1.9 Barrage RTR 1/10 Crawler

[David Wile]

Hey Jim,

Glad to hear you like your new Barrage. You "tinkerers" just slay me with all the crazy things you do to a brand new machine. You also amaze me with all the intricate knowledge you obviously have to be doing your crazy "tinkering."

I do have mechanical ability, but my mechanical ability is limited by my mechanical experience. When I was a young lad in the early 1950s, I was the "go to" guy for other kids for bicycle repairs. At that time, there was no coaster brake axle I could not tear apart and repair. As a young teen, however, I lost interest in anything that got me greasy dirty. I would change brake shoes, replace spark plugs and points if I had to do it, but I did not like doing it. I would much rather wash off sawdust after spending the day building houses. So I certainly do admire the tinkering you guys do to your trucks.

Now I know what aluminum spools are thanks to you, but that begs another question. Why would the Barrage need locking spools when it is advertised as having "Locked differentials: No slip and true 4WD power?" I am guessing it might be "...to help eliminate slop in the drive line and sometimes to add a little more weight down low on there rig to lower the centre of gravity," as you stated?

Obviously my idea of "overdrive" is not the same thing as it is to the RC truck world, but I do understand the difference. All I can say is "Thank you," for explaining these things to me. Overdrive in the front axle and underdrive in the rear axle makes complete sense to me - unless you happen to be going uphill backwards. Sorry, I could not help saying that.

Thankfully, however, as you noted, I "...don't need to do either of these upgrades if you enjoy your truck just the way it is." I firmly live by the old adage, "If it ain't broken, don't fix it." Yes, you certainly have been a help, Jim, and I appreciate it. Keep me informed of all your "tinkering." It really is fun to learn about it even if I do not do it myself.

Best wishes,
Dave Wile

[hillbillyrc]

Dave,

Besides adding weight down low and help take slop out. A metal spool would replace the stock locker which is most commonly plastic. It can strip out after being bound up, or lots of hard driving, or just wear out after a long time. Since the axle shafts that fit in the locker are metal and locker is plastic. Just a simple wear point really.

[David Wile]

Hey Hillbilly,

I hope I do not have to do any of this for quite a while, but when the time comes, I think I will be able to crack the axle and start replacing things that need replacing - thanks to you and other folks here. My driving is not at all aggressive, but I know plastic parts will wear out sometime.

Best wishes,
Dave Wile

[hillbillyrc]

It is a hefty plastic part unlike the mrc which the axle is somewhat based off of. The locker in the mrc is weak and need to be changed out for durability reasons hence why the pro version came with them stock.
Has I said above it will handle abuse/ rough play it stock form. Unless running big lipo/ or high torque motor but in that case transmission might have issues first.

[f150monster]

In stock form this is good for brushed power, however it can spin a shaft in the plastic locker with some abuse even stock. Brushless power will roast the plastic lockers very quickly while a stock trans will last a long time even on big power. You will burn through spur gears though if you try to continue running plastic spurs with big power. Or just dirt, sand and hard running, plastic spurs are gay.

[Johannes1863]

I just got one of these, my first RC in 25 years. Quick impressions, bigger than I was expecting, really 1/12? Faster than I was expecting, I turned the throttle way down, (edit - I accidentally changed the jumper from f/b/r to forward/reverse while the car was on, the manual says not to, it was an accident, so it doesn't work properly now, however removing that jumper and it is back to the factory default and works fine - if you are a newbie like me - be careful! I will get a new ESC for it one day). It looks better than I was expecting, online it looks out of proportion, too narrow with tall wheels, but not so in real life - it looks great. Lights on it work well at dusk/night, they are bright enough for me, tires on it are excellent. The body color is nice, I like it, it looks different than on my PC monitor. Having maximum steering the left front rubs against the bumper, so I had to reduce the steering range on the controller. The bumper is adjustable and can be easily moved forward by undoing two screws. I ran it for 15 minutes before the cold got to me and it was still going strong. Battery took 9 hours to charge, too long for me, I may need another charger that is designed to be faster. Hope that helps someone looking for information.

Update my steering servo just stopped working.

[David Wile]

Originally Posted by Johannes1863

I just got one of these, my first RC in 25 years. Quick impressions, bigger than I was expecting, really 1/12? Faster than I was expecting, I turned the throttle way down, (edit - I accidentally changed the jumper from f/b/r to forward/reverse while the car was on, the manual says not to, it was an accident, so it doesn't work properly now, however removing that jumper and it is back to the factory default and works fine - if you are a newbie like me - be careful! I will get a new ESC for it one day). It looks better than I was expecting, online it looks out of proportion, too narrow with tall wheels, but not so in real life - it looks great. Lights on it work well at dusk/night, they are bright enough for me, tires on it are excellent. The body color is nice, I like it, it looks different than on my PC monitor. Having maximum steering the left front rubs against the bumper, so I had to reduce the steering range on the controller. The bumper is adjustable and can be easily moved forward by undoing two screws. I ran it for 15 minutes before the cold got to me and it was still going strong. Battery took 9 hours to charge, too long for me, I may need another charger that is designed to be faster. Hope that helps someone looking for information.

