New cages

[latemodel13]

What is going on with the new cages. I have ran custom works sprint cars for a while and since the new cages have arrived they are breaking alot easier than the older ones. I have broke two in notime and saw another break on a very lite hit sat. night. Is the material different and are you aware of this problem. Thanks Stan

[Dobmeier_racing13]

Its called there way of making more money!



Bryan

[lloyd tiger]

hey just wondering whats the temp at the track? the colder it is the easyer it is to brake them. just my two cents.

[latemodel13]

It has been no colder than it has been in the last few years i ran my older cages and never broke them!

[Arnie Fie]

The material is the same as it always has been. If it is cold where you are racing the plastic will be "tighter" and tend to not take as big a hit. Also if you have bought a cage recently the material is fresh out of the molding machine, which means it does not have alot of moisture back in the material. It is a good idea to boil the cage pieces in water to force the moisture back in. This alone will help with shock and flexibility and is a good idea for most plastic parts. We are able to do the suspension parts this way easily, next to impossible to do all the cages however.

[Matt10]

When you get your new cage try putting it in hot water first this seams to make them a little more flexible.

[latemodel13]

OK My friend dyed his and it wasn't any better. It snapped first night racing. The older cages i could bend them double and they were very flexible. I am not a newbie to rc racing allthough i may drive like it. I have broke my share of cages but the new ones i have bought are breaking at an alarming rate. We race indoors in a heated building that's around 70 degrees. Maybe i need to heat the car up to around 200 degrees and then they may not break.

[races65]

Stan-
Put your cage in a big zip lock bag with a couple ounces of distilled wated. Leave it in there a week. Make sure you seal the bag.

[jenzorace]

I leave the 2 screws out of the front. So it gives a lil when i rear end people. Ya that happens when you own a custom works, There so fast..

[testing12]

if you take an old cage and compare it with a new cage there is no question as to the flexibility difference. the older cages, boiled soaked salted marinaded and whatever other voodoo you perform on the cage, are still softer. it may be the same material but something changed .maybe the way you are cooling them? if they are "shock cooled" they are going to be brittle, thats just the nature of heat treating. i too am not very happy about spending 60 on a PLASTIC cage just to have it break when the first person on the track bumps it.
i will only run the cages i have left from custom works till i switch over to the Dynotech cage that chad makes.

[races65]

if you take an old cage and compare it with a new cage there is no question as to the flexibility difference. the older cages, boiled soaked salted marinaded and whatever other voodoo you perform on the cage, are still softer. it may be the same material but something changed .maybe the way you are cooling them? if they are "shock cooled" they are going to be brittle, thats just the nature of heat treating. i too am not very happy about spending 60 on a PLASTIC cage just to have it break when the first person on the track bumps it.
i will only run the cages i have left from custom works till i switch over to the Dynotech cage that chad makes.

No disrespect whatsoever to Dynotech cages, but they break also.

[Custom Works RC]

When you say "older cages" how far back are you refering too. If you are talking over 4 years ago than yes, the material is different. The material that we used to use back then was no longer available unless we bought enough to last about 8 years. This material is the same in all aspects regarding the engineering data except for a few minor differences. If you have a cage that is over 4 years old it will be more flexible than the newer material. Aside from that I can not give you any better explanation besides what has allready been mentioned.

Rob Cutman

[mikejhs82]

I must agree the new cages are way to brittle. This is definitely an area that need to be looked into. The cages I think these guys are referring to is a more yellowish nylon color..not the white opaque plastic. I thought mine were the cold..but if he is racing them inside a heated building and they are breaking.. this is something that needs addressed...

[axle wicker]

the new cages are like glass i broke mine first nite out from a little bump draft and i had the front screws out:(

[Fargo Flash]

For what it's worth...I broke 4 separate cage sides in a series of accidents earlier in the winter. (These were "new" white cages that had been heated and dyed black) I bought a new silver cage in December at Coopers....and it has held up fine for several nights of hard racing. So I would say the cages are more brittle than in earlier times (meaning years ago)....but I haven't seen any proof that the new colored cages are worse than the white ones available prior to December.

Colin Paetznick

[latemodel13]

Yes Rob, I understand now as it was probably 4 years or older. I will try some of the tips guys have mentioned like the distilled water tip. Thanks for your reply. By the way i have heard the dynotech cages break easily also. I guess i need the learn how to avoid crashes like phil and arnie do !!!

