Caster/pinion angle?

[sixshooterstang]

How does the angle my pinion is at (caster) effect the handling of my crawler

[802coma]

Well Im not 100% on rc stuff but....in real scale usually you want your pinion in line with the driveshaft but we only get about 30 degrees out of ujoints before binding. Also setting up suspension you dont want the axle to roll at all through the suspension travel or you get some funky handling or sometimes increase the anti squat effect which is the vehicle unloading the suspension cause roll overs.

Now with some axle swaps people will have to cut the innner C's (Chubs is RC world) and rotate them to achieve correct pinion and caster angles. In real scale with a rig traveling high speed you want your caster to be 6* roughly to provide steering to naturally go straight. in off road applications you can have the C's 3-5* and be alright especially with good steering system.

In the Rc world I would say slightly tilted back. Youre gonna want the tire to change chamber through steering cycle, I would believe it would provide better stability when steering sharp.

[Charlie-III]

Pinion won't really change the handling on it's own provided you can change the caster angle separately.

Most will set a caster angle at ~mid suspension travel that they want, then "clock" the axle to get a better pinion/driveshaft angle.

Some axles require modding to be able to set each item on their own.

If the axle is such that you can't make separate changes, then you have to deal with a compromise.

Ideal caster is the top c-hub back a bit from the axle centerline with the driveshaft going into the axle with a minimum angle so it spins freely and is out of the way. (what 802coma stated, just a little different way).

[802coma]

I started with the pinion cause I like to figure that angle out first so if clocking the C's was necessary I know what I was shooting for numbers wise. I personally set caster at ride height but I also only have 1 degree of roll through 4" up and 10" of down travel in suspension travel

[1tonscout]

driveshafts work best when the angle at the transmission and axle are the same. Also keep the U joints in phase