1.9 Barrage RTR 1/10 Crawler

[hillbillyrc]

Originally Posted by JatoTheRipper

Redcat Racing Everest-10 Rock Crawler 4WD RTR Blue

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That's an ax10 clone more than a scx10 clone and the everest 10 is a decent crawler which a lot of axial parts work with it with little or no modifications.

[JatoTheRipper]

Originally Posted by 2JSC

I think he's talking about the MST CMX crawler. He's no clue what he's talking about and is so confused with hatred that he's mixing up poor products with different poor products.

No, I wasn't talking about the MST CMX Mr. Know It All.

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[Mike Flea]

[QUOTE=JatoTheRipper;5567160]No, I don't. I don't need to own one to tell that it's a horrible parts bin design.

How can you make an informed opinion on something by looking at pictures? That would be like claiming Chinese knockoff beadlocks are better that American made originals. I happen to own 3 ECX trucks and they are just as durable as the more expensive Associated and HPI trucks.

You know yourself, when you buy a hobby grade RC, the first thing you want to do is upgrade it.

In my opinion, this would be a starting point for an entry level hobbyist.

[JatoTheRipper]

[QUOTE=Mike Flea;5567207]

Originally Posted by JatoTheRipper

No, I don't. I don't need to own one to tell that it's a horrible parts bin design.

How can you make an informed opinion on something by looking at pictures? That would be like claiming Chinese knockoff beadlocks are better that American made originals. I happen to own 3 ECX trucks and they are just as durable as the more expensive Associated and HPI trucks.

You know yourself, when you buy a hobby grade RC, the first thing you want to do is upgrade it.

In my opinion, this would be a starting point for an entry level hobbyist.

It's just my opinion. Could I be wrong? Sure. And if I am I'll be the first to admit it. But I used my years of experience in RC and engineering to come up with my educated guess based off of the photos.

It looks like they took 1/18 driveline components and tried to make them into a 1/10 scale vehicle. Almost everything is plastic. The axles are so narrow that they had to put the shocks inside of the frame rails.

All of these things add up to me thinking it will be junk.

You're free to disagree with my opinion. Do you like it? If so, why? What do you like about it besides the price?

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[Mike Flea]

Ok, so we agree to disagree, we each have our opinions.

Personally, I don't like the price, I think ECX should have priced it closer to the 1/18 temper, but, (and this is another subject), I don't think the ProLine Ambush is worth $200 either.

I like it as being a starting point for young, inexperienced hobbyists. When I was growing up, I took everything apart to find out how it worked, sometimes ended up with a few extra parts left over when re-assembling, Mom got hysterical when I tried to fix the toaster.

[smog]

Originally Posted by stonecold

Love those tires, I have those on my 1:1.

Ha! So do I

[davemud]

I like the looks of this platform. People like the RGT Rock Cruiser and this looks like its that truck re branded. I live in Canada and my LHS carries ECX so I will be able to get parts for it from him.

That's important because the cost of shipping across the boarder is ****ing stupid. 10.00 worth of Maxstone parts shipped in an envelope would have cost 52.00... ****ing bullshit.

It was cheaper to switch to an SCX10 front axle. I thought it preferable as an upgrade anyway but so far only the metal locker is better about the SCX10 axle.

I like the size since it opens up a whole new source of Newbright bodies from the local thrift store for just a few dollars. I'm fine with ECX spending 5 cents on that POS body since they know its the first thing that scalers will change on it.

I don't know why people criticize trucks like this because its a copy, clone or lust not Axial without having seen or driven one. A lot of people criticize the budget brands like ECX for no good reason.

I had a RS10 and a MS10. My friend has the RS10 and its 3 years old and never had a broken axle or and drive train problems. I broke 1 axle shaft in the MS10 but that drive train is over 3 years old too. I've broken the rear axle in my wraith too.

I don't go easy on my trucks and I have to play on a budget. I lust hope the CDN price on these trucks isn't stupid. the 1/18 temper is 200.00 CDN and I expect thats what the barrage should be.

I just wish they'd get the damn things into the hands of the forum reviewers so they can confirm or deny the rock cruiser is a good indicator how the barrage will be.