Update my steering servo just stopped working.

Hey Johannes,

Congratulations on your Barrage; it is really a great crawler truck for me. I have seen some other more realistic truck bodies I like better, but it still looks very good to me. The pics online made it look almost pink to me, but when I first saw out of the box, it is definitely not pink. It really is nice looking desert tan to me, and I also think the wheels and tires look great on it. I have not had any trouble with the tires rubbing against the body or the bumper, so I did not have to adjust the front face bar at all.

I am still using the stock 900 mAh NiMH battery since I have yet to receive the two 2200 mAh LiPo batteries I ordered from AliExpress. The stock 900 mAh battery has been running my Barrage easily more than an hour without draining the battery completely, but my running really is low speed crawling over rocks in my yard. The first time I charged it with the stock charger, and it really was terrible - nine hours! Since then, I have been charging it with my Thunder Power charger at a .45C charge rate, and the longest charge time was 2 1/2 hours. Most of the time the battery is fully charged in 1.5 to 1.75 hours - much better than the stock charger.

So, your steering servo has stopped working. At least I know I am not the only one. First, call Horizon or wherever you bought and let them know. They should most likely send you a new one pretty quickly. In addition to the servo Horizon sent me as a replacement, I also ordered three other servos from AliExpress ranging in price from $6 to $13. All three have more torque than the original servo, and I will let you all know how they work when I get them. Since installing the replacement I received from Horizon, my Barrage has been working perfectly.

Keep us informed how your Barrage is working.

Best wishes,
Dave Wile

[fr8cture]

Originally Posted by gottorque

I finally understand why people can loose motivation on complicated projects

Now you understand?

[j.krug]

Originally Posted by f150monster

Aluminum spools and overdrive pinions are readily available too.

Can someone please tell me what aluminum spool and overdrive pinion is available for the barrage? Been trying to find this info but my google-foo is letting me down. Thanks

[hillbillyrc]

Traxxas 7079 pinion gear for overdrive, depending on the barrage (my rgt has 5mm outputs) might need to get a driveshaft with one side 4mm and other 5mm since the overdrive pinion output shafts is 4mm.
The aluminum spool at least the only one I know of Is made by dravtech but not sure if the are being made in more.

[David Wile]

Hey folks,

Usually one who follows the "If it ain't broke, don't fix it!" maxim, it would seem I got off track the other day. Just for the sake of learning a little something (following Hillbilly's tinkering example), I removed the left front tire and wheel from the Barrage, but when I replaced it, that wheel would no longer drive when I used the throttle. I know, it wasn't broke, and I should not have "fixed" it, but I just wanted to see how things worked there.

Removing the nut from the axle allowed me to remove the tire and wheel. After removing the tire and wheel, a metal axle extender (not sure what the proper term would be) came off the axle itself. A pin went through the axle and fitted into a slot on the inside face of the axle extender and forced the wheel to turn with the axle. I thought this was all most interesting and worth the effort to learn, but when I put the pin back, the axle extender on, and replaced the wheel and nut, the wheel would not turn with the other three.

Intending to find out what I had done wrong, I once again pulled the wheel, extender, and pin. Further examination revealed another place inside the steering knuckle where there obviously had been another pin that was now missing and allowed the wheel to rotate free of the drive system. I found the missing pin on the carpet, but I have no idea how it came out. The same pin on the right side axle had not come out and seemed to be tight in its place.

When I replaced the pin, it was not a tight fit, and I was concerned it might fall out and disappear forever, I simply put a drop of medium gel CA glue over both ends of the pin. Five minutes later, the pin was firmly in place and not likely to fall out. After replacing the outer pin, axle extender, wheel, and wheel nut, the Barrage was working with all four wheels.

At this point I am wondering what is actually supposed to hold that inner pin in place and why it fell out? Also, if that inner pin came out, what is keeping the inner pin on the other side from falling out? I did not put any CA glue on that pin and wonder if that would be a wise thing to do?

Like I said earlier, If it ain't broke, don't fix it! Not a bad maxim to follow.

Best wishes,
Dave Wile

[hillbillyrc]

Unlike my rgt which has a cup and dog bone style front axles, the barrage has cvd kinda like a cv axle in a car.

That being said it sounds like the pin that holds the stub axle (the outer part) to the axle shaft came out.

If that's the case probably a good thing you were checking things out instead of it coming out when playing with it.

[bob_suruncle]

Originally Posted by David Wile

Hey folks,

When I replaced the pin, it was not a tight fit, and I was concerned it might fall out and disappear forever, I simply put a drop of medium gel CA glue over both ends of the pin. Five minutes later, the pin was firmly in place and not likely to fall out. After replacing the outer pin, axle extender, wheel, and wheel nut, the Barrage was working with all four wheels.

At this point I am wondering what is actually supposed to hold that inner pin in place and why it fell out? Also, if that inner pin came out, what is keeping the inner pin on the other side from falling out? I did not put any CA glue on that pin and wonder if that would be a wise thing to do?

