Caster Racing EX1.5

[ADW]

Did your Caster ex1.5R (RTR) come with threaded shocks as standard?

[RCRacing88]

Originally Posted by ADW

Did your Caster ex1.5R (RTR) come with threaded shocks as standard?

This isnt the 1.5r, just the 1.5, its the RTR and yes, it comes with threaded body shocks

[ADW]

I have the ZX1.5r RTR. Its a very durable kit. Here is me doing a few laps at home made track.

http://www.youtube.com/user/jaysminicam

[RCRacing88]

A little rich on the high speed, but nice driving and nice track!

If only I had some astro turf to create a minimal maintenance track

[RCRacing88]

Everything is still going strong with the caster buggy.

I took it out today for some speed runs up and down the road outside of my house, impressed some small kids, got some good runs and had fun chasing cars.

I'm more than satisfied with how it performs messing around on grass and small jumps, i'm just very keen to see how it will perform at the track!

The battery issue has been resolved and now the buggy is pretty hard to roll at all with the new layout.

If you haven't seen the video of it yet... check it out: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wKtTp6TMx4U

and stay tuned for some more vids, updates, and thoughts on the kit.

Cheers

[RCRacing88]

Today I had a little miss hap with the caster...

I was doing some 4-6ft jumps on grass with the caster and it nose dived in the the ground, and then went into a forward roll for about 10 feet.

Which resulted in this:



Which later led to this:



What happened was, the battery shifted right into the spur gear on impact. The reason being is that I had to cut the battery tray to hold my lipo. Plus it didnt help that the trays are so freakin close to the spur!!!



Small wooden block, sized and placed so it acts as a wall to stop the battery moving to the spur again. Solid oak wood, held down by a single screw from the bottom of the chassis.

Anyway, Fixed that, now onto the next thing.

A rather perculiar miss hap this time, the center -> rear dog bone fell out. Went to place it back in, and it apears to be 10mm too short. so I put a peice of fuel tubing around 5mm in each of the outdrives to centre the dog bone. Used for another pack after this and seems to be holding up well. Perhaps I lost spacers from inside or something but this is mighty strange.



Next occurance, front left CVD drive pin comes loose! What ever next.

Luckily it didn't fall out completely otherwise I would have been completely screwed but it was lying on the ground next to the stalled caster :/

Took both the front axles apart, re-applied thread lock and away I went.

The rear don't have the CVD cups, they just use out-drives and dog bones.

In an attempt to cool this super hot motor...



Surprisingly stable, and doesn't move about but... and this is a big but. It doesn't help at all, in-fact it's probably worse than using the tiny heat sink and amazingly slow fan. If the fan was faster on the heat-sinked one, perhaps it would help a little.

Top shot of the chassis:



View of the underside:



Thanks, and hope your finding this useful

[RCRacing88]

Got some more video footage

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fWPwlAaMTPg

[audriusv]

Nice! I am with Caster Fusion EX-1.5R Pro second season. No big problems at all and I can keep up with fastest guys on the track easily. If I only could drive as good as my Caster buggy holds up

[RCRacing88]

Originally Posted by audriusv

Nice! I am with Caster Fusion EX-1.5R Pro second season. No big problems at all and I can keep up with fastest guys on the track easily. If I only could drive as good as my Caster buggy holds up

Wicked mate

They are great buggies when it comes to speed and precision!

[RCRacing88]

New Shell!

Picked this up from FWM this morning along with a few other bits...

Painted myself Nothinng special but I think it stands out which is all that matters when your on the drivers stand!









And of course I added some graphics bat decals xD

I have had a little change around with the electronics... Let's just say, Me and stock motor's don't get on and I had another fry up for afternoon brunch

A tekin motor will be powering this thing in no time at all and all will be good

I will most likely choose the 1900kv tekin motor though this will no doubt change depending on the mood i'm in when deciding for the final time. lol



So I did say I had a little change around, and this wasn't just the motor situation. I have chosen to stick with the single 4s pack. It seem to be working well whilst still being more than reasonably balanced. I have now moved the MM ESC down into the other battery tray which is currently only holding my ESC switch. I haven't tried it with this setup yet but i'm sure it will even the weight out a little more.



To be continued...

[RCRacing88]

...Continued

I also picked up some mugen arms from FWM.

They fitted right on without any hassle and although they have a slightly different design they do feel allot more sturdy!



I did have a little clean up whilst I have the thing partially apart. here's a view from above.





Another thing I picked up today was a set of rubber driveshaft boots from FWM for the caster.



Now I have never used driveshaft boots before so I have no idea whether they will stay on or what I have to do but i'm sure someone will correct me if I have made a mistake.

More updates to come soon

[Andy P]

I am running the EX1.5r and enjoying the car very capable.