[hillbillyrc]

The rgt and the ecx Barrage are the same, just different in electronics used and the diff/locker is temper. Also losi mrc/vaterra slickrock have some parts that interchange. I myself have a rgt rock cruiser which doesn't have parts findable. Looking at the ecx website parts are/ will be able and a local hobby shop carries parts for ecx so I feel better about buying my rgt. Plus chassis width by my measurements can use scx10 parts which opens up to more useful parts if things work out which I'm looking in to a rear bumper mount for my little bronco.
Shipped kinda killed my deal. Bought my rgt for 139 but shipping from china was 65 so 207ish overall price.

[gottorque]

My .02


I bought an ECX Temper as it had axles close to the width I needed (smaller scale hardbody build) and my LHS had it in stock. Yes, I could have used MRC axles but again, the ECX was cheaper and easily acquired locally (would i regret not getting actual Losi MRC stuff later? perhaps)



Some key notes as i built these up to work with my build-
* The stub shafts on all 4 corners are simply too short to work with anything common... like SLW hubs. I managed only a few threads with thin M4 nuts, lock nuts, forget it. The fix was buying actual Losi MRC front stub shafts, rear axle shafts and lock outs which fits the ECX stuff, mostly. Rear housings had to be trimmed to accept the Losi lockouts but shafts worked. The stub shaft on my bench is stock and the ones installed are Losi; you can see how many more threads there are on the Losi.

*M2 hardware-'nuff said. By all means, if the Barrage's stock WB works for your build great, its not an issue really. If you need to change it, your stuck with using those dinky little rod ends and tiny all thread or buying HD link mounts. In my case, I made a decent sized order from Billet Works Designs for their front and rear Losi MRC 3MM HD link/shock mounts. Yes, it fits the ECX.


*Upper link mounts- Continuing on with ditching the tiny M2 hardware for standard M3 stuff, BWD front servo plate/4 link mount and rear Delrin 4 link plate. Again, it bolts on.





*Shock mounting. I can see why ECX put the shocks inboard of the chassis, not a lot of room, naturally. With the BWD mounts, I had to mount my shocks outboard of the SCX width chassis. Diameter on SCX10 coilovers is too big so i used RC4WD Ultra scale shocks off the TF2...internally sprung, put a King sticker on em...pass them off as air shocks

*Durability. Well I haven't ran them, at all yet. A light weight 1/18th scale crawler is one thing, but a steel chassis, fully metal armored hard body build is going to be taxing on them structurally. I dont actually do much more than trailing and light crawling with it, ironically so the diff gears might hold up, perhaps better than the plastic lockers. It has a built SCX trans so no worries there.

Conclusion- I get that my custom hard body build is a far cry from a sub 3lb ECX Barrage, but mostly I'm using this as a primer into "upgrades" for Temper axles. If all you plan to do is keep the Barrage stock, I'm certain the truck will be reasonably durable.

Do I like them? No. Are they scale looking? No. Do I wish there was a scale "1/18th" scale metal axle on the market? Yes

Hope that offers some insight into these axles.

[hillbillyrc]

Originally Posted by gottorque

My .02


I bought an ECX Temper as it had axles close to the width I needed (smaller scale hardbody build) and my LHS had it in stock. Yes, I could have used MRC axles but again, the ECX was cheaper and easily acquired locally (would i regret not getting actual Losi MRC stuff later? perhaps)



Some key notes as i built these up to work with my build-
* The stub shafts on all 4 corners are simply too short to work with anything common... like SLW hubs. I managed only a few threads with thin M4 nuts, lock nuts, forget it. The fix was buying actual Losi MRC front stub shafts, rear axle shafts and lock outs which fits the ECX stuff, mostly. Rear housings had to be trimmed to accept the Losi lockouts but shafts worked. The stub shaft on my bench is stock and the ones installed are Losi; you can see how many more threads there are on the Losi.

*M2 hardware-'nuff said. By all means, if the Barrage's stock WB works for your build great, its not an issue really. If you need to change it, your stuck with using those dinky little rod ends and tiny all thread or buying HD link mounts. In my case, I made a decent sized order from Billet Works Designs for their front and rear Losi MRC 3MM HD link/shock mounts. Yes, it fits the ECX.