Like I said earlier, If it ain't broke, don't fix it! Not a bad maxim to follow.

Best wishes,
Dave Wile

If you look closely there is a set screw in the end of the short outer portion of the CV shaft that you tighten up to hold the pin in the CV. It took me a few minutes to even notice the set screw.

Barrage is an awesome truck out of the box only things I needed to replace was the front spool (wishing for an aluminum upgrade) and replaced the steering servo with a Traxxas hi torque which made a HUGE difference!

[David Wile]

Originally Posted by bob_suruncle

If you look closely there is a set screw in the end of the short outer portion of the CV shaft that you tighten up to hold the pin in the CV. It took me a few minutes to even notice the set screw.

Barrage is an awesome truck out of the box only things I needed to replace was the front spool (wishing for an aluminum upgrade) and replaced the steering servo with a Traxxas hi torque which made a HUGE difference!

Hey Bob,

Are you pulling my leg? Is there really a set screw anywhere around the front suspension knuckle? I am here squinting my eyes and using a flashlight to find the set screw, and I am wondering if this is a joke? I have a lot more than a few minutes in looking for this set screw. Please tell me there really is one. Could you be talking about the parts you replaced on the Barrage with after-market parts?

Best wishes,
Dave Wile

[Pilot_MM]

I posted a long post on my thoughts on the Barrage. I am not sure if it was lost in the land of ones and zeros or if its being moderated. Anyways here are a couple of photos of mine and an 8 second clip of the Barrage in action.

If my post makes it through I will link it up here.


My RC4WD mirrors are on their way and I plan on painting the fenders to match the bed liner


My short clip
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fdCTPDThtxo

Finally ran into some trouble. This is a friendly reminder to check the tightness of all hardware. I lost two ~10mm screws that hold the steering spindle to the front CV shaft and one of my upper links stripped.

Thank goodness HH has such good support, my LHS has screws waiting and are ordering the upper link. I was disappointed about the upper link because I have only run it outside of my backyard once and there were not any crazy crashes. Just a few tip-overs.

I enjoy this truck but I will be getting an SCX10 II in the future. I had no crawling experience and this showed me I like it. Plus I can let my 3 year old son bash it and low speeds and not feel like it was wasted money. I do wish it had a better servo but when it burns out I will get one with some real torque.

Quick update:
LHS is going to replace the upper links, they should be here Tuesday. They also had M2x6mm screws for me.

In the mean time I used a little 5 minute epoxy to fix the stripped threads on my upper link and put some thread locker on all threads that touch metal. This will allow me to run tomorrow for the first time with the local crawler group.

Ride Report:

I got to ride with the local crawler group today. Great group of guys. I was really surprised how well this thing did! The guys were shocked too. The narrow wheelbase was a plus in a few places (see below) and the pumpkin; while it seems high, was a little low. Again, the servo has got to go, going to be replaced soon(ish). The group met up around 09:00 at Calico Basin in Red Rock. We road through a little gully up and around some rocks to the steep stuff. The ground was wet from the previous nights rain and it causes traction problems for everyone. So long as I could find some soil I had no problems making up the rocks. I also learned that throttle helps a lot more than trying to make it up slow.

I made it up to the AWESOME area and finally made it to the top. To get to the very top there was a narrow section where the SCX10 guys had to nearly drag the side of the truck to make it to the area that goes up, I had no problem fitting . and then the battery died. LOL I need to get another battery for sure.



-M

[blackfeather]

I have a Barrage and a Temper for me and my Daughter .these are My first trucks in 20yrs we have a blast with them and my daughter loves her temper and we get to spend time together . So to me I made a good choice I wanted a dead bolt and im sure ill have one someday but for the cost of that dead bolt I have 2 RTR trucks and more time and memories with my kid.

[Pilot_MM]

I wanted to share another video with you guys on the ECX Barrage. It is my attempt at scale driving, let me know what you think.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ELmP...sj1ur0xb4dtn1i

-M

[bob_suruncle]

Originally Posted by David Wile

Hey Bob,

Are you pulling my leg? Is there really a set screw anywhere around the front suspension knuckle? I am here squinting my eyes and using a flashlight to find the set screw, and I am wondering if this is a joke? I have a lot more than a few minutes in looking for this set screw. Please tell me there really is one. Could you be talking about the parts you replaced on the Barrage with after-market parts?

Best wishes,
Dave Wile

Dave: they are there if you look closely. See attached pic for reference

[bob_suruncle]

to get more suspension travel on the barrage:

rear: remove he rear drive shaft, separate the two halves, cut about 1/2" off the male portion, file off any burrs and reinstall. Uncut shaft bottoms out before the suspension does.

Front: remove front cross brace under battery tray, flip it upside down and reinstall to allow more travel between steering servo and cross brace. I am pointing at the rear brace in the attached image but you can see the one directly in front is now upside down

[hillbillyrc]

The fj grill looks right at home on the the barrage.

Also what length of lower links did you use?