[dngrsdave]

I heard a rumor of a in car force field that will enclose your Sprint Car in a "Cocoon Like" indestructable shell to help prevent cage damage.The biggest drawback so far was the power supply needed to operate the device work's off 110 volts and the extension cord keep's getting in the way of other car's on the track - Dangerous Dave ;)

[races65]

Lol

[apurplez28]

It does not matter if you are in a heated building if the ground is frozen. At Roys we would start breaking more parts when it got cold because the track itself was frozen.

[kipp]

Its called there way of making more money!



Bryan
now that comment is rediculous. do we really need to bash? i have broken a couple cages myself but they were pretty hard hits. you do not have to buy a whole new cage kit. the cage side panels are available seperately for less then half the price.

[Doug Carter]

I don't mind breaking parts. It's part of racing.

I don't mind breaking cage parts. It comes with racing a sprint car.



What I do hate is having to buy individual pieces in white, then dying each new piece to match the rest of my car. It'd be really nice to be able to buy the colored cage pieces (or at least black and silver) individually.

Actually, I still want silver nerfs and bumpers on my black cage...





Oh, by the way, an great fix for broken cage parts is to cut the broken parts smooth and drill a hole in each end of the plastic with a #43 drill bit, and use the spare CW rear bumper turnbuckles to screw them back together. You may have to use some plastic #4 washers to take up the space lost when you cut the broken cage material away. Extra-long 4-40 set screws or very short ti-rods (like from a touring car) will also work great, and actually hold the broken cage together really well. The only place the fix doesn't work so well is on the corners of bends. :tire:

[brockh]

I don't mind breaking parts. It's part of racing.

I don't mind breaking cage parts. It comes with racing a sprint car.



What I do hate is having to buy individual pieces in white, then dying each new piece to match the rest of my car. It'd be really nice to be able to buy the colored cage pieces (or at least black and silver) individually.

Actually, I still want silver nerfs and bumpers on my black cage...





Oh, by the way, an great fix for broken cage parts is to cut the broken parts smooth and drill a hole in each end of the plastic with a #43 drill bit, and use the spare CW rear bumper turnbuckles to screw them back together. You may have to use some plastic #4 washers to take up the space lost when you cut the broken cage material away. Extra-long 4-40 set screws or very short ti-rods (like from a touring car) will also work great, and actually hold the broken cage together really well. The only place the fix doesn't work so well is on the corners of bends. :tire:

that method works ok when you have one break...at bumps and jumps the cages don't tend to "break" they for some reason like to "shatter" you go back to the tech area with about 15 more pieces you went to the track with. all the turnbuckles and shoogoo don't seem to help in cases like this :)

[ctsieber]

Exactly. I'm on my 3rd cage since december. I'm really getting sick of buying new ones. at bumps and jumps you dont break just one side of the cage, you break both sides and the front bumps. Both of mine broke right where the screw is to hold the front bumper on.

that method works ok when you have one break...at bumps and jumps the cages don't tend to "break" they for some reason like to "shatter" you go back to the tech area with about 15 more pieces you went to the track with. all the turnbuckles and shoogoo don't seem to help in cases like this :)

[loopedout]

all the cages at our track are holding up nicely, seem a couple of broken bumpers and one nerf bar, ive been through one front bumper and a rear. and been in some nasty crashes, now front a arms on the other hand, they are like glass lol. my car got about 4 ft of air today and landed no problem. my new bumpers that are straight out of the package seem to be more durable than the dyed ones that were on there. But we figured out that if we stop slamming into each other we dont break stuff and go faster:D

[Brinks Speedway]

When you say "older cages" how far back are you refering too. If you are talking over 4 years ago than yes, the material is different. The material that we used to use back then was no longer available unless we bought enough to last about 8 years. This material is the same in all aspects regarding the engineering data except for a few minor differences. If you have a cage that is over 4 years old it will be more flexible than the newer material. Aside from that I can not give you any better explanation besides what has allready been mentioned.

Rob Cutman

Rob,

When you say you would have to buy enough to last "8 years". Whats wrong with that? I hope you plan on the sprint cars and cages to still be in production?


scott

[Rob Cutman]

When you say you would have to buy enough to last "8 years". Whats wrong with that? I hope you plan on the sprint cars and cages to still be in production?


scott

Scott,
Obviously we plan to be producing sprint cars and cages in the future. What's wrong with that is the word "BUY" right before "enough to last 8 years".
Thanks to those record profits being reported by the oil companies these days these materials as well as lexan, rubber and any other oil based products are not getting any cheaper. As mentioned earlier this material has not changed in 4 years now. It seems that in the winter time is when we tend to see more people breaking stuff because of the colder temperatures. I raced all summer long with my GSX Enforcer and broke nothing, but my first heat at the open wheel race I broke the front of my cage in a relatively light hit. No where near as hard as some of the hits I had during the summer.
For the record the colored cages are exactly the same material as the white ones. Please dont think these complaints are falling on deaf ears. We will reevaluate this material the next time we make a run of cages. If there is a better material at an acceptable price we will no doubt make a change. It is a constant balance between price and quality when it comes to things like this. My goal is to make these cages cheaper in the future, not more expensive.