*Upper link mounts- Continuing on with ditching the tiny M2 hardware for standard M3 stuff, BWD front servo plate/4 link mount and rear Delrin 4 link plate. Again, it bolts on.





*Shock mounting. I can see why ECX put the shocks inboard of the chassis, not a lot of room, naturally. With the BWD mounts, I had to mount my shocks outboard of the SCX width chassis. Diameter on SCX10 coilovers is too big so i used RC4WD Ultra scale shocks off the TF2...internally sprung, put a King sticker on em...pass them off as air shocks

*Durability. Well I haven't ran them, at all yet. A light weight 1/18th scale crawler is one thing, but a steel chassis, fully metal armored hard body build is going to be taxing on them structurally. I dont actually do much more than trailing and light crawling with it, ironically so the diff gears might hold up, perhaps better than the plastic lockers. It has a built SCX trans so no worries there.

Conclusion- I get that my custom hard body build is a far cry from a sub 3lb ECX Barrage, but mostly I'm using this as a primer into "upgrades" for Temper axles. If all you plan to do is keep the Barrage stock, I'm certain the truck will be reasonably durable.

Do I like them? No. Are they scale looking? No. Do I wish there was a scale "1/18th" scale metal axle on the market? Yes

Hope that offers some insight into these axles.

Most of the upgrades you have done i had a feeling they would work just hadn't gotten around to finding out for myself.

Also is there a build thread of the rig in the pictures? I'm very interested in checking it out.

[gottorque]

Originally Posted by hillbillyrc

Most of the upgrades you have done i had a feeling they would work just hadn't gotten around to finding out for myself.

Also is there a build thread of the rig in the pictures? I'm very interested in checking it out.

I dont have a build thread on it. I probably should have made one but I started the build so long ago I never thought to make one. Until recently when I made a big push with it to get it done, I'd only ever touch it once a month (if that).

I finally understand why people can loose motivation on complicated projects

[David Wile]

Hey folks,

Well, I think this Barrage looks just fine and seems to be a great price at $154 including shipping from Horizon Hobby. Then again, this is my first RC vehicle, so what would I know. I guess I will find out.

Has anyone here actually bought one of these Barrage crawlers? I am looking forward to getting this thing; I love it when the big truck comes to deliver a big box.

While flying RC planes for nearly two years, RC vehicles is totally new to me. The Barrage crawler appeals to me because it looks pretty much like a real truck. I have seen a number of very interesting videos of it crawling over some substantial obstacles, and its price seems to be most attractive.

My Barrage came from Horizon Hobby discounted below the $180 regular price, and I have been using it for about two weeks now. The steering servo burned out on the second day, but Horizon sent a replacement (with more torque than original) which has been running quite well since then.

Flying planes has been quite a thrill, but I do not like going out in the cold weather. I can sit inside my family room and watch my Barrage running around my back yard, and that is a most pleasant interlude during the cold weather when I am not inclined to fly. This is really a nice crawler truck.

Best wishes,
Dave Wile

[hillbillyrc]

I love my clone of this truck it fun to tinker with, the base is the same i.e. chassis, axles and trans everything else is different.

[JatoTheRipper]

Originally Posted by David Wile

Hey folks,

While flying RC planes for nearly two years, RC vehicles is totally new to me. The Barrage crawler appeals to me because it looks pretty much like a real truck. I have seen a number of very interesting videos of it crawling over some substantial obstacles, and its price seems to be most attractive.

My Barrage came from Horizon Hobby discounted below the $180 regular price, and I have been using it for about two weeks now. The steering servo burned out on the second day, but Horizon sent a replacement (with more torque than original) which has been running quite well since then.

Flying planes has been quite a thrill, but I do not like going out in the cold weather. I can sit inside my family room and watch my Barrage running around my back yard, and that is a most pleasant interlude during the cold weather when I am not inclined to fly. This is really a nice crawler truck.

Best wishes,
Dave Wile

Another PA resident? Welcome to the site.

You quickly found that Horizon has the best customer service in the RC industry.

