diff fluids in it yet and it was the same as the mugen with diff fluids already in. The truck is ultra smooth just like my ST-RR and Hyper ST Pro. I think this truck so far is as good as the mugen. My friend even thought my caster turned better than his mugen!! Will change to diff fluids soon and see how much better it can get. Oh and also I tightened the servo saver spring all the way down and it does not have a problem steering anymore like it did during the break in. The truck is also Ultra stable in blown out sections of the track that are roughed up and holds a straight line right through them!

vnmsgt

Here is the NEW site for caster racing in the USA. They changed sites and this one will be the main site for ordering parts, info and also has there own Caster Forum.

[link]http://casterracingusa.com[/link]

vnmsgt

Did you get pics yet. I am doing my diffs now and looking for what to put in them for weights.

Also what diff fluids are you guys using?

Oasis TR

Right now I'm running 7000wt in the front, 10,000 in the center and 3000 in the rear..I have tried 20,000 in the center..not sure if I liked it much..lol..(I cant seem to find my log and I have made so many changes to this thing I cant seem to remember if i liked it or not..lol). For me the lighter oil in the front seemed to unload funny on acceleration plus the tires seemed to really unload (balloon) but 5000 or 7000 seem to work the best for me for the front, I like running the lighter diff oils in the rear so it takes away some of the rear traction..not so locked in..But 5,000, 10,000 and 3,000 is a good starting point.

rckiwi

I am running in diffs
Front 3000
Center 5000
Rear 1000

This seems to be working ok, but I mite try 5000 up front as well.

Oasis TR

that's what I run in a buggy..lol..Center Differential seems light..

Oasis TR

Heres some info on diff tunning..

Buggy and truggy front (Bumps): You also have to consider how the diff affects the handling through bumps. Lighter oils (3,000wt buggy, 7,000wt truggy) are better for bumpy conditions. If the oil is too heavy it will make the car want to change direction or oversteer in the rough or rhythm sections.

Center Differential
Buggy and truggy: Lighter center oils help the buggy or truck track straight while accelerating (3,000-5,000wt buggy; 7,000-10,000wt truck). Running lighter oils in the center has a negative effect on the acceleration. The lighter oil allows the power to be directed toward the front of the car and hamper acceleration out of corners. If you're having trouble clearing jumps that are out of a slow corner, that could be a sign that the center diff is too light, but for really bumpy sections having lighter oil in the center will allow the car to accelerate better and straighter.

Rear Differential
Buggy and truggy: I don't adjust the rear too often, and if I do it's usually only in 1000wt increments. Lighter oil in the rear diff gives the vehicle more off-power steering, but can make the car or truck feel inconsistent around the track, especially in long main events. The majority of the time I will use 2,000 and 3,000 in the rear diff in both buggy and truck.
What to do..
...the track is rutty:
Buggy: Try changing the center to a lighter setting first (3,000-5,000wt); if the car is changing directions out of a bumpy corner, try making the front lighter (3,000-4000wt).
Truck: Same as buggy but the diff setting to try for the front (7,000wt) and for the center 7,000-15,000wt.
...the track is loose and smooth:
Buggy and truggy: The best way I've found to increase traction with the diffs is to increase the oil weight in the rear diff slightly -3,000-5,000wt.
...if the track is loose and rutty:
Buggy: A "square" diff setup here helps -5,000wt front, 5,000wt center and 3,000-5,000wt rear.
Truck: Lighter center and front -7,000wt front, 10,000wt center.
...the track is blue groove:
Buggy: Most of the time I run between 5,000-7,000wt in the front, and 7,000-10,000wt center.
Truck: Most of the time on blue groove the cars and trucks on throttle turn-in good because of the weight transfer to front tires, but you lose some steering coming out of the turn. So to sacrifice some turn in for out of the corner steering and acceleration, a heavier front and center is better suited majority of the time -20,000wt front, 30,000-50,000wt center.
...the track is blue groove and rutty:
Buggy: I would normally just go lighter in the center, but not too light (5,000wt)
Truck: Since most trucks handle the bumps I wouldn't change the diff settings from the smooth blue groove setup.
... I want more steering entering the turn:
Buggy: Lighter front oil (3,000wt) and rear (1,000wt)
Truck: Lighter front oil (5,000-7,000wt) and rear (1,000-2,000wt)
...I want more steering exiting:
Buggy: Thicker front oil -5,000-10,000wt
Truck: Thicker front oil-10,000-20,000wt
...I want more acceleration out of a turn:
Buggy: Thicker center oil - 7,000-10,000
Truck: Thicker center oil - 20,000-50,000wt
...I want it to go better through a rough section:
Buggy: Use thinner oil for the center (3,000-4000wt) and thinner oil for the front as well (3,000wt).
Truck: Use thinner oil for the center (7,000-10,000wt) and thinner oil for the front as well (5,000-7,000wt).
...it pulls around too much through ruts:
Buggy and truck: Usually this happens because the oil in the front and center differentials is too thick; reduce weights.

Starting Point
All this is worth nothing if you don't have a starting point. These are starting weights for a variety of conditions that will be good at most tracks.
Conclusion
Once you understand the principal of how a diff works and how different weight oils slow the action you will be a master tuner in a few short days. This doesn't mean that dropping 1,000wt in the front will make you a better driver. Learning how to drive is something that has to be done before you can fine tune to get the car to behave like you want.

vnmsgt

Thanks for the info. I usually run 7 or 10 in front 20-30 in the center (found I like the thicker center fluids) and 3-5 in the rear on my stuff mostly.

madmax22

Thanks oasis! I have been trying to think about what wt oils i should put in. now i KNOW what to put in.

eirk66

so 550 for there website... any where else have these cheaper?

808rc/car

ill get some pics up tomorrow. i just got it all tunedup and the new body painted. so ill get em soom

clayton neal

Hey everybody Caster has a new forum that's ROCKING faster than this one anybody want tips etc. come on over to www.casterracingusa.com hope to see every one there. CASTER RACING LET"S DO IT IN 2008.

vnmsgt

It is actually on sale on that site for 450.00 now. [link]http://casterracingusa.com/product.php?productid=10&cat=0&page=1&featured[/link] It gives you a discount code to put in when you want it that takes 100.00 off of the price.

zigzag84

hi

I'm leave in France and i'm interresting to buy this Truggy.

Do you think, can i buy it in USA, and Shipping to France ?

Thank you

Bertrand

vnmsgt

Most places will ship worldwide. Go [link]http://casterracingusa.com[/link] and they should ship to you. There number is on top left side of the page if you want to call them or you can email them. If not go to [link]http://casterracing.com[/link] and they are outside the US and can ship to you.

zigzag84

Hi

It's ok !

I buy a Caster !! Thank you very much for fast response teamcasterracing.com !!!

vnmsgt

Did you buy the Truggy or the buggy? Post some pics when you get it in! If you got the KIT and NOT the RTR First thing you need to do is buy some tires and foams. The ones that come with it are huge and not good at all. The rims are fine, just replace the tires and foam.

mikeyzx

i am here too, well, it looks there is great things going here in this forum too ...

rckiwi

Hey Mikey good to see you here!

Bryan

mikeyzx

okay, the Kiwi bird....your goods are out already, we are looking forward to see some actions from you,

by the way, what is your latest web site man....