You mentioned the drive shaft boots I am using these on the back of the car and they work well on the back and save filling the CVD with sand when running on Astro. After each run I just check they are pushed on ok. Just a note these boots do not fit the new Caster drive shafts with the smaller cups caster do not do an alternative for these shafts but apparently some team durango boots do i am waiting to receive a set of these.

I have had the same issue with the front lower arms broke one the same as you and managed to pull the pin ball from the lower arm. In both cases bad landings on a dirt track. I have had no issues with the car on the Astro. I have had these arms in the pan for a 1 hour simmer to softern them up. Were the arms you used MBX5 or 6? Also caster do a softer set of front arms not tried these.

The plastic part you have broken that aligns the front diff the 1.5r one is 7075 ali and i have had no issue with it.

As far as 74mm motor goes i have one sensored in my ex1.5r and it fits no problem.

I have had some issues with shells i would recommend slotting your holes because the flex in the chassis can split the shell.

One issue related to parts I am having is the upper hinge pins i bought a set as spare put they are to long spoken to the supplier and they have no record of the shorter pins on the EX1.5r so it looks like i will have to cut down the ones i have.

[RCRacing88]

Okay, nice to know about the boots!

I used the MBX5R Arms and they were a direct fit.

Yeah that's the one, I will get one of those soon, definitely upgrade to an ali one

What 74mm motor are you running?

A couple of people have suggested slotting the shell... I guess it's just a flexy chassis even with the ali braces?

That's not good! ahh...

Thanks for your information mate

[RCRacing88]

Originally Posted by Andy P

As far as 74mm motor goes i have one sensored in my ex1.5r and it fits no problem.

What I need to know is whether the EX1.5 motor mount is the exact same as the 1.5R because I dont want to buy a motor that doesn't fit!

I'm looking to buy the tekin 1900 which is 71mm long, which is within dimensions on the kit, and 42mm in diameter. which looks like it should fit

[jasonwipf]

Originally Posted by RCRacing88

If you haven't seen the video of it yet... check it out: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wKtTp6TMx4U

Very nice video production for a back yard bashing session. Good job man!

[jasonwipf]

The mugen arms you show in that pic are upside down btw. Not a biggie it wont really matter.

I used to put mbx 6 arms on my mbx5 so you should actually be able to use mbx6 arms if you want, they are easier to get and have thicker plastic up front on the hinge pin than the mbx5 arms.

You should like the 1900 motor it will stay much cooler. (I race with that motor) If the gear ratio on that caster is like its counter part mugens 13-16T pinions should be your range.

Be sure on the booties they are a tight seal. Its only as good as the seal otherwise any dirt that gets in is destine to be tossed around in there till its ground up into dust wearing your joints even more. Are you guys oil/greasing your cva joints or running them dry with or without the boots?

[Andy P]

I have been running the Hobbywing 4274 and it measures as it says on the tin 74mm long and i have about 3mm space from the steering parts.

The mount is different on the 1.5r it is all ali without the cut out. best thing to do is measure the space you have got it looks from the pics that the 1.5 you have has the revised top plate which pulls the steering parts forward a bit.

As far as chassis flex yep even with the ali supports it will flex. Some drivers like a bit of chassis flex some do not. if you want to get rid of the flex check out

http://www.diggitydesigns.com/D3_Cas...UpperDeck.html

I have this on one of my cars and it is ace at stiffening the whole thing up and looks the dogs

As far as lubing drive shaft CVDs with boots, i have been using spray grease which is quite light but like you say if dirt gets in can form a nice grinding paste and kill the drives.

[RCRacing88]

Originally Posted by jasonwipf

Very nice video production for a back yard bashing session. Good job man!

Thanks mate

[RCRacing88]

Originally Posted by jasonwipf

The mugen arms you show in that pic are upside down btw. Not a biggie it wont really matter.

I used to put mbx 6 arms on my mbx5 so you should actually be able to use mbx6 arms if you want, they are easier to get and have thicker plastic up front on the hinge pin than the mbx5 arms.

You should like the 1900 motor it will stay much cooler. (I race with that motor) If the gear ratio on that caster is like its counter part mugens 13-16T pinions should be your range.

Be sure on the booties they are a tight seal. Its only as good as the seal otherwise any dirt that gets in is destine to be tossed around in there till its ground up into dust wearing your joints even more. Are you guys oil/greasing your cva joints or running them dry with or without the boots?

Yeah, Can't wait to get the tekin motor will be ace!

Ahh I just noticed that too! HAHA I will swap them over sometime he he

yeah I was planning on using tiny cable ties to wrap around the boots and keep them tight as from what i can see they won't stay on.

I'll be running dry with boots

[RCRacing88]

Should be picking up the new Tekin motor tomorrow, fitting it up, wiring and testing.

Wish me luck!

Pictures will shortly follow (hopefully)