[f150monster]

I don't understand the hating, while it has a fair bit of torque twist this can be fixed by four linking it. The axles can be built to be bullet proof for dirt cheap (almost free).
In my book if they can handle 4s brushless power I'm happy.

[David Wile]

Hey F-150,

You will see a number of critical comments about the Barrage by folks who based their comments strictly on seeing pictures of it and not based on any personal experience with the Barrage. I can only guess that most of these folks must do some really seriously aggressive competition driving where beating their vehicles to death is the accepted norm, but that was not my intended purpose for the Barrage. My intention was to drive rather mildly up and down some hills and over rocks and never do any fording of water or slopping in mud.

Other than burning out my original steering servo, my Barrage is working out just fine for my use. The replacement servo I received from Horizon has a lot more torque than the original, and it is working just fine. I also found AliExpress is a very good source for servos, batteries, motors, and other parts at very low prices compared to Horizon and other vendors. One does need to be patient when ordering things from China. Sometimes things can arrive in less than a week, and other times it may take up to three weeks. Most times, however, you can count on a week to ten days

Best wishes,
Dave Wile

[f150monster]

I think you are right Dave. I. Have built a come of custom rigs on these axles and I know how tough they can easily be. Think backflips on 4s! These trucks have some really dumb design flaws but these are easily fixed for free or cheap. I like to tinker and mod and these trucks provide a great base for that for a reasonable price. I get that the out of the box performance might be a little lacklustre but a couple of evenings in the garage and it's a whole new rig

[f150monster]

Aluminum spools and overdrive pinions are readily available too.

[David Wile]

Originally Posted by f150monster

Aluminum spools and overdrive pinions are readily available too.

Hey F-150,

Aluminum spools and overdrive pinions??? I do not even know what they are. No idea what the spools are, and I can only guess that pinions are something in the differentials. Would you call the pumpkins in these trucks differentials? And, are the pinions you mentioned in the differentials? And what exactly is an overdrive pinion? In my day, overdrive was a really tall driving gear in the transmission designed to allow a vehicle to turn lower RPMs while driving at higher highway speeds. I have six forward gears in my Miata MX-5, and I sure do wish they would have put a tall overdrive gear in it for the sixth gear.

I do know that as long as my Barrage keeps running, I am not about to be changing any spools or pinions. Hillbilly is one of those guys who "tinkers" with his cars, and there is a lot he talks about doing that I have to admit I do not know what he is doing. I suspect I will pick up some of the knowledge as I continue playing with mine. After my steering servo burned out, I know I spent a whole day looking up stuff about servos and servo arms/horns for crawlers and where to buy them at a good price. I just hope I do not need any aluminum spools or overdrive pinions any time soon - or, better yet, anytime at all.

Best wishes,
Dave Wile

[j.krug]

I just picked up a Barrage last week that I ordered through my LHS. I think it's a great little rig for what I intend to use it for which will be trail running on the local hiking/biking paths. It does have a couple minor issues, but as stated, nothing that can't be improved with a little tinkering which is what most of us like to do to our rigs anyway. I've made a couple cosmetic changes to mine and swapped out the stock Tx/Rx with my Helios gear that I have. I'll post up a couple pics soon or maybe start a build thread on it?

@ Dave Wile
Aluminum spools, also called lockers, fit inside the axle pumpkins and lock the axle shafts so both wheels on the axle are always being driven. Some folks like to replace stock spools 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.

There are several different kinds available but here is one example: Vanquish INCISION SPOOL/LOCKER IRC00001
Here is the one that's used in the Barrage axles: https://www.amainhobbies.com/ecx-1-1...212009/p451218

Overdrive pinion, or overdrive gearing (ring and pinion), is installed in the front axle to make the front wheels turn a little bit faster than the rear wheels. This will improve steering and to some extent will help the truck flip over backwards less easily on steep climbs. On some rigs you can put overdrive gearing in the front and underdrive gearing in the rear to increase the results/benefits even more.

You don't need to do either of these upgrades if you enjoy your truck just the way it is. Look to make these changes when or if the stock parts break or wear out or if you decide in the future that you want a little better performance from your Barrage.

Hope this helps. Jim