Rob Cutman
Custom Works

[races65]

Rob-
Look into High Density Polyethelene (HDPE).

Should be cheaper than Nylon 6 by 20-30 cents per pound.

[davisg]

I just broke mine it was new and the whole front is gone bumper and both sides. What about making a metal one, or would that be to expensive?

[mikejhs82]

I hate to compare,but the Dynotech cages being offered "APPEAR" to be of the more flexible material like your old cages.I dont know where or how they got it,..but it may be an outlet worth looking into..???

[axle wicker]

i agree and i havent seen as many break as the cw ones have

[Matt10]

I think Rob is right I live in Fl. and had some pretty hard hits this weekend with a new black cage and I broke the bumper bolts and not the cage, and I have all the bolts in my cage.

[MWMOTORSPORTS21]

I also have some Dynotech nerf bars and the material they seem to be made from appears more flexible. I haven't had any continuing bad experinces with my stock CW cages but they all break sooner or later no matter who you are or how you drive. The cold definately increases the risk of breakage as I have seen at Bumps so far this winter. I expect to see a lot of broken cage parts this weekend. I hope it's not mine.

[rcer2b]

I'm here looking to buy a sprint but it looks like I might have to take another look at the cars on the market. Thought of buying a CW sprint cause of part availability but from what I hear here the cage needs some updating to fit the rest of the car.(durability) I ran a CW sprint the the past & the cage then (earily 2000) was more like a nylon the new cage seems more like a plastic hanger material.. They need to get more flex in the cage like most everyone here is saying. I really don't think boiling it will help, it is just different material.
Bring back the old material and have a great car again.

[rj14]

I have been through 3 cages since November, and lost count how many front bumpers I have busted.

Each one is MY OWN FAULT, each time you hit something, the cage gets weaker. I was going to wait until the weather gets warmer to buy a new cage. But realized I can't do that. Why? Because had I replaced my broken cage, I would not have broken my front shock tower.

Rob has to balance quality w/ affordability, he has been involved with this business for a very long time and I do not envy his position on having to deal with this on a daily basis. I don't care what anyone says, but I would rather break something plastic than something carbon fiber.

[merlynz1]

Hey all,
Here is my 2 cents worth:

I have been back into Rc Racing for about 8 months now after 13 years off. In my time off I have pulled a mini-rod, raced a full scale dirt oval car, and raced a 1/4 mile drag car. I know that it is very frustrating when parts do no hold up or preform like you think it should.

Parts break, patch it or replace it whatever it takes to get it out on the track and race. When you hit another racer or the wall whatever, something has got to give, if not the cage in time it will be something else. One of the guys had a speed gun at the track last week, and at those kind of speeds stuff will happen. Run your vehicle that you drive to the track into a wall or another car at 20 mph+ and see what kind of damage you have...lol

This is what I have learned since I have been back racing. I have broken cage parts, and yeah I know it sucks and it can get somewhat spendy. When I first started back racing the GBX Enforcer I had at the time I struggled and still do now, but at that time I would get pissed after breaking in a heat and the car would sit. I have told Scott at Brink's Speedway that I would scratch and that 's when I would get his version of a pep talk, "Bull S**T, people have parts fix it and get it out there and race!" And he was right, it was stupid on my part to put the time, money and effort into the car to have it sit on race day over a broken piece of plastic. It is a little different now I run a DD car not as many people have them at the track but if I can I will get it out there.

I do have faith in the Custom Works team, they have been reading these posts and giving some feedback. I believe that if there is a way they will take care of the cage issue. I don't think that the cage issue should turn anybody away from getting a CW Enforcer they are a nice piece. Both of my Enforcers were used so I know that I may not have had the same issues over the cages as other fellow racers but I have broke them, but it didn't steer me away from calling Charlie up at Tea's to have him save me the GSX he has on hand (my first new kit in 13 years lol).

I have flapped my jaw long enough,
Thank you for taking the time to read my 2 cents worth.
Chad Cutsforth
Fort Atkinson, Iowa

[krisbracin]

I have 1 question...what about pink cages for us gals?? :D